Vehicle Crossmember Roll Forming Without Finish Machining
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complex production methods required for crossmembers in aircraft, which involve both deformation and machining steps, necessitate a simpler and more efficient method to produce crossmembers without relying on machining processes.
Innovation Solution
A method involving flat roll forming to achieve varying thicknesses and a preliminary contour in a metal sheet, followed by cutting and bending roll forming to create a crossmember with specific geometrical shapes and thickness profiles, eliminating the need for finish-machining and allowing for a three-dimensional structure without machining.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If complex deformation and machining steps are used to produce crossmembers, then the geometrical shape and thickness profile can be achieved, but the production process becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The method applies preliminary flat roll forming to the metal sheet before bending roll forming, creating the desired thickness profile and preliminary contour in advance. This preliminary action prepares the workpiece so that the subsequent bending roll forming can directly achieve the final geometrical shape without requiring additional machining steps, thus resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and production complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines flat roll forming and bending roll forming into a single integrated production process that eliminates the need for separate machining steps. By merging these forming operations, the method achieves complex geometrical shapes and thickness profiles while simplifying the overall production process and reducing the number of discrete operations required
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple production steps including machining are used, then the crossmember can be produced with required precision, but the production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The method employs continuous roll forming processes for both flat and bending operations, eliminating interruptions between steps. The metal sheet undergoes continuous deformation through the roll forming machinery, maintaining productive action throughout the entire forming sequence without the need for stopping, repositioning, or switching to discrete machining operations, thereby improving production efficiency while maintaining precision
Solution Approach 2:
By performing flat roll forming to create the thickness profile and preliminary contour before the bending roll forming step, the method prepares the workpiece in advance with the exact characteristics needed for the final shape. This preliminary action prevents the need for corrective machining operations later, ensuring both precision and productivity are achieved in a streamlined sequence
3Manufacturing precision
If machining steps are employed to achieve the desired shape, then the crossmember geometry can be precisely controlled, but the mechanical properties uniformity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces traditional machining operations with roll forming processes that deform the metal sheet through controlled plastic flow. This substitution eliminates the discontinuous material removal and re-hardening cycles inherent in machining, which cause non-uniform mechanical properties. The roll forming process maintains more uniform grain structure and mechanical properties throughout the crossmember while still achieving precise geometrical control through the forming tooling
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 simplifies the production process, saves time, and ensures uniform mechanical properties by forming crossmembers with precise thickness and shape profiles, suitable for supporting aircraft floor structures without the need for machining, thus enhancing production efficiency and mechanical stability.
Implementation Method 1
flat roll forming to achieve different local thicknesses and a preliminary contour
Implementation Method 2
bending roll forming the workpiece to form a crossmember with a cross section
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing a crossmember for a vehicle prepares a workpiece having different thicknesses and a preliminary contour from a metal sheet of uniform thickness by flat roll forming to achieve different local thicknesses. The method cuts out the workpiece, and bending roll forms the workpiece to form a crossmember with a cross section having at least two flanges opposite one another, and a web situated between said flanges. The distance between the flanges is not constant along a longitudinal extent of the crossmember, and a thickness profile at least of the web is determined by the flat roll forming. The local thicknesses and the preliminary contour are such that a geometrical shape of the crossmember corresponds to a predetermined geometrical shape with different thicknesses and heights of the web and differently shaped regions of the flanges along the longitudinal extent of the crossmember.