Roll forming of partially heated cold rolled stainless steel

Today you will find roll formed details in many different products, for example buildings, household appliances and vehicles. The industry, in order to save weight, tends to use more and more high strength steel. The disadvantage with these materials is that they can be difficult to form due to reduced ductility. A way to increase the ductility in the forming areas is by partially heat the steel. It is shown that partial heating substantially increases the ductility of high strength steel and make it possible to roll form large bend angles. When roll forming, the material will work hardening almost to the as-received condition in the outer and inner radius of the roll formed profile. Furthermore, the heating power decides the bend angle obtained. Finally, the mechanical properties after heating and roll forming are discussed.