Seven Rules of Rollforming

1.

The material being formed must use the same length at each forming operation. If the length of material varies from one forming operation to another, unnecessary stresses can build up causing problems such as ripples, herringboning and double bending.

2.

Stresses in the formed elements and the sheet edges must be well within the yield stress of the material. Stress levels above the yield stress will cause the material to increase in length and subsequently create either a wave on the strip edge, or cause the section to curve away from the stressed edge where the two edges are turned up. In the case of a section with one up-turned edge and one down-turned edge, the stress will manifest as a twist along the length of the sheet. On thinner materials high stresses usually manifest themselves as a herringbone effect.

3.

The material spring back must be allowed for by over bending. Unless an allowance is made for spring back the outer forms will lie back, and where humps or similar are formed in the centre of the section the overall cover width will expand.

4.

The neutral axis must be used wherever possible. Forming on the neutral axis creates equal stresses of a lower order than base line forming and will produce a level section on exiting the forming process. Base line forming on higher sided profiles will normally create a downward curve in the sheet.

5.

The peripheral speed of the roll contact faces should be constant within a small tolerance. When the peripheral speed of a roll varies to that of the linear speed of the section being formed scuffing will occur. This will result in damage to the surface of the material and reduced roll life. Opening up the gap between top and bottom rolls to reduce the scuffing will cause malformation of the profile.

6.

The line of the form over the forming stations must be convex. If a line taken over the tops of the push up rolls over the forming stations does not form a convex shape, the leading edge of the sheet passing over the final form roll will lift clear of the intermediate form rolls. This lifting will cause increased stresses in the sheet at the final rolls.

7.

When a roll pushes up a bend there should be a corresponding roll to bend about. When a form roll pushes on the section, if there is not a roll for it to bend about the form will take the easiest route, usually bending the section away from the roll.