3D roll forming center for automotive applications

Abstract Roll formed profiles are used in automotive chassis production as building blocks for the body-in-white. The ability to produce profiles with discontinuous cross sections, both in width and in depth, allows weight savings in the final automotive chassis through the use of load optimized cross sections. This has been the target of the 3D Roll Forming process. A machine concept is presented where a new forming concept for roll formed parts in combination with advanced robotics allowing freely positioned roll forming tooling in 3D space enables rapid prototyping in roll forming. This digitalization of manufacturing aims to take advantage of advanced information and manufacturing technologies. Different types of sensors (laser triangulation, force and torque measurement sensors) are integrated, allowing the online monitoring of the manufacturing process and of the machine itself. The new quality of measurement data in combination with machine learning algorithms lead to self-optimizing roll-forming machines, increasing the productivity, quality and predictability of the roll-forming process. The first parts successfully manufactured with this new forming concept are presented.