Content tagged with "roll-forming"
Results: 33
Article
December 2, 2009
Roll forming gets flexible
Figure 1 A roll forming system with fully automated adjustments can run a variety of part gauges, web widths, and flange heights. Photo courtesy of Formtek Metal Forming Inc. The economy has changed the roll forming business, some say for good. For decades many roll formers have... Read more...
Article
August 6, 2009
Rotary punching revisited
New ways to increase production, reduce labor costs, and maximize floor space may be found by revisiting a 50-year-old technology—rotary punching.
Many part features and patterns can be punched and formed (see Figure 1 ) using pull-through rotary units at up to 300 feet per minute... Read more...
Article
March 10, 2009
Continuous improvement for roll forming - Part I
Editor's Note: This article is the first of a two-part series.
Can you find a hidden roll former or tube/pipe mill in your shop? It is on your plant floor, but not necessarily in plain sight. Most roll formers and many mills produce at a rate far below their true potential. Rather than... Read more...
Article
September 30, 2008
Understanding bending, moving material in roll forming
Figure 1 Click image to view larger The flower diagram for a formed box shows two distinct forming actions: rotation and horizontal movement. In simple terms, roll forming is a matter of shaping material using localized deformation with a large amount of material movement. Localized... Read more...
Article
May 13, 2008
Edge treatments for roll formed parts
According to data gathered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the steel industry's safety record improves every year, especially in injury severity. Because the incidence of lost-time(severe) injuries has fallen more quickly than... Read more...
Article
April 15, 2008
Rolling to market - Part II
Automation can significantly reduce downtime between coils. Editor's Note: The following is the second article in a two-part series on shrinking time to market in roll forming. Part I , which appeared in the March issue, covered on-site roll forming technology. This article was adapted... Read more...
Article
April 15, 2008
Rolling to market - Part II
Automation can significantly reduce downtime between coils. Editor's Note: The following is the second article in a two-part series on shrinking time to market in roll forming. Part I , which appeared in the March issue, covered on-site roll forming technology. This article was adapted... Read more...
Article
March 11, 2008
Rolling to market - Part I
Roll tooling that can perform more work in less space has made portable, on-site roll forming a viable technology.
Editor's Note: The following is the first article in a two-part series on shrinking time to market in roll forming. Part II , which will appear in the April issue, will... Read more...
Article
December 11, 2007
Article
December 11, 2007
Article
April 10, 2007
Roll form tooling design for air bending
When a bend is formed with the air bending process (air bend), the interior of the bending corner can't be reached by either the top roll or the bottom roll, making it difficult to control the part's profile and dimensions. Figure 1 illustrates a typical air bend. The theoretical formed profile... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2007
Roll forming high-strength materials
Figure 1 A forming force that exceeds a material's yield strength results in plastic deformation, which holds the metal in the shape to be formed, and elastic deformation, which results in springback. The light crosshatched pattern indicates the areas of plastic deformation. The heavy... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2007
Is metal roofing fabrication right for your shop?
In recent years the metal building industries have grown substantially. According to the Metal Roofing Alliance, the residential metal roofing market doubled its market share from 3 percent to 6 percent in five years. To take advantage of this growth, more fabricators are increasing the... Read more...
Article
September 12, 2006
Stud-maker throws church building a curve
The 60-ft.-dia. hybrid frame—made of a plate steel skeleton and light-gauge steel ribs—converges from a platerolled base to an 8-ft. dia. plate steel compression ring in the dome's apex. Architecture firm Williams/O'Brien Associates Inc., Minneapolis, was pleased to be... Read more...
Article
September 12, 2006
Holding the line on metal costs
Minimizing coil processing scrap maximizes yield. Nearly everyone who processes metal—aluminum, carbon, or stainless steel—is concerned about scrap loss. Scrap loss in coil processing operations, such as slitting, cut-to-length, and stamping, often is overlooked. Finding... Read more...
Article
August 8, 2006
Opening the gate to efficiency
Dotting the rolling landscape on U.S. 127 in Kentucky, just south of Danville, are a half-dozen small gate manufacturers. As is typical in many rural areas throughout the nation, most of these shops are small operations where people have learned how to use their skills to contribute to... Read more...
Article
July 11, 2006
Roll forming using spring-loaded top rolls
Roll forming using spring-loaded top rolls, in which the top rolls are not held perfectly rigid, is a practical and economical option for many applications. Spring-loaded top rolls have advantages and pitfalls depending on their use, but a well-designed spring-loaded machine will give... Read more...
Article
May 9, 2006
Improving roll forming productivity of roofing components
Photo courtesy of Follansbee Steel, Follansbee, W.V., and the Metal Roofing Alliance. The metal roofing industry has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. Builders expect better-quality parts, quicker lead-times, and lower prices. Prepainted material has mostly replaced... Read more...
Article
December 13, 2005
End distortion on roll formed parts
End distortion is a birthmark caused by the roll forming process. Roll forming—a process in which a flat strip is bent continuously and progressively in the transverse direction by tandem sets of roll tooling—induces residual stresses in compression on the inner surface,... Read more...
Article
December 13, 2005
In the loop on closed-loop roll forming?
In roll forming, nonstop punching and shear systems typically deliver the highest output. Although these systems traditionally have employed open-loop control methods, closed-loop (also called servo-based) systems can yield high line speeds while helping to decrease downtime and reduce... Read more...
Article
November 8, 2005
Reality TV: Frame-making in the U.S.
The A member of the CRT frame is a roll formed strip of chromium molybdenum steel, and the B member is a cold-rolled steel tube cut and bent for the application. When brought together, they form the CRT frame for the front of a television. The game of international trade excites and... Read more...
Article
March 8, 2005
A good start makes a difference
Fig. 1 shows elevation of the entrance guide affects the sectional curvature. Fig. 2 shows an Edge Bent Down Model. In a roll forming line, the entrance guide serves to guide the metal strip into the roll former at the optimum angle and elevation. To achieve the correct feeding... Read more...
Article
January 11, 2005
Roll forming basics
Both roll forming and tube and pipe forming involve bending steel with roller dies, with each pair of rolls working the strip progressively until the desired shape is achieved. How roll forming differs is that it lends itself well to prepunching, midpiercing, and postpunching all inline,... Read more...
Article
April 6, 2004
New bends in the roll
Editor's Note: Allan Flamholz is now president and founder of Trilogy Machinery, Belcamp, Md., the U.S. distributor for ROUNDO in the U.S. as of July 2009. COMEQ Inc., White Marsh, Md., remains a source for roll bending equipment and expertise in rolling plate. Nothing is new about the... Read more...
Article
March 25, 2004
Worn out roll forming tooling and no drawings?
You may have found yourself saying, "I need to make an engineering change to my roll form tooling, but I don't have the roll tooling designs or drawings." Maybe you have a product change; or the tooling is worn out, chipped, or broken; or your company just needs to improve the tooling.... Read more...
Article
September 25, 2003
How important is roll forming lubrication compatibility?
Plant Environment Let's begin with the plant environment. Environmental guidelines mandate safe handling and disposal of lubricants. You must determine if the various lubricants you are using are hazardous, requiring special controls and perhaps, a licensed waste hauler for proper... Read more...
Article
February 27, 2003
Advanced roll forming troubleshooting
If the tooling is fine, you need to begin by dividing the process into three areas: The roll form machine The material being roll formed The setup of the roll form tooling Then start eliminating the areas as potential causes of the problem. Machine Face Alignment One of the most... Read more...
Article
January 16, 2003
Article
July 11, 2002
Working with your people
In this column we've examined roll forming systems and machinery, the importance of using the right material, and tooling and lubrication. Last, but definitely not least, is your most underestimated resource: your people. Your employees people represent one of the most overlooked opportunities... Read more...
Article
June 13, 2002
Examining roll forming machinery, tooling, and lubrication
Last time around we took a closer look at problems in the roll forming process and found that work material generally is not the culprit.
If material is ruled out, what can the problem be? No changes have been made, and the operator and setup people claim that they have done nothing... Read more...
Article
May 16, 2002
Material—Is it always a problem?
Have you ever heard the following? "If we just would purchase the right material, I would have no production problems at all." "My setup is right there, man! You just have to get me the right material!" In most cases bad material is the reason a good production run or setup suddenly does... Read more...
Article
March 28, 2002
Exploring the roll forming process
During roll forming, numerous activities are performed at the same time. Many people, especially those new to this type of manufacturing, are overwhelmed by the high production speed and the complexity of the tooling. Don't despair, even specialists have much to learn. Just ask any machine... Read more...
Article
September 13, 2001
Selecting the right materials for roll forming—Part 1
To manufacture the right product at the right price, roll formers must have the right material. Selecting the best material for a job is an important and difficult task. The designer or material specifier must take a number of factors into consideration. This article presents some information... Read more...
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