Roll forming of branched profiles

Due to the new mass forming process “linear flow splitting” forming of branched profiles in integral style out of sheet metal without joining, lamination of material or heating of the semi-finished part becomes feasible. Since the resulting flanges provide extra stiffness without increasing the weight of the semi-finished product, split profiles are suitable especially for lightweight applications. The combination of the linear flow splitting process with a following roll-forming process enables the continuous production of one- or multi-chambered profiles with free flanges. In this paper phenomena occurring during roll forming of branched profiles are described and discussed.