Abstract The design of forming rolls, roll formed products and roll pass sequences remains more of an art than a science. This is due to the complexities involved in the deformation of the sheet metal and design procedure. There are several CAD programs available on the market. However, these programs are based on rather simplified formulas or empirical rules and to a large extent, perform the same experience based functions as is done by the experienced designer, but only faster and more accurately. This paper discusses a computer aided simulation program, Roll Forming Profile Analysis and Simulation Software (RFPASS), which was developed, based on deformation mechanics. Simulation results were compared with experimental measurements found in the literature. The program, RFPASS, has been used to analyze simple cross sectional profiles such as U, V and the C channel.