Abstract: Cold roll forming is a complicated metal processing, and it is very difficult to simulate the forming process. Based on the Updated-Lagrange method in the deformation mechanics, an elastic-plastic large deformation spline finite strip method is developed to analyze cold roll forming of a thin channel section. The longitudinal membrane strain values on the edge of the deformed strip for four one-pass sequences in different fold angles are got. Simulated results are compared with the results from previously conducted experiments. The deviation of the simulated peak strain values is within 30%compared with the experimental results.

Key words: computer aided analysis, cold roll forming, channel section, spline finite strip method