Modelling and simulation of the roll forming process

Abstract: One of the first decisions to make when a new roll forming line is designed is the number of forming steps needed to produce a profile. This is dependent on the material properties, the cross-section geometry and the tolerance requirements. The tool designer wants to minimize the number of forming steps to keep reduce the investment cost for the customer. There are several computer aided engineering (CAE) systems on the market that can assist in the tool design process. These include simple formulas to predict the deformation during the forming. In recent years it has also been possible to use FE-analysis to investigate the deformations in the profile during the forming. The objectives with this thesis were to create a FE-model and improve the simple formulas and thereby give better design of roll forming machines. A FE-model has been build to investigate the roll forming of a U-channel, paper A. The model has been used to investigate the longitudinal peak membrane strain and the deformation length when increased yield strength, paper B. The simulation shows that the peak strain decreases and the deformation length increases when the yield strength increases. In paper C a two-level factorial design is used together with FE-analysis to investigate which parameters that affect the peak strain and the deformation length. The parameters are used to create improved formulas for the peak strain and the deformation length.