Abstract: Based on ABAQUS finite element software， dynamic coupling process about three-dimensional conventional rolling and differential thickness rolling for thick steel plates were simulated by an explicit dynamic algorithm. The flow feature and the stress/strain distribution in the distorted region were obtained， the variation laws of rolling force and rolling moment during the process of conventional rolling and differential thickness rolling were studied and the improvement of the biting condition of steel plate during rolling process was analyzed. The results of the differential thickness rolling process show that the reasonable process for the differential rolling can overcome the bite limit of slab rolling， reduce the influence of peak torque caused by head impact and increase the penetration of the core deformation thickness of thick steel plate. Moreover， it can also improve the deformation uniformity and microstructure uniformity at a certain degree.

Key words: differential thickness rolling, rolling process, numerical simulation, rolling load, deformation uniformity