Elongation Rule of the Longitudinal Fiber of the Continuous Roll Forming Part

Abstract

Continuous roll forming is a novel technique for low-cost, high-efficient manufacturing of three-dimensional surface part. Comparing with conventional continuous forming (using at least three rolls), continuous roll forming employs an upper and a lower flexible rolls to shape the sheet metal. The desired forming shape can be obtained by controlling the profile of the flexible roll and the gap between upper and lower flexible rolls. Modeling and simulation of the continuous roll forming process based on finite element analyses is established to investigate the elongation rule of the longitudinal fiber of the continuous roll forming part. The length of the longitudinal fiber at different positions across the thickness direction is discussed, and the mechanism of the longitudinal deformation is clarified. The following conclusions are obtained. When the flexible roll profile and the roll gap distribution meet certain conditions and make length of the longitudinal fiber linearly distributed, the longitudinal deformation of the sheet metal can be generated.