Journal of Materials Processing Technology 89 90 (1999) 145 151

A knowledge-based expert system for roll pass and profile design

for shape rolling of round and square bars
S.-H. Kim a, Y.-T. Im b,*
a
Agency for Defense De6elopment, Jinhae, South Korea
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Aided Materials Processing Laboratory, ME3227 Korea Ad6anced Institute of Science &
Technology, 373 -1, Kusong-dong, Yusong-gu, Taejon 305 -701, South Korea

Abstract

In shape rolling, the determination of roll pass and profile design is of importance. In the present investigation, a
knowledge-based expert system is developed for the design of roll pass and profile sequences for the shape rolling of round and
square bars. For development of the program, C + + language and an object oriented programming technique were utilized in
consideration of the flexibility and expandability of the program. A backward chaining algorithm was employed for the inference
engine to determine the manufacturing sequences in reverse order based on design rules extracted from the literature. For
optimization of the process sequence design, the number of roll passes was minimized by comparing the error between the inferred
roll passes and the initial error provided as input. In the currently developed expert system, five geometries such as box, square,
diamond, oval and round were introduced as a basic geometry to describe the intermediate roll geometries. In addition, the roll
separating force, area reduction and change of length at each stage of shape rolling were determined and displayed on the monitor
of a personal computer. The system was applied for the shape rolling of round and square bars. The process sequences determined
were proven to be reasonable compared to those available at practice. 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Shape rolling; Roll pass design; Roll profile design; Expert system; Backward chaining; Object oriented programming

1. Introduction After Beynon, Wusatowski and Chitkara et al. [13],

Shape rolling is generally used for manufacturing
structural or mechanical components with uniform
cross-section in mass production. Due to the recent
development of continuous casting, it can be applied
for producing complex geometries with non-ferrous
materials such as copper and aluminum alloys. Struc-
tural H-beams and rails for the railroad are typical
products manufactured by shape rolling.
Process sequence design of shape rolling consists of
roll pass design and profile design, which will enable a
simple billet to be transformed into a final complex
shape. In general, sequence design relies on empirical
rules or the know-how of design engineers, requiring
costly effort at the development stage. Therefore, many
studies have been carried out, experimentally and nu-
merically, on shape rolling for better design.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +82-42-8693227; fax: + 82-42-
8693210.
E-mail address: ytim@convex.kaist.ac.kr (Y.-T. Im)
design rules were determined empirically from produc-
tion data and slab analyses were introduced to deter-
mine the roll separating force and roll torque required
by Raghupathi et al. and Soo et al. [4,5]. Based on such
research works, the general guidelines for the basic
process sequence design for H- and I-beams were deter-
mined and the quantitative understanding of shape
rolling made available. Because of the complexity of the
process, however, process sequence design for new ma-
terials and complex geometries is not easy to carry out.
Thus, several researchers [610] have used the finite-
element (FE) technique to analyze the process to reduce
the number of modifications. Kennedy and Montmiton-
net et al. [11,12] have applied the numerical results
obtained from such FE simulations for process se-
quence design.
The major difficulty involved with systematic process
design through the analytical approach is due to the
non-deterministic nature of the process. As shown in
Fig. 1, there are various process sequences available

0924-0136/99/$ - see front matter 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
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146 S.-H. Kim, Y.-T. Im / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 145151

when shape rolling is applied to produce a cylindrical

bar from the rectangular bar.
It is not easy to economically determine the optimum
process sequence without making any deviations from
these various paths. Since there are so many processing
conditions involved, such as the radius of the rolls, the
lubrication and friction conditions, heat transfer be-
tween the material and the rolls, the surface condition
of the rolls and the roll speed, there are limitations to
determining the optimal process sequence relying on
numerical analyses only.
In order to solve such a limitation, the hybrid of a
knowledge-based expert system and a computer-aided- Fig. 1. Various roll pass sequences for the rolling of a round bar from
design system (CAD) was successfully applied recently. a rectangular billet.
Perotti et al. [13] have designed the roll pass for manu-
facturing cylindrical bars by introducing CAD and Liu termination of the average elongation coefficient and
et al. and Boer et al. [14,15] have applied computer- the total number of passes was not necessary. For
aided-design/computer-aided-manufacturing (CAD/ backward chaining the empirical design rules were
CAM) for roll profile design. Kennedy et al. and adopted from the basic design theory and practice
Akgerman et al. [16,17] have developed a computer available in references and the program was developed
program to design the process by combining FE analy- using Borland C + + language in version 3.1. In addi-
ses and a CAD system. In addition, Mori et al. [18] tion, the object oriented programming (OOP) technique
have developed an expert system for designing the roll [19] was utilized for future expandability of the
pass for producing H-beams. program.
In the present study, a knowledge-based expert sys-
tem is developed to automatically design the process 2.1. Design object and geometry representation
sequence of shape rolling to produce cylindrical and
square bars. In the development of the expert system, In the present study, the five basic geometries of box
feasible roll passes were determined by applying a (B), square (S), diamond (D), oval (O) and round (R)
backward chaining inference engine. Then, passes vio- were introduced to represent the intermediate roll profi-
lating the existing design rules or constraints applied les as proposed by Kennedy et al. [16] in Fig. 2. For
were eliminated from the feasible solutions to determine convenience, a square billet was used for the initial
better solutions. After determining the solutions, the billet geometry. As shown in this figure, the six geome-
process sequences and the engineering data such as roll
separating force, elongation coefficient and area reduc-
tion ratio, are displayed on an IBM personal computer
to aid design engineers. The developed system was
applied for sample cases and the designed processes
were compared with practical cases. Since the analytical
approach to determine the optimum roll pass and roll
profile design is not easy to apply due to the difficulty
involved with the analytical modeling of the problem,
the current investigation might be effective.

2. Expert system for the process design of shape rolling

The process sequence design is, in general, initiated

by determining the total number of passes by assuming
an average elongation coefficient. For better area re-
ductions of cross-sections from the initial to the final
geometries, a breaking-down pass sequence is used and
then finishing pass design follows to obtain the final
geometry. In the present investigation, since a back-
ward inference scheme was adopted to determine the Fig. 2. The basic five different cross-sectional shapes used in the
previous passes from the final geometry, such a pre-de- developed system.
 S.-H. Kim, Y.-T. Im / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 145151 147

The developed system is also divided into six mod-

Fig. 3. Data flow chart of the developed sytem.
try factors, B, H, R, R2, s and a were introduced to
describe each geometry. Here, B and H represent the
width and height of each roll pass, respectively. R
represents the corner radius of the inner rolls for the
box, square and diamond passes and the roll radius for
the oval and round passes, respectively. R2 represents
the corner radius between the roll and the roll gap,
which later was represented by s. a represents the
tapered angle of the side roll for the box pass and also
for the apex angle for the square and diamond passes.
In addition, F represents the cross-sectional area of the
product at each pass.
2.2. O6erall structure of expert system
ules as, shown in Fig. 4.
The input module is for inputting the initial billet
geometry, the final geometry of the product, the initial
temperature and the type of the material. The module
for pass selection and determination of the elongation
coefficient automatically carries out the process design
utilizing PSDB and ECDB in the developed system.
The module for the modification of the elongation
coefficient checks and transforms the automatically
suggested elongation coefficient, depending on the nec-
essary condition for each elongation coefficient com-
pared to the total elongation coefficient. The module
for pass data calculation determines the seven geometry
factors, B, H, R, R2, s, a and F for each pass, the
module for engineering data calculation being included
for providing design engineers with necessary engineer-
ing data. The output module is for generating the
necessary outputs of the designed drawings of the pro-
cess and graphics of the engineering data calculated.
The structures of the five data classes used in the
developed program are introduced in the following.
Here, member data and member functions are parame-
ters representing each item of information and func-
tions for controlling the member data of the
corresponding class, respectively. In addition, friend
function represents a joint function that can be used at
the various classes for controlling the corresponding
information outside of the class.

In order to make the system flexible, object-oriented

programming (OOP) is mostly appropriate to set up an
independent knowledge base, depending on the infor-
mation and patterns of the knowledge. In OOP, the
data used in the program and each driving function of
the data were recognized as an object due to their
characteristics and then the program was independently
developed by separating each object. The advantage of
this programming relies on the extendibility and modu-
larization of the program. In the developed system,
class was introduced as an object-oriented database
structure according to its definition.
As shown in Fig. 3, the developed system consists of
five data class such as initial shape (IS), final shape
(FS), initial temperature (IT), steel grade number (GN)
and pass (Pass).
The meaning of each data class is self-explanatory
except for the pass which represents the geometry infor-
mation for each pass. In the same figure, the pass
selection database (PSDB) and elongation coefficient
database (ECDB) were used to store the rules for pass
selection and elongation coefficient determination for
the same pass, respectively and l means the elongation
coefficient. Fig. 4. Process flow chart of the developed system.
148 S.-H. Kim, Y.-T. Im / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 145151

2.2.1. IS class
This consists of the data representing the initial bil-
let geometry (type, B, area, Length), member function
(Select Initial Shape(), Get Size()) and friend func-
tion (Area()) determining the initial cross-sectional
area required. Member data type is the parameter
representing the initial billet geometry, which can be
described by prescribing member function (Select Ini-
tial Shape()). In the present investigation, only square
type is available as an initial billet geometry since it is
widely used for the shape rolling of bars. Member
data B represents the width of the material and can
be input by prescribing member function (Get Size()).
Member data area means the cross-sectional area of
the material, which can be determined automatically
by friend function (Area()) in the program. Fig. 5. Searching the roll pass tree for the rolling of a square bar
based on backward chaining.
2.2.2. FS class
This consists of the data representing the final
shape (type, B, area), member function (Select Final
Shape(), Get Size()) and friend function (Area()) simi- mining the roll pass and profile for the corresponding
lar to IS class. Member data type represents the pass. Here, EC represents the elongation coefficient
parameter indicating the final product geometry, for the given pass. Member data type can select one
which can be described by prescribing member func- of the five basic geometries as defined in Section 2.1.
tion (Select Final Shape()). In the present program Once the pass profile and cross-sectional area have
square and round shapes are available. Member data been determined by the pass selection database
B represents the size of the final geometry, which (PSDB) and the elongation coefficient database
can be described by prescribing member function (ECDB), then the geometry factors such as B, H, R,
(Get Size()). For square and round shapes, the di- R2, a and s can be determined by member function
mension of the side length and the diameter will be (Calculate Pass Data()) for each pass.
prescribed, respectively.
2.3. Roll pass selection rule
2.2.3. IT class
This consists of a parameter InitTemp representing The roll pass should be determined accurately, since
the initial billet temperature, member function (Get it governs the determination of the elongation coeffi-
Temp()) and friend function (CR Temp()) calculating cient, the previous and following types of the roll
the change of temperature. profiles and the geometry factors. The arbitrary pass
sequence as shown in Fig. 1 is determined empirically
2.2.4. GN class according to existing design rules. By comparing the
This consists of a parameter (Name, Ys, Us, Temp) pass sequences between roundboxround and
and two member functions for selecting the material
roundovalround, the latter sequence is favorable in
type (Select Material()) and for determining varia-
terms of rolling efficiency. In addition, lap formation
tions of the material properties depending on temper-
might be likely for the case of the boxround se-
ature (ETemp()). Member data Name represents the
quence.
name of the material, Ys the yield strength of the
material, Us the ultimate tensile strength of the ma- In the present investigation, the feasible passes were
terial and Temp the relationship between the yield determined from the final product geometry to the
strength and temperature. Therefore, the material type initial billet geometry in reverse order based on back-
can be described easily by prescribing member func- ward chaining [20] as shown in Fig. 5. Then, the
tion (Select Material()), since the material informa- program automatically selects, the pass with the mini-
tion is stored as database in the system. mum number of passes and the minimal errors be-
tween the inferred final pass and the given
2.2.5. Pass class information as an input. In this figure, Layer repre-
This consists of member data of the geometry fac- sents the inferring stage. Since the final pass consists
tors (type, B, H, R, R2, a, s, area, EC) for each pass of three sequential passes including the final pass, it
and member function (Calculate Pass Data()) deter- was represented as a single pass in the same figure.
 S.-H. Kim, Y.-T. Im / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 145151 149

According to the backward chaining procedure, Ln

represents the ongoing inferring stage. Then, branch
can be generated as feasible passes for Ln + 1. By
applying ECDB for all branches between Ln and Ln + 1,
the elongation coefficient for each pass from Ln is
estimated. Once it is determined, then, the cross-sec-
tional area can be determined for each pass of Ln + 1.
When the same geometries were selected at this stage,
the pass with the maximum reduction of area is selected
by comparing the cross-sectional areas and, then, other
passes are branched out to improve the efficiency of
inference.
In Table 1, the rule bases used for pass selection in
the program are summarized. In this table, Node and
Link represent the point where inference begins and
the inferred solution is available for the current infer-
ence point, respectively. Rotation is the rotating angle Fig. 6. Display of the pass sequence determined by the developed
of the material or rolls required during shape rolling. system for the rolling of a square bar.

2.4. Rule for the selection of the elongation coefficient 3. Applications

The selection of the elongation coefficient in the
process design of shape rolling is of importance to
reduce the formation of laps and fins and under-filling
also. In general, it depends on the pattern of the passes,
the type of passes (finishing pass, sizing pass and rough-
ing pass), the material type and the processing condi-
tions. In the present development, the rules available in
ref. [2] were summarized in ECDB, which consists of
pre-condition and result parts. Here, result part repre-
sents the elongation coefficient.
2.5. Determination of the engineering data
The engineering data valuable for process designers
such as roll separating force, reduction of cross-sec-
tional area and elongation coefficient for each pass can
be provided in a graph to the users, based on the
empirical rules available in ref. [2].
3.1. Shape rolling of a square bar
In the present investigation, the shape rolling of an
initial billet with a square cross-section of 100100
mm2 to a final geometry of 3030 mm2 is considered.
The material used is AISI1020 and the initial billet
temperature is assumed to be 1000C.
Fig. 6 depicts the designed process sequence obtained
from the system with the given input data. The total
number of roll passes designed was eight, consisting of
sequential passes of squareovalsquare. This is due to
the large reduction of cross-sectional area for the given
pass sequence. Although it is not shown in this paper
because of space limitations, a detailed drawing with
the dimensions for each pass is available from the
system.

Table 1
Structure of PSDB rule-base used in roll pass designing

Node (i-th pass) Link ((i1)th pass) Rotation (Deg.)

Round Oval 90
Oval Square 45
Box 90
Round 90
Square Diamond 90
Oval 90
Diamond Square 90
Oval 90
Box Box 90 Fig. 7. Display of the area reduction at each rolling step for the
rolling of a square bar.
150 S.-H. Kim, Y.-T. Im / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 145151

Fig. 8. Display of the roll separating force at each rolling step for the Fig. 9. Display of the pass sequence determined by the developed
rolling of a square bar. system for the rolling of a round bar.

Fig. 7 shows the reduction of cross-sectional area for The roll profiles used for manufacturing the cylindri-
each pass for the same process. If it is extremely cal bar are given in Fig. 11(a). They ave produced a
unbalanced for a particulat pass, redesigning of the round bar of diameter 0.225 in. from the initial square
process sequence might be necessary. Therefore, a billet of 1.125 1.125 in2 through 11 passes. In Fig.
graphical display of such information might be benefi- 11(b), the process sequence obtained from the devel-
cial for the process designer. oped program for the same geometry is given. Accord-
The roll separating force for each pass is displayed in ing to this result, the total number of passes was
Fig. 8. For the initial stages of shape rolling, the values reduced from 11 to 10.
are relatively large because of the size of the initial By comparing the two figures it was determined that
billet. However, they decrease as the cross-sectional the squareovalsquare pass is favorable as before and
area decreases. The values are minimum for the last the two results are almost similar except for the initial
two passes, where finishing passes apply due to the stage.
small size of the product and the low reduction of area In Fig. 11(a), two oval passes were used: however,
required. these two stages were merged into one oval pass in Fig.
11(b). This might be due to the conservative design
practice used in industry to reduce the roll separating
3.2. Shape rolling of a cylindrical bar force and possible lap formation. Other than this, it can
be construed that the developed system reasonably
The system was applied for manufacturing a cylindri-
cal bar with a diameter of 10 mm from a square bar of
50 50 mm2. The material is AISI1020 and the initial
billet temperature is assumed as 900C.
In Fig. 9, the designed process sequence is given.
From this figure, it was found that a square oval
square pass sequence is favorable as before, because of
the same reason. At the initial pass, the oval pass was
not chosen although it offers the higher reduction of
cross-sectional area. Instead, the diamond pass was
selected because of the hierarchy of design rules set up
for selecting the pass with the lower calibration value
for the elongation coefficient required when the same
number of passes is determined.
The roll separating forces are compared for the same
process sequences in Fig. 10. As before, the value was
maximum at the third oval pass and should be reduced
if there is any necessity to reduce the maximum roll Fig. 10. Display of the roll separating force at each rolling step for
separating forces due to machine capacity. the rolling of a round bar.
 S.-H. Kim, Y.-T. Im / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 8990 (1999) 145151
Fig. 11. Comparison of pass sequences for bar rolling between: (a)
practice (unit: inch); and (b) the developed system (unit: mm).
regenerates the process sequence design used in
practice.
4. Conclusions
The knowledge-based expert system for determining
the roll passes and profiles for the shape rolling of
square and round bars from a square billet has been
developed with C + + language and object oriented pro-
gramming. From applications of the developed pro-
gram, the following conclusions are obtained:
1. The design knowledge-base was constructed from
interviews with the design engineers and existing
references.
2. Based on such a knowledge-base, the backward
chaining algorithm was developed to automatically
determine the intermediate roll passes. The practical
application demonstrates that the square oval . MA, 1992.
151
square pass sequence was favorably selected due to
the optimization of minimizing the number of roll
passes and maximizing the reduction of cross-sec-
tional area.
3. Comparison of the roll separating forces shows that
the maximum values are found to occur at the initial
stage of the oval pass due to the large elongation
coefficient and the size of the initial billet. Thus,
redesigning should be applied to such an initial oval
pass in order to reduce the maximum roll separating
forces.
4. The developed program successfully regenerates the
process sequence for the shape rolling of a round
bar. However, it will be beneficial to develop a
case-based expert system that can utilize any exist-
ing roll profiles for producing new products from an
economical point of view.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the Grant from the Korea
Science Foundation (95-0200-14-04-3), under which this
research work was possible.
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