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What’s common between components such as metal pipes, tubes, and cylinders? They are all created using a process known as metal roll forming. Metal rolling is categorized as a metal forming process that enables fabricators to create objects such as hollow tubes, pipes, and cylinders. In order to form metal in this process, a sheet or strip of metal is passed through a pair of rolls. The size of the rolls and their diameter determines the exact curvature and diameters of the cylindrical parts that are formed using this process. In addition to just sheet metal and metal strips, plates and rods can also be formed using this metal forming process. This forming process can be carried out on several different types of metals such as: steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, copper, and a few other metals depending on the capabilities of the metal forming fabricating service provider. From a single large roll formed piece to as many as 50,000 similar units, it is possible to procure almost any number of roll formed parts and components. The benefits of metal rolling Cold forming of metals has several advantages that help save costs and uphold the tolerances and quality of the metal stock being formed. Here are a few major advantages: - It is a cost-effective process. It becomes even more cost-effective when large-scale components are involved as the cost per part goes down significantly.
- Often, this metal forming process doesn’t need to be followed up with other expensive finishing operations.
- It is a very consistent and controllable process, leading to the creation of parts in the desired sizes and curvatures.
- The thickness and other qualities of the metal being roll formed remain largely unaffected.
Metal rolling as a process is commonly applied to metal sheets or strips that are in the 0.018” to 0.250” thickness range. Metals that are formed using this process are can be rendered a #4 brush finish or a 2B finish. As a customer opting for cold roll formed metal components, it is imperative to choose service providers that adhere to ASME and ASW standards on their cold roll forming services. Deep drawing is another effective metal forming process that is used by forming and fabrication service providers. This process produces seamless components in cylindrical, square, or other shapes. For example, an aluminum cup or a kitchen sink might be manufactured using the deep drawing method. Just like metal rolling, this process too needs to be carried out by expert fabricators using high-quality tools if undesirable aspects such as wrinkles, cracks, or splits are to be avoided. Both deep drawn and cold roll formed components have a myriad uses in industries such as commercial and consumer utility goods, aerospace, military, automobile, and marine parts and components, industrial machinery, and so on.
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metal rolling, cold rolling, roll bending, rolled cylinders,
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