Analysis of an improved width-flow concept for the production of ribbed strips by cold rolling

In today's increasingly competitive business environment, companies must look for innovative solutions to survive the competition. In the metal forming industry the engineers are turning to new technologies in order to achieve the goals. One new innovative process is the macroscopic structuration of strips by cold rolling for use in light-weight constructions. Components with a macro-structured surface demonstrate - on the condition of equal weight - a higher area moment of inertia and consequently a higher stiffness than non-structured workpieces. The subjects presented in this paper refer to ribbed sheets produced in a cold-rolling process. Particularly the material flow into the rib pocket is studied in a simplified model as a function of different set-up parameters like tool geometry, deformation, and friction. The theoretical investigations are carried out by the upper-bound theory. The results are compared with an FEM-analysis.