Flat Rolling: Roll-Bite Deformation & Neutral Point Simulator

Shape rolling squeezes metal to a thinner cross-section by passing it between two rotating rolls — the workhorse process behind sheet, plate and strip production. This simulator renders a real 3D roll bite: adjust the draft, roll radius, friction coefficient and roll speed, and watch the strip taper from entry thickness h₀ to exit thickness h₁ exactly as the bite-angle geometry dictates. Colour-coded segments mark the backward-slip zone (where the faster roll surface drags the strip in) and the forward-slip zone (where the accelerating, thinning strip outruns the roll), separated by the neutral point computed from the standard rolling-mechanics approximation. Live readouts track contact length, neutral-point position, entry/exit strip speed and an estimated roll-separating force from the friction-hill model, and a warning appears if the chosen draft exceeds the μ²R self-feeding limit that governs whether the rolls can bite the strip at all.