ROLL FORMING MACHINES
Roll Forming is a continuous metal forming process which bends or “forms” sheets, strips or coiled stock into predesigned shapes or profiles by passing the metal between successive pairs of rolls that increasingly (gradually) shape it till the desired cross section is achieved, thereby adding strength and rigidity to light weight metals. Except for a slight thinning of the metal at the bend radius, the metal thickness does not get altered.

Almost any material that can be formed to the desired radius at room temperature can be roll-formed. The more ductile the material, the better it will form. This process can handle ferrous, non-ferrous, hot rolled, cold rolled, polished, plated or pre-painted materials as well.

Metals as thin as 0.127 mm and as thick as 19 mm can be roll formed depending on the machinery.

Normally cross sectional tolerances from +/- 0.25 mm to +/- 0.78 mm can be achieved but if better tolerances are required, a material that is amenable to such tolerance should be chosen.

ROLLS SHOULD BE DESIGNED FOR A PARTICULAR MACHINE AND INTERCHANGING THEM CAN LEAD TO MALFORMATION OF PROFILES.

TYPICAL TOLERANCES
Angular tolerance +/- 1°.
Twist should be less than 5° in 3 m length of formed section.
Length of leg should be 3 times the material thickness.
Bend radius should be equal to or greater than material thickness.
Springback can be engineered out during tool design by overforming the material beyond its anticipated shape. Endflare can be eliminated or atleast, reduced, by proper tool design.

OPERATING PARAMETERS
The variable parameters in the roll forming operation include power requirement, speed, complexity of profile, number of rolling stations etc. These parameters are determined by the type of material, its width, thickness, coating on material if any, and the accuracy required.

Apart from these, auxiliary operations such as prepunching, embossing, curving, coiling, and cut-off also influence the parameters of roll forming operation.

APPLICATIONS
1.Automotive
2. Trucks & Buses
3. Building Construction
4. Highway Construction
5. Office Furniture
6. Home Appliances
7. Rolling Shutters
8. Traffic Barriers
9. Bicycle rims
10. Medical Equipment
11. Marine Constructio0n
12. Agriculture Equipment
13. Railways
14. Heating Ventilation & Airconditioning (HVAC)
15. Aircrafts
16. Corrugated Roofings.
AND MANY MORE.

A ROLL FORMING LINE CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING UNITS:

REEL CARRIER / DECOILER

This carries the strips in a coil form. Fabricated out of thick steel sections, welded and stress relieved, it can be motor driven as well as dual loading to reduce change over time, for which in-line coil accumulators and strip end joiners can also be provided. Loading platforms for heavy coils with sliding arrangement can be provided.

LOOP CONTROLLERS
Inline accumulation may necessitate loop controllers wherever required. This unit controls the length of accumulation in the loop.

SIDE UNIT
This can be mounted in between stations to provide side support and apply force along the horizontal axis to generate profile.

SPPED CONTROLLER
This unit controls the speed of decoiling and can be varied continuously over the range, with inching option.

PUNCHING PRESS
These can notch or punch holes in strips prior to forming which would be difficult or impossible to punch after forming.

CURVATURE UNIT
Where a particular curvature has to be given to the formed length, this unit has adjustable rollers that can be set to curve the lengths to the desired radius.

CUTOFF UNIT
This is a precision engineered fly-cut off which cuts the profiles to desired lengths while they are moving and the forming process need not be stopped to cut the pieces.

STRIP-END DETECTION
In mass production any downtime becomes important hence a strip end detection unit along with a welding unit can be provided.

RUN-OFF TABLE
After the formed lengths are cut, they are stacked on this run-off table for further processing or packing

ROLL FORMING DIES
These are the most critical parts of the machine which finally ensure the corrections and quality of the formed profile.

These rolls are designed through computer aided design (CAD) process by generating FLOWER DIAGRAMS that depict the anticipated, progressive flow of the strip, through the dies.

These dies are made of tool steel oil hardened and tempered (H & T) upto HRc 57-60, High carbon, high chrome tool steel oil H & T upto HRc 59-60, as well as cast aluminium bronze for deep sections.

The rolls can be chrome plated to sustain highly polished finish, or prevent painted surfaces from being damaged.

CONTROL PANEL
A stand alone panel which houses all the MCBs, variable speed drives alongwith switches and indicators.

A mobile panel which can either be mounted on a trolley or an overhead rail so that it can be moved to the place along the machine, where required. This houses the main control switches including INCHING & EMERGENCY SWITCH OFF as well.