The flexible roll forming process, developed at the PtU in Darmstadt, enables the production of profiles with a variable cross section lengthwise. This new forming process offers high flexibility because it is numerically controlled. Proving the feasibility of each new geometry requires either FE analyses or laboratory tests. To shorten this time-consuming lay-out method, an analytic one-stepmodel was developed. This model uses the results of FE analyses and basic mechanical approaches as input data for the lay-out of flanging processes. The input for the onestep-model consists of relevant geometrical and material data to specify the flexible roll-formed profile and to perform therewith a quick feasibility check for new profile geometries.

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Flexible roll formed profiles usually have got highly warped webs if they are manufactured without any supporting tools or process measures. In this paper different methods to improve the accuracy of flexible roll formed parts are described and studied on the basis of a hat-profile. A new self-adjusting blank holder system is demonstrated and its potential to reduce warping is experimentally and numerically analyzed. Furthermore the influence of over-bending the profile's flange to affect the characteristic strain distribution is studied by means of numerical simulation.

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