Cold Rolling Profile Production with Pre-Bending and Thickness Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cold-rolling processes for producing profiles from one-piece rolling stock are inefficient in material usage and cost-effective, particularly for profiles with varying thickness, as they often result in internal stresses and warping due to friction and rigidity, and are limited in reducing the number of stations required in the rolling mill.
Innovation Solution
The process involves bending the starting material along the rolling direction and reshaping it in the width direction with regional thickness reduction, where the bend is formed prior to or during thickness reduction, allowing for a larger spread with the same number of stations and canceling auxiliary bends before forming the reduced-thickness profile, using laterally offset forming regions and counter-rollers for support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If the starting material is reduced in thickness by single-stage rolling, then material is saved, but internal stresses and severe warping occur due to friction and rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The thickness reduction process is divided into multiple rolling stages instead of single-stage rolling. Each stage reduces the thickness incrementally, allowing the material to gradually adapt to the deformation and reducing internal stresses and warping while still achieving overall material savings.
Solution Approach 2:
Bent sections are formed in advance before the thickness reduction process. These pre-formed bends serve as guiding features that control the material flow during subsequent rolling stages, preventing uncontrolled warping and internal stress accumulation while enabling effective thickness reduction.
2Productivity
If the number of rolling mill stations is reduced, then productivity increases, but the ability to produce profiles with varying thickness is limited
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are combined into fewer rolling stations. The stations perform both bending operations (creating auxiliary bends) and thickness reduction operations in an integrated manner, eliminating the need for separate dedicated stations for each function and thereby reducing the total number of stations required.
Solution Approach 2:
The rolling process uses dynamically adjustable parameters including variable bend radii, adjustable reduction amounts at different locations, and flexible positioning of forming regions. This allows a reduced number of stations to achieve diverse cross-sectional designs by adapting the process parameters rather than requiring dedicated stations for each profile type.
3Manufacturing precision
If auxiliary bends are canceled before forming the reduced-thickness profile, then surface quality is maintained, but additional process steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary bends are periodically formed and then periodically canceled in an alternating sequence during the rolling process. This periodic formation and cancellation allows the material to be temporarily shaped for structural integrity during rolling, then restored to the desired final profile shape, maintaining surface quality while managing process complexity through rhythmic operational cycles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method reduces material usage, minimizes internal stresses, and allows for a more flexible cross-sectional design while maintaining surface quality, enabling the production of profiles with multiple reduced-thickness sections using fewer rolling mill stations.
Implementation Method 1
reshaping the starting material in the width direction of the starting material with a regional reduction in thickness of the starting material
Implementation Method 2
due to the friction transverse to the roll and the rigidity of the flat rolling stock, the material reduction is only converted into a stretching in the longitudinal direction
Data Source
Figure 1A~2
Figure 3A~3D
AI summary
A cold rolling process for producing a profile from a single piece of rolled material as starting material (6) by means of forming areas (38) of rolls (36) that serve the forming process comprises the process steps: - bending the starting material (6) by applying at least one bent section (8) extending along the rolling direction, and - forming the starting material (6) in the width direction of the starting material (6) by reducing the thickness of the starting material (6) in certain areas.