Plate rolling is the operation of rolling sheet metals in order to manipulate the shape of them to create curved forms.
1. What is Plate Rolling?
Plate rolls are used to fabricate many components such as tanks, pressure vessels, pipes, formworks and just about any other cylindrical, oval or curved shapes made with sheet metals such as mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium and etc.
In this process, a flat plate of metal is bent into a specific curve or radius. The plate is placed between rollers, which turn in opposite directions. The gap between the rollers should be smaller than the gap between the rollers. As the plate moves between the rollers, the work piece get compressed and eventually formed into a full cylinder, cylinder segment, full cone, and cone segment that can then be used as part of a fabrication project.
2. Plate Rolling Tips
- Pre bending
In any rolling operation, there is a narrow unbent flat section on the plate’s leading and trailing edges. This unbent section should be bent via press brake prior to the rolling operation. Also Plate Rolling machines with 4 rolls can perform pre bending without any need for an external machine for this task.
- Flat Material Surface
The surface of the work piece should be flat, clear and free from any burrs in order to not damage the rolls and perform a smooth bending operation.
- Spring back
Like spring-back on a press brake, when you release the force from the part it will spring back. Therefore a small overlap may be required during the plate rolling to compensate the final spring back at the end of the operation.
3. What is Novelty Steel offering?
Novelty Steel is an experienced fabricator with various plate rolling machinery in its workshop. Some of the fabrications built with plate rolling are:
With vast CNC Machinery Park and experienced engineering team, Novelty Steel fabricates bespoke curved sheet metal parts with up to 35 mm thickness according to the EN 1090-2 European Norms.
