Description
Fabmann provides all-in-one custom roll forming service according to BS EN 10162 covering roll forming, cut to length, edge blowing, punching, welding, powder coating, hot dip galvanization and assembly solution. The low cost, precision roll forming and complete fabrication with different surface treatments is what we can offer to you. We have 12 roll formers and related metal forming equipment, and can process steel strip, coil and sheet in gauge thickness from 0.6mm up to 8mm, and width up to 700mm depending on the steel profile design. Fabmann specializes in custom metal profiles for various industrial applications which require different material like cold rolled coil, hot rolled coil, stainless steel and pre-galvanized coil, and we can produce profile up to 11.8meters. For all pre-galvanized profile, the coil is made according to BS EN10346.
We off er different roll formed steel profile types
Hemmed Profile
1. Hemmed profile, it’s a special profile which is designed to provide an even folded side which is created by roll forming to fold metal over 180° onto itself. The advantage is that it can provide a smooth and reinforced edge. Plus, this hemming solution can certainly save tremendous time and cost compared with other fabrication solution involving in multiple.
Open Steel Section
2. Open steel section, it’s a very useful metal profile which have a nearly closed edge, and the popular profile designs are C, D, E, L, Omega, U, W and Z shapes.
Complex Steel profile
3. Multiple angles, this complex profile requires experienced roll forming tooling design capability and advanced roll forming machinery, and this kind of steel profile are often made of cold rolled steel or pre-galvanized steel. They are widely used in window reinforcement profiles, door frame profile and machinery. It’s much more economic metal forming solution than brake forming as it is more handy for making one single angle or two angles. When it comes to multiple bends that do not form perfect right angles, roll forming is certainly the best option amongst all kind of metal forming solutions.
Perforated Steel Profile
4. Multi punching, repeated holes on metal profiles mainly serve two purposes reducing weight and offering assembly options. To punch repeating holes in the metal profile, the most efficient solution will be roll forming as it can perform such as action on a continuous process which is often done before steel strips are reformed.
Complex Metal Profile
5. Multiple bend radii might cause lots of problems in conventional press bending solution, and the more bend radii is required the more difficult for press bending to achieve. Multi bend profiles are very often used in door frames and window frames, and it often requires very tight roll forming tolerance.
Typical Materials of Steel Profiles
1. Infrastructure, guardrail beams and posts, these king of steel profiles are mainly made of hot rolled steel with hot dip galvanization treatment (ISO 1461), and it’s tensile strength ranging from 360Mpa up to 680Mpa. The thickness is mainly between 3mm to 6mm for the guardrail beams, and 4mm to 5mm for the guardrail post.
2. Modular construction, stainless steel slide rail or steel profiles for sliding doors, windows & doors, and the main material is stainless steel and cold rolled steel. These kind of profiles require tighter tolerance covering full dimension, straightness and twist, and material thickness ranges from 0.8mm to 2.5mm. The door and window profiles mainly use pre-galvanized steel material like DX51 Z140 & Z275 (BS EN10346).
3. Industrial equipment, steel frame profiles have tighter tolerance requirement than profiles used for modular construction of doors and windows, and it mainly uses stainless steel or pickled cold rolled coil with powder coating for extensive corrosion protection. The popular material grades are SUS304, SPCC, ST12-15 and DC01-06.
4. Shelving and storage, rack profiles are used primarily vertically with intermediate mounting points, and usually they have two sets of perforations to take cage nuts, to fix equipment both in the open faces of the rack and accessories, such as shelves and chassis guides, inside the rack. The rack profiles have extremely tough demand on accuracy of roll forming and perforation, and it requires advanced slitting and hydraulic stamping before roll forming get started.
5. Greenhouse, the greenhouse profiles normally used pre-galvanized steel or hot rolled steel with hot dip galvanization treatment.
6. Automotive, automotive steel profile is used in the construction of vehicles which are typically made from high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steel or advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) and are designed to provide the necessary strength and durability required for automotive applications while maintaining a lightweight construction. They are engineered to meet specific performance requirements, such as high strength, stiffness, and impact resistance. This is achieved through precise control of the steel's chemical composition, microstructure, and processing conditions during manufacturing. To produce these profiles, it requires almost the highest roll forming manufacturing standards.
Steel Profile Types
√ U profile section √ L steel profile
√ Unequal-angle steel section √ C profile channel
√ Lipped C profile channel √ Ω steel profile section
√ Sigma steel profile √ Z steel profile channel
√ U steel channel √ Special shape roll formed profiles
√ Special shape roll formed profile tubes √ Special rectangular profile tube
Steel Grades
√ The most important mechanical properties of steel which could have great impact upon metal profiles are yield strength, tensile strength, and elongation, and each different steel grade has its own optimal bending radius based upon different steel thickness which is specified in the steel standards. Fabmann uses comparable Chinese steel grades to match your requirements, and all our roll formed steel sections are produced according to EN10162. The following chart could be used a reference for you:
Mechanical Properties S235 VS Q235
Steel Grade & Standards
Min. Yield Strenth ReH ( Mpa)
Tensile Strength Rm ( Mpa)
Min. Elongation %
Notch Impact Energy
Nom. Thickness ≤16
3≥Nom. Thickness ≤100
3≥Nom. Thickness ≤40
Temperature ©
Min. Absorbed Energy (J)
EN 10025-2:2004
S235 JR
235
360-510
26
20
27
S235 JO
235
360-510
26
0
27
S235 J2
235
360-510
24
-20
27
GB/T700:2006
Q235B
235
370-500
26
20
27
Q235C
235
370-500
26
0
27
Q235D
235
370-500
26
-20
27
Mechanical Properties S355 vs Q355
Steel Grade & Standards
Min. Yield Strenth ReH ( Mpa)
Tensile Strength Rm ( Mpa)
Min. Elongation %
Notch Impact Energy
Nom. Thickness ≤16
3≥Nom. Thickness ≤100
3≥Nom. Thickness ≤40
Temperature ©
Min. Absorbed Energy (J)
EN 10025-2:2004
S355 JR
355
470-630
22
20
27
S355 JO
355
470-630
22
0
27
S355 J2
355
470-630
22
-20
27
GB/T1591:2008
Q355B
355
470-630
20
20
34
Q355C
355
470-630
21
0
34
Q355D
355
470-630
21
-20
34
Mechanical Properties S420MC vs TQ420
Steel Grade & Standards
Min. Yield Strenth ReH ( Mpa)
Tensile Strength Rm (Mpa)
Min. Elongation %
Notch Impact Energy
Nom. Thickness ≤16
3≥Nom. Thickness ≤100
3≥Nom. Thickness ≤40
Temperature ©
Min. Absorbed Energy (J)
EN-10149-2:2013
S420 MC
420
480-620
16
-20
40
GB1591-2008
TQ420
420
480~620
16
-20
40
Dimension of Roll Formed Steel Sections
Angle Profile
C Profile Dimension
Custom Roll Formed Profile
Custom Steel Tube Profile
Omega Profile
Sigma Profile
U Profile Dimension
Z Profile Dimension
Sigma Post
Pre-galvanized C profile
Door and Window Profile
Door Frame Profile
Common Roll Forming Defects
Roll forming defects are often caused by mis-installed roll forming machine, and improper roller set-up often cause excessive forming pressure and asymmetrical profiles. Quite often, lack of lubricant is anther common mistake. In order to spot the potential issues, we usually check whether rolls are matched properly before setting up the roll gap against the steel strip thickness. A good practice is to have a thorough roll gap check through out the passes before roll forming testing gets started. There are quite few common mistakes for roll formed profiles:
√ Twist
√ Camber
√ Bow
√ Wavy edge
√ Roll forming marks
√ Edge cracks
√ Zipper cracks
√ Reduced radius material thickness
Reduced Material at Radius
Roll Forming Mark
Roll Forming Defects
Steel Profile Production Feature
√ strip thicknesses from 2mm to 6 mm
√ strip widths up to 800 mm
√ profile lengths up to 12,000 mm
√ profile width up to 320 mm and height up to 150mm
Steel Tube Profile Dimension
√ strip thicknesses from 1.5mm to 6 mm
√ strip widths up to 800 mm
√ profile lengths up to 12,000 mm
√ Tube profile circumference up to 680mm with minimum wall thickness 2mm
Roll Formed Steel Profile Material Option
√ Hot rolled steel
√ Cold rolled steel
√ Cold rolled and pickled steel
√ Hot rolled pickled & oiled steel (HRPO)
√ Stainless steel
√ Pre-galvanized steel
Our Strength
We understand the diverse needs and challenges of our customers. The roll formed steel products need to be stronger and lighter, and that is why we developed a special roll forming process which can save steel material while maintaining the desired strength. This unique process enables Fabmann to develop stronger and lighter steel profiles and steel tube profiles for our clients.
Applications of Fabmann’s Metal Profile
√ Commercial or residential buildings √ Machines and equipment
√ Infrastructure (guardrail and guardrail post) √ Window and door frames
√ Support for wooden beams √ Roof rafters
√ Girts, studs, braces, joists & structural components √ Conveyor rails
√ Bridges and truss structures √ Power transmission towers,
√ Solar panel mount rails and posts √ Guide rails
Steel Profile Surface Treatment
√ Hot dip galvanization according to different national standards like BS EN ISO 1461, AS/NZS 4680, JIS-H8641 and ASTM-A-123. For very corrosive environment (C4 or C5), we can make thick galvanization coating by 140μm in average, and we will also test the adhesion of the zinc coating for each batch.
√ Sherardizing according to BS EN ISO 13811, and we can also make thicker coating than 45μm.
√ Powder coating according to ISO 12944, and cross hatch is our standard test procedure for each batch.
√ Painting according to ISO12944, and we can make painting on steel surface directly or we can duplex painting based upon hot dip galvanized or sherardized steel for super anti-corrosion performance.
Roll Formed Steel Profiles: The Complete Buying Guide
Benefits of Roll Forming
Compared to other metal fabrication processes, roll forming offers quite few obvious benefits:
✔ Greater production efficiency. As the material used in roll forming operation is in coil form, the process proceeds at much higher speeds for faster production of larger volumes.
✔ Lower production costs. Greater material utilization with incredible energy efficiency.
✔ Capacity to produce complex shapes
✔ Superior precision, quality, and consistency. Compared to press braking, roll forming can meet tighter tolerances while creating parts and products that are more consistent and uniform across multiple runs.
Pre-piercing vs Post Piercing in Roll Forming
Pre-piercing is the fabrication of a series or pattern of holes in the flat strip before roll forming, and it is a very economic manufacturing solution because piercing is done in continuous operation before roll forming.
While post piercing is done after the profile is formed. It is part of a sequence of operations, all of which are performed without handling, and is therefore very efficient. Often, this is more desirable than pre-piercing because of better dimensional accuracy.
Pre-Cut vs Post-Cut in Roll Forming
Pre-cut in roll forming process feeds a roll former a pre-cut blank that has a specified length, while post-cut system cuts the length after the profile is formed. Both systems have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Pre-Cut Pros
✔ Simple low-maintenance pre-cut shear which eliminates expensive cut-off dies and the maintenance
✔ Buff-free ends
✔ Ability to hand-feed strips or sheets for low-volume production
Pre-Cut Cons
✔ Possibility of increased end flare for profile with big web
✔ Difficult to handle high strength steel
✔ Requires more forming stations making the roll former and tooling more expensive, which also means bigger floor space.
✔ Shorter profiles might be more of a challenge, and potentially lead to quality issues.
✔ Difficult to roll form multi-bend profiles with good quality.
✔ Pre-cut may require intermediate guides, especially for short profiles. Adjusting these guides adds up the cost.
Post-Cut Pros
✔ Production rate is higher with better quality
✔ End flare can be controlled better.
✔ Better results for high-strength steels
✔ Can handle short profiles (approximately around 7cm length)
✔ Better control in post-cut when running heavy gauge and high-strength material because the leading edge in pre-cut hits the rolls with every part
✔ Ability to provide punching/notching during the cut-off operation, possibly eliminating one or more secondary operations
Post-Cut Cons
✔ Very expensive cut-off press and die with higher maintenance costs, especially for the cut-off die
✔ End burr resulting in rough end which require manual grinding
✔ Possibility to distort the end of the profiles
The shape, length, material thickness, complexity of the profile, and quantity generally determine which solution is a better option for piercing and cutting, and it also has something to do with hole position accuracy and overall dimension tolerance as well. The downside with pre-cut is adding more stands to try to eliminate some of the flare, but there tends to be more flare than in a post-cut system. The pre-cut requires more roll forming stations, but the maintenance cost for pre-cut tooling is lot cheaper.
For heavy duty profile from 4mm to 8mm, post-cut might have too many unacceptable end burrs which needs manual debur work. Meanwhile, pre-cut might also be an issue if the profile requires very tight hole position tolerance. In practical, we need to consider using post-saw option instead of post-cut for thick profile, and this will unavoidably slow down the roll forming production efficiency.
Roll Forming Processes
✔ Decoil, the steel strip passes through a decoiler, and then it is fed through the entry guide.
✔ Pre-Piercing, the slitted steel strip is fed through the pre-piercing machine for specified hole patterns.
✔ Roll Forming, the steel strip is then fed through to the forming rolls, and each roll performs only an incremental part of the metal forming, until the desired cross-section profile is achieved.
✔ High frequency induction welding. If a steel tube profile is required, the tube profile will be longitudinally welded by induction welding machine, and outside welding beadings is automatically removed. The induction welding process provides an almost flat weld seam with strength superior to the yield of the parent material. Once the metal tube profile is sealed, generating a complete profile with a flat, almost invisible welding seam.
✔ Flying cut off, the steel profile is cut to desired length by the flying saw
✔ Stacking, after cutting, the profiles are then stacked for secondary fabrication processes
In short roll forming is a process that uses a set of precisely placed rollers to perform incremental bending to a continuously fed strip of metal, and the rollers are mounted in sets on a consecutive stand with each roller completing one small step of the process.
What are the materials used for roll forming tooling?
The tooling materials used for roll forming tooling may vary based upon the desired steel profiles which are light duty profiles or heavy duty profiles. In general, the higher strength the metal strip material, the greater wearing resistance the tooling. The popular steel alloy materials widely used in China have almost exact equivalent material in US, Europe and Japan, and they are:
✔ #45, equivalent to 1045, S45C or C45.
✔ 42CrMo, equivalent to 4241, SCM440 or 42CrMo4
✔ 40CrNi2Mo, equivalent to 4340, SNCM439 or 36CrNiMo4
✔ 20CrNiMo, equivalent to ASTM 8620
✔ 5CrNiMo, equivalent to SAE L6, SKT4 or 55NiCrMoV6
✔ Cr5Mo1V, equivalent to A2, SKD12 or X100CrMoV5-1
✔ 9CrWMn, equivalent to O1, SKS3 or 00MnCrw4
✔ Cr12Mo1v1, equivalent to D2, SKD11 or X155CrMoV12-1
✔ W6Mo5Cr4V2W6Mo5Cr4V2, equivalent to M2
Where are roll formed profiles and steel tube profiles used?
The roll formed profiles and tube profiles have been widely used in almost every industry, and actual applications are:
Agriculture
✔ Tim and structural profiles for tractors and other farm equipment
✔ Fence post
✔ Grape arbor stakes
✔ Lawn and garden equipment
Appliance
✔ Panels for refrigerators, stoves, microwave ovens, laundry and vending machines
✔ Structural components for appliances
✔ Drawer slides for ovens and trash compactors
Building Construction
✔ Bleacher sections
✔ Interior supports for window reinforcement
✔ Sliding door and window tracks
✔ Residential steel framing
✔ Metal roof decks and sliding panels
✔ Gutters and down spouts
Bridge & Highway Restraint System
✔ Road sign post
✔ Motorway and highway crash barrier, separation guardrail
✔ Bridge posts and deck reinforcement panel
Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning
✔ Air conditioner case
✔ HVAC ducts
✔ Air filter frames
✔ Cooling tower louvers
Home, Office & Store Furniture and fixtures
✔ Work surface reinforcements
✔ Kitchen and file cabinets
✔ Display rack frames
✔ Store fixtures and super market shelving
Transportation
✔ Frame profiles used in automobiles, trucks, buses, trailers, subways and ships.
✔ Vehicle trim and grill members
✔ Bumpers
✔ Division bars
✔ Reinforcement bars
What is the tooling process for developing roll formed profiles?
The tooling process starts with the analysis of bend radius, flange width, web width cross section tolerance, deformation length, forming speed, friction force, material thickness reduction, bend corner radius, length tolerance, material thickness as well as steel material mechanical properties. At the same time, the tooling engineers needs to know their roll forming line’s capacity which includes nr. of forming stations, motor power and distance of the roll stands. After the analysis, the tooling engineers can start the real work for tooling design work below:
✔ Develop a cross-sectional drawing with dimension tolerances.
✔ Calculate the estimated strip width.
✔ Produce a bend progression flow
✔ Layout and design the rollers
✔ Incorporate fixtures, guides, side rolls, and straightening devices where applicable.
What are the key factors affecting the cost of manufacturing roll formed profiles?
There are three key factors which are:
✔ Setup time, refers to the amount of time it takes to set up rollers for roll forming production.
✔ Run speed, the roll forming speed at which you can feed metal strip through the machine.
✔ Materials, the raw materials needed for the project.
Why tooling design is the most important factor for high quality steel profiles?
The reason is very simple because correct tooling design can minimize the risks of common roll forming defects like camber, twist, bow, wavy edge, and edge wrinkling. The correct design is to ensure consistent arc length and bend radius along the full length of channel section. The consistent arc length implies a larger compression and stretching in the profile along the forming process is possible, and it has a significant effect on the final quality of the roll formed products. According to the recent study, the longitudinal bow has been decreased by 50% by a consistent bend radius tooling design. Therefore, tooling design is the backbone of manufacturing high quality roll formed steel profiles.
How to avoid deformation of steel profile channel during hot dip galvanization process?
The very common deformation issues are associated with hot dip galvanization process, and it’s mainly caused by residual stress release after roll forming and lack of hanging fixture for long profiles. Specially for very thin and long profiles around 2mm to 3mm, they are very likely to get deformed during lifting processes during degreasing, pickling and galvanization processes, and therefore a proper fixture to hold the steel beams in correct position is vital. The residual stress release of thin and large open profiles during galvanization is very common issue, and it’s almost impossible to avoid. Therefore, it’s very important to have a rectification process in place before packing.
What are the common issues with roll formed steel sections?
The most common quality issues with cold roll formed steel sections are twist, bow, camber, edge wave, edge wrinkling, rolling marks, uneven level of flanges, and excess of reduced thickness around corner radius.
What is the correct setup procedure for production of roll formed profiles?
In principle, the goal is to make any operator with a basic understanding of roll forming should be able to do the setup of rollers according to the instruction sheet without asking anyone. To achieve this goal, the experienced operator needs to label and organize the tools and spacers in a logical fashion, ideally near the point of operation. Below is the procedure:
✔ Before setup starts, cleaning the shafts and machine face alignment spacers, and this is the foundation for a good setup and predictable and repeatable machine operation.
✔ When installing the first pass, always make sure the stamped ring (with the roll number and other information) is facing you, and the numbers are in the proper sequence for the operation.
✔ Put the outboard stand onto the spindles and install and tighten the shaft locking nuts, and make sure that inner race does not rotate.
✔ Lock down the outboard stand with hold-down screws or clamps and finish the total setup in the above-mentioned disciplines.
✔ Retrieve the material to be roll formed and measure its actual thickness.
✔ Use a feeler gauge on both the tool’s inboard and outboard sides to preset the roll tooling gap, adjusting the vertical distance between the upper and lower shafts for desired roll gap which shall be in line with the material thickness.
✔ Record the gap between the top and bottom roll flange on both the inboard and outboard side for each pass of roll form tooling.
✔ Run the material into the roll pass, then reset the rolls if needed. Normally resetting is very common due to material thickness tolerance and minor roll gap variation.
✔ Starts the testing of roll forming if you don’t have the computer simulation test software.
Why high strength steel is a preferred material for roll formed steel channel?
The high strength steel has the advantage of reducing weight and improving safety, and that’s why it’s widely used in automobile, guardrail system such as motorway separation guardrail & guardrail, bridge guardrail, steel profiles for module buildings, posts for green energy. Plus, the reduced material means cost saving for your project.
How to avoid wavy edges of roll formed profile?
The wavy edge occurs during roll forming process, and it is caused by excessive longitudinal stress and strain near the edge of the sheet, and the edge buckling may occur when some critical value of the bending radius is exceeded. In another word, the fibers at the edge are longer than those at the center. In addition, the increase in roll forming speed will also change the friction characteristics between the rolls and the steel strip, and it will ultimately lead to further aggravation of the edge wave defect.
In short, wavy edges are most probably caused by various reasons like incorrect roll diameter, high roll forming speed and incorrect steel strip thickness. Therefore, we need to find out the exact reason to reduce excessive compression at particular rolling step, and make sure that the bending radius is within the tolerance of its strain limit.
How to avoid longitudinal bow of roll formed steel profiles?
In roll forming, the longitudinal bow is mainly caused by the non-uniform longitudinal membrane strain distribution.
The steel profile is made by a combination of forming processes such as stretching, compression and bending, and improper bending angle increment often lead to longitudinal bow. Furthermore, bow defect increases with the bending angle increment and material thickness increase. The flange width, web width and distance between the roll stands also play a part in bow defects. The most important solution to this quality issue is to carry on consistent bending radius to minimize non-uniform longitudinal stresses.
How to make premium hot dip galvanization quality on roll formed steel profiles?
To achieve a sound galvanization surface, according to ASTM A385 or ISO 1461, these important elements below need to be kept at a optimal level:
✔ Carbon content less than 0.25%
✔ Manganese less than 1.3%,
✔ Silicon less than 0.04% or between 0.15% and 0.24%
✔ Phosphorus less than 0.04%.
The elements listed in ASTM A385 should be compared according to the recommendations in order to achieve a coating which is of typical hot dip galvanization appearance and thickness. The silicon equivalent is used to evaluate the combined effect silicon and phosphorus have on the metallurgical reaction during hot-dip galvanizing. In practical, it is extremely important to purchase steel coils with correct silicon content, otherwise the roll formed products will have either thinner galvanization or poor zinc coating attachment to the steel.
How to avoid white rust on roll formed profiles?
White rust, also called wet storage stain, is a white powdery deposit formed from a natural corrosion process that can occur on any new zinc coated roll formed steel profiles. The white powder is zinc hydroxide– the substance formed when zinc reacts with water and air - and it gradually consumes the zinc coating, and this process is most likely to happen in wet conditions with inadequate air circulation. White rust is not only damaging to the appearance of the steel but also to the zinc coating that protects the body of the steel. Zinc is a very durable coating for the purposes of providing sacrificial protection to the underlying steel substrate, but it is reactive to water. Therefore, extra care must be taken in storing the galvanized profiles correctly.
Hence, to avoid white rust, you need to make correct arrangements for storing the galvanized steel profiles with consideration of the following factors if you store the goods indoor:
✔ Stored undercover to ensure that they are not exposed to unnecessary moisture or rain.
✔ Stored away from open doors, windows or louvres to avoid exposure to moisture-laden air, salt contamination and condensation.
✔ Maintain cleanliness
✔ If there is no alternative but to store packs outside, then you need to pack the galvanized steel profiles according to the recommendation below:
✔ Galvanized profiles should be stored at an incline of 5mm for every 1m length. This ensures that water drains freely from exposed surfaces.
✔ Straps should be cut and spacers inserted between each layer to eliminate entrapment of moisture between contacting surfaces.
✔ Avoid using tarpaulin because it will trap moisture and condensation and exacerbate the formation of the white storage stains.
✔ The galvanized surfaces can be treated with proprietary water repellent or barrier coatings which prevent contact with moisture on galvanized surfaces
What are the most used inspection tools for roll formed steel channels?
To make a full measurement control of the steel channels, you need to make sure that you can check material thickness, width, length, diagonal, angles, radius, straightness, twistiness, and bow. For very complex shape, you also need to use coordinate measurement machine (CMM). If the profiles have coating such as hot dip galvanization or powder coating, you need to check the coating thickness as well. Therefore, you need following inspection tools to make a proper inspection:
✔ Caliper
✔ Angle ruler
✔ Radius gauge
✔ Tape ruler
✔ Digital angle gauge
✔ Coating thickness gauge
✔ Coordinate measurement machine (CMM) if required.
How does roll forming mark affect steel profiles?
The roll forming mark is almost impossible to avoid due to its nature of fabrication process, and it is normally very shallow mark and difficult to judge whether it’s acceptable or not. The roll forming mark is also quite difficult to be spotted specially the profile is made of black hot rolled steel, and it requires tremendous experiences of quality control issues associated with roll formed profiles. The most practical way to spot the roll forming marks is to use bare hand to check the profile surface. If you are still not sure whether this mark is acceptable or not, you can powder coat or hot dip galvanize few pieces to check the coating finish. If the coating does reflect the roll forming marks, you need to find out what has caused this defect during roll forming process. The most common cause is that slag or debris trapped in the forming or drive rollers.
Is it possible to rectify roll formed profiles with bow or twist defects?
The answer is yes and no. If the profile has complex bending angles, it’s very unlikely to correct bow or twist by counter bending or twisting. If it’s a thick wall tubing profile without demanding tolerance, it is still possible to rectify. Of course, the rectification work also depends upon the degree of bow and twist, and if the defects are slightly out of tolerance, it’s more likely to correct them. If the defects are quite severe, it will be very unlikely to do the correction work. To avoid such situation, it’s important to check the steel mechanical property before roll forming. Furthermore, a test run production needs to be fully evaluated before mass product gets started.
Secondary Fabrication Service for Steel Profiles and Tubing Profiles
Fabmann provides secondary fabrication after roll forming, and we provide following fabrication processes:
✔ Bending
✔ Welding
✔ Threading
✔ Surface treatment like HDG, powder coating and painting
✔ Assembly
How does Fabmann ensure that the profile fits with your stock components?
Fabmann is a very experienced steel profile manufacturer with solid experience in steel profile assembly. Our technical department will make full analysis of how the connection bracket is assembled with the profile, and then we can figure out which are the most important measurements for assembly. In short, we will make sure that our delivered metal profiles fit your brackets or other fittings.
How to fabricate holes for muti-bend steel profile?
If the multi-bend profile is made of thin material, the holes are more likely to be online punched before roll forming starts. If the profile is made of thick steel above 4mm and requires tight tolerance, you need to consider off-line punching which requires an expensive punching tooling.
Hot Dip Galvanization Thickness of the Steel Profile
Fabmann galvanizes the steel profiles according to ISO 1461, and but we can also galvanize the steel sections above what is required in the standard. If your project environment is quite close to sea shore or in tropical area, we can galvanize the profiles up to 140μm in average with sound finish.
What kind of metal surface treatment can Fabmann provide for steel section channels?
Fabmann can provide wide range of metal finishes:
✔ Hot dip galvanization
✔ Sherardizing
✔ Powder coating
✔ Painting
✔ Duplex coating
If the profile is made of pre-galvanized coil, we can also make powder coating on the galvanized surface.
What's the tooling cost and for a steel profile?
The tooling usually includes the rollers, cutting/shearing tooling, and piercing tooling. The total tooling cost varies based upon the width of steel strip, material thickness, material strength, and complexity of the profile. Take the 4mm sigma profile for example, its 4mm strip width is 288mm, and the tooling cost is around 25,000USD. If you have an open multi-bends heavy duty profile with width around 400mm, and the tooling will be between 30,000USD to 35,000USD based upon different high strength steel grades.
What if the metal profile prototype fails to meet the specification?
Fist all, Fabmann will look into all the possible causes. If there is nothing to do with profile design, Fabmann will carry on modification of the tooling to make further roll forming trial. If our modified profile still can’t meet your specification, we will refund the tooling cost to you.
What's the roll forming tooling leadtime?
The tooling leadtime is between 15days to 30days depends upon the complexity of the profile. The leadtime might be longer if the profile is made of high strength steel alloy, and roll forming tools needs to go through a series of annealing processes. Plus, we need to run test production for tooling verification, and this verification process will take around 15 days to 30 days as it involves tooling modification.
Minimum Order Quantity
It’s usually needs to be a full container load which means 24tons to 25tons per model, but Fabmann can accept 2 or 3 different profiles to make a mixed container load provided the steel grade is a popular grade like S235JR or S355JR.
Traceability
Fabmann provides full traceability of our delivery as each production has its own unique batch nr., and each batch nr.is linked with specific heat nr. and production date.
Quality Warranty
Fabmann provides one year warranty for all roll formed profiles including tubing profiles.
Quality Documentation
Fabmann will provide mill certificate, 3.1 certificate and full inspection report covering profile full measurements and coating condition.
For more information steel profiles for construction, please get in touch with us!