Roll Forming of Cup with Curved Rotary Profile

In order to improve the production efficiency and material utilization rate of metal cup with a curved rotary profile, a new method of roll forming (RF) is proposed. That is, a roll forming equipment with a set of pre-forming rollers and a set of shaping rollers is mounted on the drawing hydraulic press to form a curved rotary profile of cup. The influence of roller number on the roll forming was studied by numerical simulation. The results show that the open end of the rolled part is extremely uneven when two rollers are used. In addition, metal flows into the gaps between rollers, forming thin flashes which must be cut off after the pre-forming step. The open end of the rolled part is relatively even when three rollers or four rollers are used. No metal flows into the gaps between pre-forming rollers, and no folding is found after shaping. The accuracy of numerical simulation is verified by experiments, and aluminum cups with a curved rotary profile that meet the requirements were successfully formed.