Journal of

Materials
Processing
Technology
ELSEVIER Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172

Bending Mechanisms, Experimental Techniques and Preliminary Tests for the

Continuous Four-Roll Plate Bending Process.
M. Hua#, K. Baines* and I.M. Cole

Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Aston University, Aston Triangle,

Birmingham, B4 7ET, England

The continuous four-roll bending of sheet is an efficient process, it produces large and medium
diameter tube sections which are then welded to form a single seamed tube. A particular advantage of
the process is to minimise the remaining straight section of a finished bent sheet, thus achieving better
circularity of the seamed tube. This improvement in the bending process reduces waste material and
the subsequent cost of machining. Unfortunately, the understanding of the bending operational
mechanisms is still in its infancy, and its operation, at the present stage, still depends heavily upon the
skill of operators and "trial and error" methods. This restricts the full exploration of the capacity and the
flexibility of the four-roll bender. Thus, the present research was initiated in order to optimise this
bending process and to remove its dependency upon skilled labour. This paper discusses the principle
mechanisms of the bending process and some preliminary test results in bending HP30 aiuminium
plates of 8mm, 10mm and 12mm thickness for (i) single pass bending and (ii) multipass bending, using
a four-roll model bender. The test results relate the force on the rollers to the inner bend radius of the
bent plate.

1. Introduction operating a roller bender at its designed

Large cylindrical tubular sections are widely
used in heavy engineering and civil construction
environments. A relatively economical method
of production of various sizes of tubes is to weld
cylindrical sections bent from plates.
In the metal bending industry, one of the most
versatile techniques for the production of large
diameter tubes is the continuous four-roll plate
bending process. The advantage of the
technique over the other processes of stamp-
bending, stretch-bending and pressbrake
bending, is to reduce the setting up time, to
reduce cost in tooling investment, to minimise
the length of the straight end-edge remaining in
the finished product (subsequently, lowering the
machining cost and material wastage), and to
achieve much greater finished dimensional
accuracy and better circularity of an
accomplished cylindrical section. In addition, it
only occupies a relatively small space on the
shop floor. Generally, the completed tube
formed has only a single welded seam. By
capacity, a comprehensive range of tube-
diameters with a minimum just larger than that
of the top roll of the bender, for different plate
thicknesses and widths, can be produced.
Despite the versatility of the process, there is
limited understanding of the bending
mechanisms and available literature concerning
the process is limited. Although Winshop [1]
discussed various configurations of the three-
and four-roll plate benders, he did not provide
any insight into the bending mechanisms.
Roggendorf and Haeusler [2] only traced the
historical development of the Haeusler roller
benders before 1979, whilst Basset and
Johnson [3] and Hansen and Jannerup [4]
initiated merely the theoretical analysis for
three-roll pyramid benders. Consequently, the
operation of the process is heavily dependent
on the experience of skilled operators and
working by "template" or "trial and error"
remains common practice. In order to gain an
understanding of the bending process and to
introduce C.N.C. operation, a study of

Data Products Components(HK) Ltd. Sime Darby Departmentof MechanicalEngineering,

Industrial Estate Centre, 420 Kwung Tong Rd, Universityof Adelaide,SouthAustralia5005
Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Elsevier Science S.A.

S S D I 0924-0136(94)01646-I
160 M. Hua et aL / Journal o f Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172

continuous four-roll plate bending [5] was 10.09mm, using a specific roller geometry (see
initiated at Aston University, Birmingham, section 3.2.3. Geometrical set-up of the
England. Some preliminary results from bending experimental rig) is reported, and some related
aluminium plates, with thicknesses of 8mm and bending mechanisms are discussed.

/ I

I
I
\
/ \
I

topIroLl
/
plate /
thickness

m I

/
/I':::::::L
I
roll
bottom ~oolt
pre-be nding
active side
roll I ,\
I
L _X ° Xo
I-

Figure 1. The model bender and plate

configuration.
 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172
2. Four-Roll Bender Configurations and
Bending Sequences
Figure 1 shows the configuration of the
operational roll and plate specimen of a four-roll
horizontal bender. Generally, in such benders
the top roll is normally connected to a drive
system so that the continuous conveyance of a
bent plate can be performed. At this instance
the two side rolls and the bottom pinch roll are
free to rotate but are powered to translate along
their predetermined directions in their respective
positional planes. The positional plane of either
the pre-bending active or the pre-bending
inactive (subsequently referred to as pre-active
or pre-inactive, respectively) side roll powered
direction depends upon the geometric setting of
Xo and -Xo, and also upon the inclination of the
preliminary positional angle, ~ and -~o. For a
set geometry of a four-roll bender, the positional
powering centre, Op (Figures 6 and 7) of the
preactive and the preinactive side rolls remains
constant. However, the instantaneous contact
centre, Oo, and the instantaneous contact
angle, ~o, of the bent plate and the active side
roll, varies as bending proceeds. When in
operation gripping of a plate is performed by
moving the axis of the bottom roll centre
towards that of the top roll. For a particular four-
roll horizontal bender with the top pinch roll
rotational driven both clockwise and
anticlockwise, the nomination of the pre-active
and pre-inactive side roll is arbitrary, unless
specific plate handling features are allocated to
the bender. To assist further discussion, the
r.h.s, side roll is referred to as the pre-active
side roll and the I.h.s. side roll as the pre-
inactive side roll.
Figure 2 shows the detailed operational
sequences for thin plate four-roll bending. In
principle, they consist of some or all of the
following modes:
(i) edge setting preparation, (ii) edge pre-
bending, (iii) pre-bending continuous bending,
(iv) roller swapping bending, (v) steady
continuous bending and (vi) completion roller
bending.
The combination of the bending modes
depends mainly upon the material flexural
rigidity and the bender capacity, and partly upon
the size and accuracy required of the finished
tubular sections. It sometimes even depends
upon the personal preference of the operators.
161
3. Experimental Investigation
3.1. The Experimental Model Bender
The model bender was initially designed to
simulate the "Verrina" four-roll bender installed
at Head Wrightson Teesdale Ltd. England, the
roll dimensions being 1/10 of the actual
machine. The working principles of the model
bender are illustrated in Figure 3. In Figure 3
the top roll A, with fixed centre, is the main
power drive. The bottom roll B, which is free to
rotate, is powered to move vertically to provide
the pinch to the plate. The side rolls C and C',
which are either free or driven, can move either
along the axis of ACo and AC', or along the axis
of O'Co and O'C', once the angle (i) or ~ is
preset. In the case where the former movement
is chosen, the angle ~ can be varied only by
suitably fixing the distance of X. If the latter
movement is operative, the angle ~ can be
adjusted either by varying the distance of X or
by rotating the axis about the points Cf and Cf'
respectively. The designed model bender
consisted mainly of:
(i) a bending unit, (ii) a base-bed and (iii) the
drive system.
3.1.1. Bending unit assembly
The bending unit assembly, Figure 4 (i) and
(ii) was constructed with two pairs of 10mm
thick by 1060mm high by 1700mm wide steel
plates. They were held together by four mild
steel cross-holding sections, to form a
sandwich unit for the hydraulic drive system at
the ends of each side roll and the bottom pinch
roll, and for their corresponding mechanical
connections. On the top of each pair of end
plates there was a mild steel upper beam
supported by a load cell at either end. These
load cells were sandwiched in and clamped by
the pair of end plates. At the bottom mid-span
of each upper cross-beam there was a circular
trough for retaining the top roll bearing housing.
Each end plate had two sets of sectorial slots
for locating and clamping the top roll retaining
block of the side roll hydraulic cylinder. These
slots also provided access for clamping the
bottom retaining block of the side roll hydraulic
cylinder with respect to the centre of the top roll
(the centre of the top roll was 100mm above
the top edge of the plate, and on the plate
central line). A vertical rectangular slot was
milled in the middle of each end plate for
162 M. Hua et al. /Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172

3
y
Pro -bend ing o p e r a t i o n s
~dg~ s e t t i n g : 1
bending : Z
Steady-continuous operations:3, 6 . 5 and 6

The r o l l e r bending sequence f o r thin plate

Figure 2 Roller plate bendJngoperations

(tour-roll bender).
 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172 163

_ _~q = Pre-sef centre of powering

,/,\i'--(movement) of the side roll

Side-~ '
r °l i-(~- ~,,~ ---:

o0.S
0.0.~

/ , J
\
'

NOTE: T.C.A.=Top circular arc

D.O.P. = Direction of powering(movement)

Figure 3 Working principles of the model

bender.

holding the connecting blocks of the bottom roll
in position and guiding the vertical movement of
the blocks. There was also a rectangular cut
section 525mm wide by 180mm high at the top
mid-span edge of each end plate. This
permitted access to the end drive to the side
rolls and also allowed free movement of the
bottom and side rolls. It subsequently provided
a rigid framework for the model bender unit and
accommodated levelling of the roll centres
164 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172

\
,.~S, ,><
/ / / /
/ /

..'-~.
/ / \\ -
/ /
/
m,.." /

@
J

I ,
:$I.-
"I" -t!

i i I
. . . . . . . h~_- -- 1 . . . . . . . .
..... ! ........ t ........ i"
i i¸ li "'~ I
LA
I i} End v i : w

Figure 4(i) Model bender assembly

(end view).

were connected in parallel, and a single d.c. achieve the necessary self-amplification.
Farnell L30B stabiliser power supply was used All the signals were traced by:
to provide a constant bridge voltage. RS (i) a Southern Instruments u.v. chart recorder,
potentiometers were introduced into the circuit (ii) a SE u.v. chart recorder, and (iii) a Solartron
for bridge balancing. The signal from the top A200 d.v.m, with an accuracy of 1 mv.
roll axial Ioadcells was supplied by a Farnell The power stabilisers used were:
d.c. stabiliser. Each bridge circuit for (i) a Farnell L30BT for the CIL strain gauge
thetorquemeters had eight gauges in order to amplifier circuitries, (ii) a Farnell L30B for the
 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172
within the allowable envelopes.
The rolls consisted of:
(i) a 90mm dia. top roll, (ii) a 90mm dia. bottom
roll and (iii) two 75mm dia. side rolls.
All the four rolls had a full roll length of 310mm
and were made from Uddeholm tool steel(UHB
Arne). The top surfaces were heat-treated to a
hardness of 58/62 HRC and to a depth of 5mm.
The mounting of the rolls gave an estimated
deflection of 0.36mm for the top roll, 0.52mm
for the bottom roll at the full load of 500kN, and
0.43mm for each side roll at the full load of
120kN. Torrington spherical bearings were
used for the bottom pinch and the side rolls.
The following is a numbered listing of the
essential components of the bending unit
assembly as depicted in Figures 4 (i) and (ii)):
1 End supporting plates, 2 Top cross beam, 3
Top roll Ioadcells, 4 Holding strips for the end
supporting plates, 5 Cross holding strips, 6
Bearing housing of the top roll, 7 Bottom
holding plates for the bending unit, 8 Locking
pins for the top roll Ioadcells, 9 Clamping plates
for the top beam Ioadcells, 10 The top roll, 11
The bottom pinch roll, 12 Bearing housing of
the bottom roll, 13 Connecting block of the
bottom roll, 14 Base block of the bottom roll
hydraulic cylinder, 15 Hydraulic cylinder
retaining blocks for the bottom roll, 16 Locking
rings for the bottom roll spherical
bearings(inner raceway), 17 Torrington 20SF32
bearing housing locking rings, 18 The side roll,
19 Bearing housing of the side roll, 20 Top
clamping block of the side roll hydraulic
cylinder, 21 Locking plate for the side roll top
clamping block, 22 Connecting blocks for the
side rolls, 23 Base-block for the side roll
hydraulic cylinder, 24 Bottom clamping block
for the side roll hydraulic cylinder, 25 Locking
rods for the bottom clamping block(side roll
hydraulic cylinder), 26 Locking plates for the
side roll bottom clamping block, 27 Torrington
17SF28 bearing housing locking ring, 28
Locking ring for the side roll spherical bearing
(inner raceway, free end), 29 Loadcell for the
bottom pinch roll and the side rolls, 30 Glacier
MB100DU bearing locking ring, 31 Locking ring
for the side roll spherical bearing (inner
raceway, driven end), 32 Loadcell cover for the
bottom roll, 33 Bush bearings for the side roll
connecting block.
3.1.2. The hydraulic drive and circuitry of the
165
side rolls and the bottom roll
The vertical translational movement of both
bottom pinch and side rolls was provided by
hydraulic circuitry. Each hydraulic cylinder was
powered by an Enerpac hydraulic hand pump.
By suitable control of the installed valves the
corresponding side roll No.1 or No.2 could be
activated. Levelling of the side roll during the
bending process could be achieved by
adjusting the corresponding pair of valves,
while the levelling of the bottom pinch roll was
controlled by the opening of the circuit valves.
3.1.3. Motor drives for the model bender
The top roll drive line was designed to
transmit a torque not less than 2.45kNm at a
minimum speed of 4rev/min. It included a 5.5hp
Kopp Variator, a HT6R1 gear box, a Desch
Conax RTW2 safety clutch and a propshaft
which was connected to a torquemeter at the
top roll (Figure 5). Each side roll was also
driven by a Kopp Variator, through a propshaft
and a torquemeter. The latter transmitted a
minimum torque of 1.23kNm at 4rev/min.
3.2 Instrumentation and Calibrations
3.2.1. Sensing components and circuitries
The axial and bending loads for each roll
were measured by Ioadcells, whilst
torquemeters were used to sense the torque
induced between the roll and propshaft. The
layout of the sensing components in the model
bender are shown in Figure 5. The four top load
cells (indicated as 1, 2, 3 and 4) are located at
each corner of the bending unit. The two
Ioadcells (A and B) were located to support the
bearing housing at either end of the bottom roll,
and the pair of Ioadcells (D and E) and (F and
G) were positioned to support the bearing
housing at either end of side roll 1 and side roll
2 respectively. T t, and Tql and Tq2 are the
torquemeters for the top roll and the two side
rolls, respectively. Additionally, a Servo-
Tektachometer mounted at the free end of the
top roll monitored the roll rotational speed.
The strain gauge bridge circuitries for the
Ioadcells and torquemeters:
The circuitries were designed to eliminate any
possible spurious signals. All the strain gauges
in each full bridge circuit were 100W resistive
filament type and each element had a safe
maximum current of 20mA. All six bending
bridges for the bottom and side roll Ioadcells
166 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172

Ener~af.?.a..~l','ldraullc cylindQr RC1010

.
/

i /0
]

7"

G-...II'I I z~

/ [ n,~rl~ac___l!'fd_r__a.uli_c_.S1}indQr R(~.I01 0

l ii) Pl.an viQw

Figure 4(ii) Model bender assembly

(plan view).

four top roll axial strain gauge bridges, (iii) a calibration. Results obtained were analysed
Farnell L30B for the four top roll bending strain with the aid of a linear regression statistical
gauge bridges, and (iv) a Farnell L30B for the software package. The calibration equations
six bending strain gauge bridges of the bottom and their corresponding coefficient of
pinch and the side roll Ioadcells. determination, the coefficient of correlation, and
the standard error of estimation were recorded.
3.2.2 Calibrations For this particular experiment, the calibrated
Calibration for the Ioadcells were performed range for the Ioadcells was:
using a 1 MN Avery compression testing
machine. The torquemeters were calibrated (a) Axial load:
using an Avery torsion testing machine. The 0- 100 kN for the top and
tachometer was calibrated in situ by noting the bottom roll,
time taken for every twenty revolutions of the 0- 50 kN for the side rolls.
top roll propshaft. During calibration, particular
attention was paid to the proper alignment of (b) Bending load:
load transmission to attenuate any possibly 0- 60 kN for the bottom
induced effects. Repeatability of the calibration and side rolls,
was ensured by performing at least twice, each 0- 30 kN for the top roll.
 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172 167

The f r o n t of the bending u n i t

!'1 Tachometer
L.J

© ®
I
I
o
I
I
I
I
-I
Motor Motor
t-
o Oear-box
>1
L_
,,ml
~t - II
'-I
I .~ Motor
I

1, 2, 3, ~ are the s p e c i f i c a t i o n numbers for the top I o a d c ~ l l s

A,13 are the s p e c i f i c a t i o n l e t t e r s 1'or the bottom roll IoadcQIIs
0,E, F.G are the s p e c i f i t a t i o n l e t t e r s for the side r o l l I o a d c o l l s
Tsl. Ts2 are the torquemeters f o r the side r o l l number 1 and 2 respectively
Tt is the top roll t o r q u e m e t e r

Figure 5 Plan arrangement of the sensing

components in the model bender.
 168 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172

Y
C~n
_.Po.sitional powering centre

~Positional powering direction of the pre-active

Otn :
~ ° ' . . . .
~.~,~sideroll.
- - °.

ii
0

\,
\_ plane

Pre-aciive I '

...... i--[- /Bottom

roll
Xcn _l
r i

-Xbn
I I
i

' 1_ X° _l
I-
Figure 6 Geometrical conaitions for the
single/first pass pre-bend mode
and at the initiation of the
continuous bending mode.
 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172 169

YI .!o
! -b°

Pos i ti onal powering ce_n.tr__J_~.

Otn
Positional powering direction of the

/
pre-inactive side roll.

plato /
I /

-1-
I pre-inactiv~ f ~ " °
I-._ t "
side roll /
s,

I Xbn
x-~cn"~tnL~
- Jl
I~',,n _-J
Figure 7 Geometrical condition for the
single/first pass steady continuous
bending mode with the pre-inactive
side roll operating.
170 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172
3.2.3 Geometrical set-up of the experimental
rig
The geometrical setting of the model bender
was made to simulate a four-roll Verrina
bender. This configuration (Figure 3) gave :
(i) ~ = 0 ° ,(ii) X = X o = 1 8 6 m m . and(iii) a
pinch gap of 36ram. During the setting process,
particular precautions were made to ensure
the setting accuracy [5].
3.2.4 Experimental procedure and data
analysis
Prior to the starting of each test, sufficient
time was allowed to stabilise the power supply
to the u.v. recorders, to the amplifier circuitries
and strain gauge bridges, and to all the
supplementary instruments. Each side of the
plate specimen for bending was coated with
engineering blue. The gap between the top and
bottom pinch rolls was pre-set at approximately
0.1mm over the thickness of the plate
specimen and parallelism was ensured by
using slip gauges. The plate was then carefully
located in the middle of the set pinch gap, and
properly levelled with the active side roll being
gradually "pumped up" [5]. The following test
procedures were then carried out:
(a) The plate was gripped by "pumping up"
the bottom pinch roll.
The levelling of the bottom pinch roll was
checked by measuring the distance from the
top face of its bearing housings to the bottom
face of the top beams. The adjustment was
repeated until equalization at each end of the
bottom roll was achieved with a sufficient
g r i p p i n g force in the pinch gap.
(b) The setting was rechecked to ensure that
the pre-active side roll was just touching the
bottom face of the plate.
To bend an initially flat plate, this preparatory
setting did not necessitate any further
adjustment. For an initially curved specimen
re-adjustment was usually required.
(c) The following measurements were then
taken at either end of each effective roll.
1 - the distance from the top of the
bottom pinch roll bearing housing to the bottom
face of the top beams,
2 - the horizontal distance from the
centre of the bottom pinch roll to the centre of
the pre-active side roll,
3 - the vertical distance from the
centre of the pre-active side roll to the bottom
face of the top beam.
(d) The pre-active side roll was positioned at
an assumed vertical distance from the bottom
faces of the top beams to the centre of the pre-
active side roll.
(e) The locking of all the hydraulic valves
was checked.
(f) Procedures c-2 and c-3 were repeated.
(g) The plate was conveyed through the
pinch until a sufficient length of the bend had
covered the distance from the pinch to the pre-
active side roll.
(h) The pre-active side roll was lowered until
the plate was free.
(i) The pre-inactive side roll was positioned
to touch the curved surface of the bent section
of the plate.
Measurements of procedures c-2 and c-3 were
repeated. In this case the pre-active side roll
was replaced by the pre-inactive side roll.
(j) Next, the pre-inactive side roll was
positioned to the measured distance as stated
in (f) above.
(k) The plate was rolled to complete the
bend.
In order to minimise the lengths of the u.v.
charts produced by the bending a discrete
recording technique was adopted. The method
was to start and stop the recording before and
after the performance of the procedures (a),
(d), (g), (h), (i) and (k). This gave a traceable
chart since the other procedures did not affect
the continuity of the traces.
After bending, several plate radii
measurements were then taken along various
positions of the bend for the pre-bending
mode. The linear length remaining in each
bend was assessed by noting the difference
(from the set transverse edge of the plate) of
the contact bands remaining on the coated
engineering blue, on the concave and convex
surfaces of the bend.
Experimental data analysis:
The signals from each sensing component
were converted to their respective physical
quantity using the calibrated equations.
Subsequently, the final relevant parameters
were obtained as follows:
Force on each roll - the resultant force F on
each side roll was determined by:
 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172
n n
= ~J{[T.Fa] 2 + [7_.Fb]
2} (1)
i=1 i=1
n = 2 for the bottom pinch roll and for each of
the side rolls,
n = 4 for the top roll,
where Fa and F b are the measured axial and
bending load, respectively, on each Ioadcell.
Torque on top roll - the measured torques
were (i) the mean torque T m and (ii) the
maximum torque T m a x . In determining the
mean torque it was noticed that its trace on the
u.v. chart was oscillating within a small band
width. The mean torque Tm was thus evaluated
from the difference on the u.v. chart between
the mean chart value Tr of the oscillation and
the initially set reference chart value To as the
continuously steady state was reached, i.e.
Tm = a(Tr - To ) + b (2)
where a, b are calibration constants; T r , To
are measured chart widths of the trace in mm.
The m a x i m u m torque was defined as the
highest torque experience in each continuous
bending mode and was evaluated by replacing
the reference quantities of Tm and Tr by Tmax
and Ti respectively, in the calibration equation
(2). In this case Ti was the chart width
measurement in mm at the transitional state.
Rotational speed of the top roll - the top roll
speed was evaluated from the difference of the
u.v. chart readings of the corresponding trace
at the instant of steady rotation and its initial
datum by the following equation:
N = c((or-~o) + d (3)
where N is the rotational speed in rev/min, (Or,
(0o are the measurements (in mm) from the
chart and denotes the steady rotation and the
initial datum respectively, and c, d are the
calibration constants.
Experimental power - the total work done
Wd to complete a bend in the continuous roller
bending process can be evaluated from the
traces of the u.v. chart using the following
equation:
171
Wd = [2NTm/6OVc][La/2 + Ls
+ Ld/2] (4)
where, V c is the chart speed of the u.v.
recorder, La, Ls and Ld are the length of the
u.v. traces during acceleration, steady state
driving and deceleration, respectively (these
lengths are in relation to the torque on the top
roll during bending).
4. Graphical Presentation of the
Experimental Results and Discussions
4.1. Properties of the HP30 Aluminium Plate
Specimens
Uniaxial tensile and indentation tests
indicated that the anisotropy of the HP30
aluminium plate specimens was negligible [5].
However, both tests showed various degrees of
hardening, tempering and a n n e a l i n g for
different thicknesses of the specimens. In
particular, it was observed that the material
hardening constant for thinner specimens was
higher than that of the thicker ones. This
implied that the thinner plates were more
susceptible to work hardening.
4.2. Discussion on the Experimental Results
in Bending HP30 Aluminium Plates
Since there was a collated total of sixteen
u.v. galvanometer signals, some of the output
signals were enmeshed together and were
difficult to separate, and therefore only those
results which were distinguishable from the u.v.
chart are listed. The respective measurements
were subsequently presented for the following
two operative conditions:
(i) the pre-bending active (pre-active) side
roll operation and
(ii) the pre-bending inactive (pre-inactive)
side roll operation.
All the data were taken from the u.v. chart at
the steady equilibrium operating conditions.
The corresponding data for the m a x i m u m
torque were presented on the basis that the top
roll drive experienced and required torque,
otherwise the continuous bending operation
would subsequently fail.
4.3. General Observation from the Preliminary
Tests.
Preliminary results of the bending force on
172 M. Hua et aL / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 48 (1995) 159-172

the rollers for some initial single and multipass resulted from a changing deformation pattern
bending indicated that the measured force on and bender/plate geometry, as the bending
the top roll was lower than that on the bottom process proceeded.
roll. This contradicts the expected results since,
generally, it was expected that the top roll 6. Acknowledgments
would exert a higher force than the bottom roll.
Initially, it was thought that these results were The financial support of S.E.R.C. and the
due to the fact that the top roll Ioadcells were facilities provided by the Department of
mounted in such a way as to give a 'portal Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Aston
frame' structure within the bending unit of the University, Birmingham, England are gratefully
model bender. The additive vertical force appreciated.
components from the operative side roll and the
bottom roll would thus generate twisting 7. References
moments in the top beam and the Ioadcell
interfaces. Consequently, the induced twisting [1] J.T. Winshop, American Machinist,127,2,
moments would oppose and cancel the (1983) 105.
expected bending signal, thus affecting the [2] S. Roggendorff and J. Haeusler, Welding
accuracy of the measured load on the top roll. and Metal Fabrication, Jul./Aug. (1979)
In order to establish this assumption, an 353.
estimation of the magnitude of induced twisting [3] M.B. Bassett and W. Johnson, J. Strain
moments was carried out with a load of 250 kN Analysis, 1,5 (1966) 398.
applied vertically at the mid-span of each top [4] NE. Hanson and O. Jannerup, A.S.M.E.
beam. This, in total, gave a maximum of Paper No. 78WA/Prod. (1979) 6,
induced bending force on the top Ioadcells [5] M. Hua, Ph.D. Thesis, University of
within an estimated 12% of the total applied Aston, England, (1986).
load. Observation indicated that the top roll
bending force was 34% lower than that of the
bottom roll at rff = 711mm, for single pass
bending of 8 mm thick x 80 mm wide HP30
aluminium plates. This gave at least 20%
difference from the estimated value of 12%
(taking account of the side roll bending force,
the difference would be even higher than 20%).
Consequently, this analysis seems to suggest
that the observed characteristics for the top roll
could be an inherent bending mechanism of the
process, however an understanding of the
cause and the nature of this mechanism would
need further investigation.

5. Conclusions

The various operational sequences and

roller bender configurations illustrated the
complexity of the bending mechanics which are
inherent in four-roll plate bending. Preliminary
plate bending tests validated the
instrumentation, the associated sensing
components and the experimental techniques.
The wide spectrum of bending characteristics