Our Research Spotlight this month describes a new manufacturing process technology and an opportunity for closer industry-university interaction, vital in today's innovation-driven environment.
The roll forming process produces continuous tubes, curves, bends and shaped sections from thin sheets and the worldwide market for forging, roll forming and stamping is estimated at US$230 billion. The traditional roll forming process involves passing a long strip of metal through a series of custom rolls, each of which performs an incremental part of the bend, until the desired cross-section is achieved. Whilst this process can produce complex and intricate roll formed parts in materials such as steel, aluminium, stainless steel and copper, there are a number of drawbacks:
Modern roll forming installations utilise computer-controlled tooling such that similar geometries can be produced on the same roll sets with the roll spacings altered to produce varying geometry sets. This reduces the need for discrete roll sets for each part but does not address the other drawbacks. Fundamentally, this process is much the same as it was 50 years ago.
Dr Paul Meehan led a team from the University of Queensland that undertook computer modelling of sheet metal deformation in order to optimise the roll forming process. It was during this research that the team realised that there was potential to make significant improvement to the traditional process. The result is "Millipede" – a continuous roll forming system (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Millipede
The Millipede system differs from the traditional process by applying a small localised level of deformation at each stage of the process. It is almost a continuous deformation process, thus wasted energy is minimised leading to reduced power requirements. Surface and geometric defects are reduced and the system itself has a much smaller footprint. The smaller footprint also permits the entire process to be enclosed, increasing system safety.
Other benefits offered by this system are:
- compactness and portability mean that on-site forming is possible
- the less aggressive deformation process allows new materials to be roll formed whilst preserving the surface properties
- thinner gauge materials can be formed with minimal geometric defects, thus permitting thinner section, higher strength material to be used, reducing the amount of raw material required
A prototype system has been built and proof-of-concept work undertaken to demonstrate the feasibility of this new approach. Further development of the system will focus on scalability and optimisation of the control systems and tooling. UniQuest, UQ's main commercialisation company, invites Queensland manufacturing companies to take an active role in the further development of this technology. UniQuest's Manager for Innovation and Commercial Development, Dr Simon Cashion, can assist with enquiries about this opportunity.
QMI Solutions is constantly seeking innovation in process technology to meet the needs of Queensland industry. For further information please contact Dr Sara Eastwood on (07) 3364 0700 or s.eastwood@qmisolutions.com.au.
For more information or advice, please contact:
Consultant: Sara Eastwood
Phone: +61 7 3364 0700
Email: info@qmisolutions.com.au