Experimental and Numerical Determination of Roll Forming Loads

Metal forming companies are confronted with increasing customer requirements and qualitative demands. In the course of tighter tolerances and use of harder materials the roll forming process need to be aligned optimally to the profile´s specification. Especially in the case of complex cross sections the simulation of the forming process is a valuable aid. One challenge of reliable simulations is the consideration of the interaction between sheet metal and tools. Due to their simplification, e.g. missing roll compliance, rigid body models cannot describe the profile – tool interaction sufficiently. This can lead to big differences between experimentally and numerically obtained loads and stresses. Since verification possibilities are unavailable, a consideration of the mill compliance in simulation models has rarely been considered, if at all. This paper shows options to respect the compliance of roll forming mills in simulations. For verification of the load parameters, e.g. contact normal stress, standardized and new measuring methods are applied