Analysis of Flexible Roller Parameters Influences on Roll Forming of Three-Dimensional Parts

Roll forming is a well known bending process and sheet metals can only be machined into two-dimensional surfaces in traditional roll forming. While with more and more personalized demands, three-dimensional surfaces are widely required. Thus, flexible rollers are used to achieve three-dimensional surfaces. And in order to optimize experimental parameters and to predict experimental results, finite element method (FEM) is developed. In this paper the set-up of flexible roll-forming is described and the process of roll forming is simulated. Then the influences of forming parameters, such as the thickness and the roll velocity, on forming quality of the sheet metal in roll forming process are discussed. The results show that the analysis of flexible roller parameters is practical for the continuous and efficient forming of three-dimensional surfaces.