The working principle of cold roll forming equipment revolves around gradually shaping a flat metal sheet or strip into a desired cross-sectional profile through a series of consecutive rolling operations—all performed at room temperature (without heating the material).
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the process:
- Material feeding: A coil of flat metal (such as steel, aluminum, or copper) is loaded onto an uncoiler, which feeds the strip into the machine at a steady speed.
- Progressive forming: The metal strip passes through a sequence of paired rollers (called “roll tooling” or “forming stations”). Each set of rollers is precisely designed to apply incremental pressure, bending the strip slightly in a specific direction. Over multiple stations, these small, controlled bends accumulate to gradually form the target shape (e.g., channels, angles, tubes, or custom profiles).
- Sizing and finishing: After the main forming stages, the profile may pass through “sizing rollers” to refine dimensions, ensure accuracy, and stabilize the shape. Additional steps like punching, cutting (to length), or embossing can also be integrated depending on the application.
- Output: The final formed profile exits the machine, ready for further use or assembly.
Key to this process is the progressive nature of deformation: by distributing the total bending across many rollers, the equipment avoids excessive stress on the material, maintaining its structural integrity while achieving high precision and consistency—even for complex or thin-walled profiles.