Optimum design of roll forming process of slide rail using design of experiments

In the design of the roll forming process, design errors can be determined in advance by using an FE simulation tool such as SHAPE-RF. In the case of a product such as a slide rail having a complicated shape and requiring high-precision forming, a standard is necessary for quatitatively evaluating the quality of the formed shape. In the analysis of the roll forming process of a slide rail, the pass having the largest deformation is designated as the target pass and the positions and shapes of the rolls are set as design variables. A minimum number of simulations was performed by using the table of orthogonal arrays. A cost function was obtained from the results by using the design of experiments such as the response surface method and it was minimized for satifying the design constraints. By improving the design of the target pass, the shape of the final product approaches that intended by the designer.