Digitalization in roll forming manufacturing

Abstract

Roll formed profiles are used in automotive chassis production as building blocks for the body-in-white. The ability to produce profiles with discontinuous cross sections, both in width and in depth, allows weight savings in the final automotive chassis through the use of load optimized cross sections. This has been the target of the 3D Roll Forming process. A machine concept is presented where a new forming concept for roll formed parts in combination with advanced robotics allowing freely positioned roll forming tooling in 3D space enables the production of complex shapes by roll forming. This is a step forward into the digitalization of roll forming manufacturing by making the process flexible and capable of rapid prototyping and production of small series of parts. Moreover, data collection in a large scale through the control system and integrated sensors lead to an increased understanding of the process and provide the basis to develop self-optimizing roll forming machines, increasing the productivity, quality and predictability of the roll-forming process. The first parts successfully manufactured with this new forming concept are presented.