Roll Form Tooling Design Using FEA Simulation

PROFIL roll form tooling design software from UBECO Gmbh (Iserlohn, Germany) has a new FEA (finite element analysis) post processor for simulation of the roll forming process. This is becoming more important with the need of designed rolls to be checked before manufacturing to decide whether they are able to produce the desired product.

For this purpose, PROFIL uses an interface to the leading FEA system LS-DYNA. This feature of the updated software uses a powerful post processor that enables evaluation of the the FEA simulation results. Sectional views of the sheet within the rolls, at any machine position or after leaving the machine, are created by simply pressing keys. The rolls can be inserted (as either 2D cross-sections or, alternatively, as 3D solids) in order to check the position of the sheet within the roll tools. Inserting the designed flower pattern enables target/actual comparison. Stress and strain are shown by the usual FEA color views.

PROFIL also creates graphs of the stress, strain, and thickness reduction as a function of the sheet position in the machine. These functions are tailored to the special needs of the roll form designer and help to evaluate the FEA result. The FEA simulation is a part of the three steps used in quality management by roll form tool designers.

Other parts are the “Stress of Band Edge” that works simultaneously while designing the flower pattern, and the “Profile Stress Analysis” (PSA) for calculating the estimated stress within the whole profile cross-section.

UBECO GmbH, Baarstr. 121, D-58636 Iserlohn, Germany, +49-2371-9771-0, Fax: +49-2371-45550, [email protected], www.ubeco.com.