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Do’s and Don'ts of roll forming design Here in a nutshell is what desig should and should not do when designing roll formed shapes. Only the imagination limits the po- tential applications for call formed shapes. When designing a product, do not limit thinking to shapes al: ready soen, to straight shapes oF to shapes which appear easy to make. Think in terms of bending metal into the shapes really wanted. Two shapes can even be joined to make one. The roll forming process produces a high quality produet. By its very na ture, it permits close tolerances for either heavy- oF light-gauge material and provides unitorm shapes and di- mensions, Finished shapes have an excellent appearance (with no die marks even on precoated material), and the roll forming process lends it. seit to fine detail, As these attributes have become more widely known, designs and ap- plications using roll formed shapes have increased steadily, so that nearly every industry in the country utilizes these shapes in its products, As the Denefits of using acustom roll former {a help design and produce desired shapes become apparent, more and more companies are turning te cus- tom producers for their needs. They have found that the custom roll former can supply needed parts be- cause it is nis full time job, not a Sideline. and he has had experience in creating many shapes in the most economical manner possible, curving Because roll formad shapes have uniform cross sections, they aro as- ily Bent. When rings of segments of rings are required, shapes can be curved fo unitorm radii at the rolling machine without wrinkles and with- ut disturbing a pratinished surface. Holices ace also possible. Consider material elongation In dasigning parts for rings 19 help eliminate wrink- les and fractures. Usually, the more ners elongation a materialhas, the easier it is to bend, Where curves are not @ constant radius, the uniformity of ral formed shapes makes them ideal for stiotehing or tangent bending Preplercing is the fabrication of a series or pattorn of holes in the flat strip before forming, itis done in one continuous operation together with roll forming and, theretore, ean be @ cost saver. Repatitive piercing, asina wallboard plaster bead or sh will minimize the piercing too! cost, bbocause a small die can be used. Postplercing is piercing in the line with forming, but after the part is, formed. Its part of a sequence of ‘operations, all of which are per- formed without handling, and is therfore very officiont. If piercing natching or tabbing is required at either or both ends of the part, keep the pattern of holes and notches close to the end of the part, so that these operations need not throughout the full lngth of the part Often, thisis less expensive and more desirable than prepiercing, because better dimensional accuracy trom the ‘end of the partis attainable. Forming in tine ‘Welding dimples or projections can ‘be formed while the parts are being rolled to improve accuracy in the finished part and save money. Tabs. stops or raised areas can also be formed. Almost any matertal obtainable in ‘coils can b@ roll formed, The material should be as ductile as design ‘strength will allow; this allows crisp esign, sharp comers,and ing. When high-strength a other alloys are used, bend radii specitied by the mill should be fol lowed. In many circumstances, bend radii can be reduced Guldes for economy ‘» The shape should not be toa deep, = Since the raw stock is sheet metal, the part should have uniform thick: ness throughout. However, thickness may be increased by folding the mate- rial to double thickness. © Ifwide,flatareas arerequired atthe: edge of a part, consider using small stiffening ribs. The part will stay tlat- ter and be much stranger, © Whan planning a leg, as with an angle or a channel, the length of the lag should not be tess than three times the thickness of the material This also applies when hemming or bending the material back on itselt ‘© When planning prepiercing where location is not eritical, design the pat- tern to be repetitive without specity- ing the location of the beginning of the pattern from the and of tho part. ‘© When the propiercing pattern is critical and not repetitive within the part, try todesignitto be less than 6 ;cing pattern is used which requires holes in a specitic area rel tive tothe end of the part, try tokeap it more than 1/2 in. (but within 4 in.) from the ond of the part. The follawing tolerances are guidelines only. It more restrictive tolerances are required, define them clearly and discuss them with the roll, forming producer. If possibie, asam- ple assembly drawing should be supplied to illustrate the use of the part and the argas whare tighter tal- erances are required. When agree ment with the roll formar is reached, the drawing of the pact becomas part of the purchase order. PRECISION METAU/Feruery 1981 -anid| undarstanc Glutions-that—| iBlines-ahd-technict ranges rustomers'rised to kane his srmratt —} -and-Optts:of Rolforming dass pot seem tp be nts ippese-butig 1 a Gross-section toleranc = 0.031 In. on fractional dimen- sions + 0.010 on decimal dimensions = 1" on angular dimensions Straightness camber) 0.015 maximum deviation per ft of length erences (bow or Twist tolerance 12° maximum deviation per foot of length Length tolerance for parts 0.026 thickness and heavier ‘= 0.015 in. on parts up to 38in. long + 0.030 in, on parts 96 to 96 in, = 0.060 in. on parts 96 to 144 in (more on longer lengths) Length tolerance for parts 0.015 through 0.025 thickness = 0.020 on parts up to 36 in. tong + 0.047 on parts 36 to 96 in. = 0.096 on parts 96 to 144 in. (more ‘on longer lengths) A few more do's and dents which may help product designers when considering roll forming fora particu- lar shape: © Use maximum bend radii permissi- ble. Aninsidebend radius of less than the material thickness will lessen roll to eliminate twist in the finished part © Design parts so that holes, slots and notches are not distorted due to placementtoo close to or directly ona bendline. © Donot ask for tolerances which are closer than necessary. This will greatly increase the cost of both the tooling and the finished part. Reprinted from Precision Metal, Feb 1981. Copy right 1961. Penton Pub. Ine. [When section hararollformon ont end and-ewide faton the other snd yarthe end tomatntain straightness. PRECISION METAUFebruary 198),

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