Computer-Aided Design and Manufacture of Rolls for Cold Roll Forming Machines

Summary

The process of cold roll forming is well established and its range of application is continually widening. However, the manufacture of the rolls themselves, by manual methods in both drawing office and workshop, is a difficult and time-consuming stage in the production of cold roll forming machines. This paper explains the role which can be played by the digital computer to reduce the time and effort involved in the design and manufacture of rolls by accurately depicting the required profile of the material at each stage of forming, in producing manufacturing drawings of rolls and in producing NC tapes for the manufacture of rolls on NC lathes.

Following a study of available computer aids for part programming, which, in general, were shown to be uneconomic for the one-off production required for rolls of this type, special-purpose processors have been written for two NC lathes and sets of rolls have been manufactured. Throughout the whole project a great deal of care has been taken to ensure that the process is commercially viable, and considerable time and cost savings for both design and manufacture have been achieved.