Experimental investigations of the roll load and roll torque when high strength steel is roll formed

The cold roll forming process is a highly efficient process used to produce profiles for many applications, for example vehicles, buildings, domestic machines, etc. Therefore, its market share is increasing every year. Many of the above products are already today made of high strength steel and the usage of these materials will likely continue to increase. The objectives of this project are to find how the roll load and roll torque are influenced by the yield strength of the material. Full-scale experiments have been performed. U-channels made of different materials from mild to ultra high strength steels have been formed. The roll torque is measured during the process using a torque sensor mounted between the tool and the power transmission. Used power is also calculated with help of the motor current. The roll load is measured with load cells mounted on both side of the roll forming tool. The experimental result will increase the understanding of the specific conditions for roll forming steels with increasing yield strength. The result can be used to support the roll machine designer to choose machine elements and power unit for these applications. Furthermore, the result can also be compared with finite element simulations in order to improve and validate simulation models. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.