newsletter of data m sheet metal solutions gmbh

data M info-forum December / 2009

Customer magazine for the roll forming and metal bending industry Edition December/2009

N e w s l e t t e r o f d a t a M S h e e t M e t a l S o l u t i o n s G m b H

Foreword

Dear readers,

Promising pros-pects in turbulenttimes.

data M Sheet Metal Solutions feltthe effects of the crisis too. But de-spite all dire prophecies the globaleconomy continues to march on - al-though admittedly some of the pacehas been taken out of it. I don’t wantto gloss over the current situation ofcourse. Still, in our industrial sector,roll forming and sheet metal proces-sing, I do think we can view thingswith a little more optimism.

Technical progress is a key successfactor, something we pursue inten-sively and to master it, something weinvest in and develop into business.data M is consequently not only theproducer of the leading CAE softwaresolution COPRA® RF. It’s also a depen-dable provider of services, for analy-sis or research and development.

Even when the business going istough you notice that those compa-nies stand their ground that are tech-nology-driven and don’t stray fromtheir goals. If you’re innovative andgenerate added value for your clien-tele, through more benefit and moreefficiency, you’re rewarded by a busi-ness upturn of its own. So to emergefrom the crisis stronger than beforeyou must stay on the ball technically .

Thus, and especially in 2009, data MSheet Metal Solutions continues todemonstrate its capability as yourpartner for sustainable developmentthrough powerful methods of designand simulation.

Yours truly,

Albert SedlmaierManaging Director

New company name, new logo, new service center

From software developing to technical roll forming services

Tube and section machining - Interview Blechnet.com

The profitability of roll forming sinksor swims depending on your ex-perience and knowledge – eitherthat in the heads of designersand machine operators or in soft-ware packages for design andmanufacture... see page 4

Virtual roll forming is already a reality

Exhibitions

Blechexpo 2009This year data M has a specialshow – “Time- and cost-effectivemanagement of roll tools”...

see page 10

COPRA® RF 2009

In this version of COPRA® RF wehave been concentrating on fourmajor issues, that will make the design of sections... see page 12

New version

COPRA® RF 2009

Cloning rollsFor many profiles rolls may beused multiple times. For a more effective process chain, version2009 enables rolls to be cloned...

see page 9

There at a mouse click

Online seminarsSaving on traveling expenses canbe a must in a weak economy.But you can still keep learningwithout having to leave the work-place. It’s quite simple by webi-nars... see page 9

Flexible roll forming

Research &development

COPRA® Adaptive Motion Control– the automation platform fromdata M Sheet Metal Solutions forflexible roll forming of discontin-uous cross-sections – now comesin an entirely new generation. Asmany as 256 axes with differentcams can be driven simultane-ously by one control. Plus, newstation kinematics, preprocessing,postprocessing and inline opera-tions can be integrated, and opti-mally synchronized with existingmotion control functionality...

see page 8

Tube and section machining, CAD/CAM - Interview Blechnet.com

Sets of rolls frequently go intostorage once they have beenused. Assuming 10,000 tools youmay soon have rolls worth a mil-lion or more lying unused in awarehouse. A front-to-end pro-cess chain from data M SheetMetal Solutions in Valley, Ger-many is aimed at scanning, sav-ing and retrieving the geometry data for access to this treasure trove,as managing director Albert Sedlmaier explains... see page 6

A veritable treasure trove of rolls

Attention: new!

COPRA® RollScanner videosAsk now for the new videos:

08024-640-0

Renaming a company is actually an everyday and normal matter, whichcan be handled without any problems. But in times of a weak economylike today people tend to ask funny questions like “What is going on there?Are they bankrupted or do they have a new partner?” To make it clearfrom the very beginning: data M is a sound company enjoying a stableeconomic situation with full order books. The company is independentand will remain so in the future. This should eliminate all rumours onceand for all... see page 2

Valley. data M has been renamed, and the reason is rather simple: In thecourse of more than two decades the company has changed a lot, andso has a great part of the business activity. The former company namedid not give precise evidence of what the company does and offers. There-fore the management decided to rename the company.

New company name, newly designed company logo

arose slowly the process simula-tion sector, but very soon thefounders realised that the designsoftware alone was not sufficient.Consequently they in 1988 offeredservices and commenced designwork themselves. Beside the workwith software developing this sec-tor very soon became an importantbusiness pillar of its own.

Thus the engineers had an ex-cellent tool at hand, which enabledthem to also offer engineering so-lutions and controlling technologyin addition to their manifold soft-ware solutions.

Says Sedlmaier: “Meanwhile wehad learned to understand the roll-forming process in detail and wewere then in the position to take thecompany another step forward byoffering design services our-selves.” With immediate effect thesoftware development was adjust-ed and nothing was automatedany longer. Even the marketing waschanged accordingly and data Minsisted from that time on that itssoftware cannot automate every-thing.

“That changed a lot with us”, continues Sedlmaier, “after thatthe designing engineer was ourfriend and not our enemy anylonger, as before. We increasing-ly focused on process simulation,i.e. a designing engineer de-signed something and we wrote an analysing program, which

Change of name

From software developing to

Masthead

Published by:data M Sheet Metal Solutions GmbHAm Marschallfeld 17D-83626 Valley/OberlaindernPhone: +49 8024 /640 -0Fax: +49 8024 /640 -300e-mail: [email protected]://www.datam.de

Editorial:Albert Sedlmaier (responsible),Doris BerauerGraphic design:Doris Berauer

Newslet ter o f data M Sheet Meta l Solut ions GmbH2

data M in fo- forum December / 2009

data M Software is now

P r o d u c t s I C O P R A ®

I Tube roll forming I Sheet metal bendingI Section roll forming

S e r v i c e s I

I Support center

The head office in Valley / Oberlaindern

Valley. data M has been renamed, and the reason israther simple: in the course ofmore than two decades thecompany has changed a lot,and so has a great part of thebusiness activity. The formercompany name did not give precise evidence of what the

company does and offers.Therefore the management decided to rename the compa-ny.

Renaming a company is actu-ally an everyday and normal mat-ter, which can be handled withoutany problems. But in times of aweak economy like today peopletend to ask funny questions like“What is going on there? Are theybankrupted or do they have a newpartner?”

To make it clear from the verybeginning: data M is a sound com-pany enjoying a stable economicsituation with full order books. Thecompany is independent and willremain so in the future. This shouldeliminate all rumours once and forall.

The beginningdata M Sheet Metal Solutions

GmbH’s history began long beforethe actual founding of the compa-ny. Dipl.-Ing. Albert Sedlmaier, thefounder of the company workedfrom 1982 until 1987 as a researchengineer at the Technical Univer-sity of Munich/ Germany in the fieldof mechanical design, CAD/CAMand roll forming.

On behalf of the Studienge-sellschaft fuer Stahlanwendung/Düsseldorf, Germany he workedand graduated on investigationsconcerning the subject roll forming(CAD/CAM, expert systems...).Co-founder Stefan Freitag gradu-ated at the same University.

The results and developments inthose days of research inspired theyoung engineers to found data MSoftware GmbH in June 1987 withthe objective of developing meresoftware. At that time everyonewas convinced that as much aspossible in a production processshould be automated.

That was the mainstream trendin those days. Out of this work

calculates the result of the rollforming process and simulates theroll forming process. In those dayswe invested a lot into research &development and collaborated withdiverse universities and scientificinstitutions even in India and China.From the beginning our contactsinto these regions were notablygood, and I can say that today, intimes of an economic crisis, ourcompany generates about 15 % ofits turnover in Asia.”

Customer proximity is exceptionally important - data M expands its businessall over the world

R&D work is daily routine for thedata M team. That is what estab-lished the reputation of the com-pany as being a problem solver or,as Albert Sedlmaier commentswith a smile, as a troubleshooter.Companies from all over the worldcalled for the Upper Bavarians andasked for assistance.

Very soon Sedlmaier realisedthe high potential that derives fromthe internationalisation of his firmand its services. Consequently heand his co-founder began to lookfor distribution and engineeringpartners in Europe and overseaswith whom they can market not only their software products but also their services.

This local presence helps data M to improve its customer proxim-ity and its practical relevance,

technical roll forming services

Newslet ter o f data M Sheet Meta l Solut ions GmbH 3


data M Sheet Metal Solutions

C O P R A ®

I Service centerI Training center I Research center I Future visionsI Improvements

R e s e a r c h & D e v e l o p m e n t I C O P R A ®

which is most important for itswork.

Goal of this expansion policy isto establish many of the so called“data M competence centres”, inwhich the parent company holdsthe majority. By establishing thesebranch offices the roll forming ex-perts can any time keep an eye onthe market developments and areable to react fast and flexibly to thewishes of their customers all overthe world.

data M Sheet Metal Solutions - a highly technical service centre

So far data M delivered the fea-sibility studies and the tooling aswell as the roll forming concept toits customers. These services willin future be added by a machine,which can produce prototypes ofrolled sections.

Not only on the basis of “flexibleroll forming”, on which data M hasbeen working for many years, thecompany in future will be in a position to offer its customers acomplete concept consisting oftheory and practical experience –from feasibility studies and thetooling concept as well as the rollforming concept to the prototype ofthe section.

Once a client has accepted theoverall result data M will as a con-sultant assist the roll former in realising the concept.

Testimonial

remote support“I was impressed by the effective remote support that data M

provides to its customers. I used to deal with all the major providersof engineering analysis and scientific software and I have never obtained such an effective response before.”

Miguel Angel CavaliereArgentina

Tube and section machining

The profitability of roll form-ing sinks or swims dependingon your experience and knowl-edge - either that in the headsof designers and machine operators or in software pack-ages for design and manufac-ture. So what is the role of soft-ware in the roll forming pro-cess? We spoke about that toStefan Freitag, managing di-rector of data M Sheet Metal So-lutions.

Blechnet: Stefan, how does theright software improve the advan-tages of roll forming even more?

Freitag: With the design softwarefor cold rolled sections obtainable

on the market today it’s possibleto create new designs even ofcomplex sections in a matter ofdays. Instead of the six weeks itmight have taken you 20 yearsago. Analytical simulation toolsenable the designer to check forflaws in the layout phase already.They support you in particular indetecting linear expansion. Be-cause of the roll forming processthis is one of the main causes ofdefects on the finished section.But calculations of this kind alwaysbase on the designed cross-sec-tions. Spring-back between sta-tions or compliance of shafts – aswith high-strength material for ex-ample – doesn’t enter into it.

You can only do thiswith an FEM calcula-tion. But the use ofsoftware has stillmade design opera-tions much more effi-cient. Today you canvery easily derive sim-ilar section cross-sec-tions from ready exist-ing designs becausethe basic calculationsfor the flower are fullyparametric. It doesn’tmatter if the shape orthe geometric dimen-sions including sheetthickness are different.Every change made tothe final cross-sectionis automatically adopt-ed in the roll formingflower. That makes foreffective use of rollforming experiencethat’s already accu-mulated. The systems

are also transparent, meaning thata designer is able at any time toreconstruct the calculation ofbandwidth or method of calibrationthat’s been used.

Additional calculations like sta-tistical strength or theoreticalspring-back help the engineer tooptimize their first design in asmuch as possible. The softwarealso supports the design of rolltools. Specially attuned functionscan be used to automate certaindesign processes. These includethe implementation of forming rollsor definition of clearance angles.Manufacturing data are automat-ically extracted from the designedrolls. That also means a substan-tial time-saving because it doesaway with all the detailing effort.

You can also search for and re-use rolls saved in a database.That economizes on manufactur-ing time and cost. A further im-portant point is the greater use ofaccessory rolls. As cross-sectionsbecome increasingly complex aprofiler today can no longer man-age just with the classic stationarrangement of top and bottom rollplus side roll.

Blechnet: What influence doesthe software have on the ma-chined result?

Freitag: Today you find very com-plex cross-sections being manu-factured by cold roll forming. Thequality achieved is also a result ofthe software that’s used. Calcula-tions become reproducible andthe results reapplicable. Typingerrors are ruled out when calcu-

Stefan Freitag, managing director of data M Sheet Metal Solutions in Valley, Germany: “Virtual roll forming front to end is already a reality.” With modern software it is possible to create new designs of even complexsections in a matter of days.

Virtual roll forming is already a reality



Today you find very complex cross-sections being manufactured by cold roll forming.

Walter Frick of blechnet.com interviewed managing director Stefan Freitag.

08 / 11 / 2008 - Author: Dietmar Kuhn

lating the neutral fiber or config-uring the flower. The use of soft-ware also gives you the accuracyof NC lathes that’s possible today,which is another contribution toquality. You mustn’t forget that thequality of the end-product de-pends on many process factors –the quality of the design, of thematerial, of the roll production, ofthe rolling plant and of the settingup must all be good too.

If one of these factors doesn’tline up properly you’ll have prob-lems with the end-product.

Blechnet: Can you simulate theroll forming process by softwareentirely, is virtual roll forming pos-sible?

Freitag: Yes, virtual roll formingfront to end is already a reality.When it emerges from design theset of rolls is automatically dressedfor simulation. The mesh neces-sary for the strip is automaticallyextracted from the position of thebending points, the material andprocess parameters are defined.In other words are you manufac-turing from a coil or blanks, shouldcutting of the strip to length be sim-ulated, do you want to simulatewith the simplified model, or mustyou calculate with rotating rollsand friction.

If it’s a case of ready punchedstrip the hole pattern can be trans-ferred to the mesh for the materi-al. This shows whether the geom-etry or position of the holes alters.Based on this information it’s pos-sible to correct the shape of the,in most cases, very costly punch-

ing die as early as the draftingphase.

That in turn saves time and costwhen starting up. The use of draw-ing dies or molds in simulation isn’t a problem either. We’veworked on several hundred in-dustrial projects in recent yearsthat in most cases involved opti-mizing sets of rolls by means ofFEA.

Feedback from these projectsattest to very good harmony be-tween theory, or simulation, andpractice. There are some instan-ces where the results don’t match,and then we have to determine thecause. With high-strength materi-als it’s often compliance of shaftsthat produces a different result ona machine to what was simulated.

So you use the simulation re-sults to calculate the complianceof the shafts, set the roll gap ap-propriately, and calculate the pro-file anew. The larger roll gapmeans that the material is notformed more than necessary, andyou can then achieve extremelysmall spring-back rates.

If the conditions accompanyingtheory and practice agree, the re-

sult will be right too. Of course sim-ulation always proceeds from thefigures that are issued by design.So if the tolerances of the pro-duced rolls are not correct or therolls are wrongly produced in thefirst place – that’s still possible

even in the age of numerical con-trol – the results of simulationaren’t what you end up with in re-ality.

In such cases the COPRA®

RollScanner is a solution for test-ing rolls.

Today you find very complex cross-sections being manufactured by cold roll forming.



Testimonial

“We have been very pleased with the

COPRA® software...”

„Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2009 to everyone at data M. We have been very pleased with the COPRA® software andhave gained confidence in the information that we get from it as weuse it and understand it more. I have been a rollform tooling design-er for 23 years and the information that I am receiving from the FEAsoftware has made me take a different look at the way I design rolltooling. I am looking forward to utilizing the COPRA® software evenmore in the years to come.“

Doug WitteCertified Rollform Specialist

SHAPE Corporation, USA

Tube and section machining: CAD / CAM

Sets of rolls frequently go in-to storage once they have beenused. Assuming 10,000 toolsyou may soon have rolls wortha million or more lying unusedin a warehouse. A front-to-endprocess chain from data MSheet Metal Solutions in Valley,Germany is aimed at scanning,saving and retrieving the geom-etry data for access to this treas-ure trove, as managing directorAlbert Sedlmaier explains.

Blechnet: Albert, why is it worthre-using roll tools?

Sedlmaier: Big companies willmanufacture about a hundred newsections in the course of a year.

An average set of rolls consists ofbetween 200 and 250, which canfast add up to a few tens of thou-sands before the year’s out. Someof these new tools are bound to bealready available in stock – butthey just can’t be traced. We reck-on that a good 10% of the rolls canbe found in the inventory. Thatmakes for a simple calculation.For a hundred new sets each ofabout 200 rolls I’m already stock-ing 2000 of them. Since each rollcosts an average of 150 euros, Ihave potential tooling worth about300,000 euros just waiting. I onlyneed to find the right tools. If newrolls are added, the proportion willlook even better longterm.

Blechnet: Why don’tcompanies use asmany used roll toolsas they could?

Sedlmaier: Even ifusers attempt to re-strict themselves tocertain basic forms,there are still a wholenumber of project- orprofile-related rollsthat aren’t so easy tore-use. Often you on-ly have paper draw-ings of the major ap-plicable tools, and it’simpossible to searchthrough them all.

Blechnet: Do CADdata make it easier toretrieve them?

Sedlmaier: Even thatdoesn’t help becauseroll tools are operated,

and possibly remachined. In mostcases nobody does the updatingfor this – meaning that the CADdata aren’t a reliable picture of thegeometry of the particular roll.Then there’s a second aspect.Tools that have rolled some tensof thousands, sometimes perhapsmillions of meters of material showwear and tear. The profile is nolonger that of the original design.Even if I did find matching CAD data, I still don’t know what exactlythe roll looks like.

Blechnet: So what should some-one do so they can re-use oldrolls?

Sedlmaier: The simplest way is tocreate a process chain, as we doby combining our COPRA® Recy-cling Database with the COPRA®

RollScanner. The process chainthen looks as follows. A roll isscanned and the real contourthat’s found is transferred direct into the recycling database. Par-allel to that we break down thecontour into Fourier coefficients,which is useful for the search algorithm. In this way the user canspeedily and simply search forsimilar rolls in their specific recy-cling database.

Blechnet: How does the searchwork?

Sedlmaier: We work in multiplesteps because we obviously wanta result as fast as possible. Firstof all the roll borehole must match,then of course the maximum diameter and maximum width. Inthat way I can fast restrict thesearch because it’s only a matter

Albert Sedlmaier, managing director of data M Sheet Metal Solutions in Valley, Germany: “What’s really clever about it is that I can even re-use worn rolls.”

A veritable treasure trove of rolls



Even if you have the CAD data of the tools, you still do not know their precise contour. The roll scanner can detect how worn they in fact are. These data automatically land in the recycling database, allowing a targeted search for old tools.

Michael Corban of blechnet.cominterviewed managing director Albert Sedlmaier.

11 / 24 / 2008 - Author: Michael Corban

of geometric comparison. So thereare only a small number of rollsthat come into question for the in-tended application.

Another important criterion isthat the rolls I find shouldn’t havean intersection with the contourI’m searching for. If the searchdoesn’t produce a result, a secondapproach is a similarity search byFourier coefficients, enabling meto find similar contours fast. Herethe contour of the recycling roll isanalyzed and saved so only rollsare found that really have the required contour. There were approaches in the past but in Unixdays neither harddisk capacity norcomputing speed were adequatefor obtaining a result in an accept-able time.

Blechnet: So how fast is thesearch today?

Sedlmaier: Normally a roll is foundin a matter of seconds – and it hasto be for such a solution to be ac-cepted. Imagine I had to wait justone minute for each roll of a set of250 tools. That would take half aworkday, which is out of the ques-tion. But with the SQL databasesavailable today under Windowsobtaining a response within sec-onds is no longer a problem. Seam-less integration of the individualsteps as in our solution also pro-motes acceptance, especially be-cause it simplifies operation.

Blechnet: What does the appli-cation look like for the designer?

Sedlmaier: Naturally they want toknow what rolls already exist or

what sections have already beendesigned. So first they sketch therolls they’re looking for. If a match-ing recycling roll is then found itcan be inserted in their CAD sys-tem in a separate layer.

What’s really clever aboutsearching by Fourier coefficientsis that the designer can specify theoversize for the roll they’re look-ing for. So even worn rolls can beused again. Also, only those rollscome into question that can be reworked within the set limits andwith relatively little effort to pro-duce the required contour fast.

The recycling roll that’s found issubsequently linked with the de-signed roll so that the productiondata, such as material and sawinglists, clearly show that this roll al-ready exists and only needs to beremachined. Once that’s done,the found recycling roll is ofcourse, and automatically, re-moved from the recycling data-base.

Blechnet: And when does the rollscanner enter the scene?

Sedlmaier: As a rule you workwith two databases. One holds thetools that are in use, the current

ones, while the other is the so-called recycling database.

Given the data, you could sim-ply load the data set after use into the recycling database. Butyou still have to ask what contourthe used tools really have. AndI’ve no idea of the contours of old-er roll sets. That’s precisely whywe developed the roll scanner. Atone go, and automatically too, thedata are suitably formatted for thedatabase and saved, including theFourier coefficients. From then onthe geometries - and the real oneson the tool – are ready for retrievalby the user in the recycling data-base.

Blechnet: How much effort doesthis involve for the user?

Sedlmaier: The actual scanningoperation is a fast matter. The maineffort is one of logistics. In addi-tion to transporting the rolls out ofstorage and back again, the or-ganization of storage plays a ma-jor role. Because I can’t fetch thescanned tools from storage whenI need them if I don’t identify andstore them properly. The userdoesn’t have to bother about man-aging the data sets. The COPRA®

RollScanner is designed to take

care of that. It gauges the roll toolsspeedily and accurately, savesthe results in the database, andcan issue a report direct with in-formation about the quality of therolls. Our development focusedvery much on ease of operation.

At about 150 euros per tool you can soon be stocking rolls worth millions. Costs are easily cut by re-using just 10% of them.



The COPRA® RollScanner from data M

Attention: new!

COPRA® RollScanner videosAsk now for the new videos:

08024-640-0

The ground-breaking conceptof integrating all functionality in asingle control system means thatthe individual axes are conve-niently started up and checkedfor errors by the control PC,which also serves as an operatorterminal. Centralized data man-agement simplifies the entirediagnostic process, additionallyoptimized by remote maintenanceand in particular by remote actu-ation of the system.

Application in researchThe first application of the new

COPRA® Adaptive Motion Con-trol from data M is as part of theEuropean PROFORM researchproject – an innovative manufac-turing process concept for flexi-ble and cost-effective productionof vehicle bodies in white: profileforming.

The project, budgeted withmore than 10 million euros, isbeing conducted by 24 partners(including data M) from six coun-tries. It is sponsored by the Euro-pean Commission as part of its6th framework program, priority 3(www.proform-ip.org).

One of the controls is installedin the PROFORM prototype system, which was presented tothe public in October 2009 in thecourse of the ROLLFORM `09congress.

Flexible roll forming

Competence in and around roll forming

data M is a well-known namein the roll forming industry for,among other things, its feasibilitystudies (COPRA® FEA RF) androll forming and tool concepts.

Through the competence thusachieved in areas like controland the mechanical design offlexible roll forming plant, data Mis continuously expanding itsservice capability, through itsown flexible roll forming installa-tion for instance.

This puts data M Sheet MetalSolutions in a position to offercomplete process concepts forthe roll forming industry.



News from research& development

Feasibility studies, development of forming concept, prototyping

Different kinematicsCOPRA® Adaptive Motion Con-

trol now supports different paral-lel and serial kinematics togeth-er with their hybrids. Selection oftypes is by straight-forward soft-ware parameterizing.

In addition data M has devel-oped a now patented system forflexible forming stations thatbased on Bi-Pod parallel kine-matics, which is of course inte-grated in the kinematics module.Besides the mechanical benefitsof the system through two iden-tical axes, startup effort for theaxes is drastically reduced be-cause their dynamics are similar.

Operation and programming Generation of cams is fully au-

tomatic from the geometric dataof the ready cut sheet metal,which can be imported on a DXFinterface. Very different kinds ofkinematics are supported andtransparent for the user. Theseinclude front-end aligning sta-tions or laser cutting systems.

Production data acquisition –set and actual numbers, setup,operating and production times -are part of the COPRA® AdaptiveMotion Control standard, as are3D visualization and motion sim-ulation of the individual flexiblestations to control collision of thein part very complex motion se-quences.

Example 1: profiles - variable in height and depth

Example 2: profiles - variable in width, height and depth

Example 3: roof profile

Example 4: conical or bent profiles

NEW - profiledevelopment froma single source

COPRA® Adaptive MotionControl – the automation plat-form from data M Sheet MetalSolutions for flexible roll form-ing of discontinuous cross-sections – now comes in anentirely new generation. Asmany as 256 axes with differ-ent cams can be driven simul-taneously by one control.Plus, new station kinematics,preprocessing, postprocessingand inline operations can beintegrated, and optimally syn-chronized with existing motioncontrol functionality.

The data M concept seamless-ly integrates multiple functions inthe control system to save on anappreciable number of extra pro-cessors with their hardware. Thehuman/machine interface, pro-rammable logic control function-ality and motion control run on asingle industrial PC with one hard-ware and software platform. Theconcept is rounded off by an inte-grated category 4 safety system.

Up to 256 axes with one PCA single PC can drive as many

as 256 axes without any hard-ware add-ons. Other controls ge-nerally require cascading andelaborate synchronization. In theCOPRA® Adaptive Motion Controlall axes can of course move ondifferent tracks. And you canselect any number of referencepoints for the cams.

There at a mouse click

entation of a topic onscreen. Theoral explanation of the speaker towhat is shown onscreen is com-municated over a standard tele-phone line, and listeners can alsoask questions by a conferencecircuit. Each webinar deals with aspecific topic and lasts between30 and 60 minutes.

The advantages are obvious –cost savings and little need fororganization at both ends. Plus itis possible for data M to span var-ious areas of interest in a num-ber of small sessions, and tomaintain communication withyou during times of an economicor financial crisis.

Planned topicsInnovations in COPRA® RF 2009:• Roll construction

Saving on traveling expens-es can be a must in a weakeconomy. But you can stillkeep learning without havingto leave the workplace. It’squite simple by webinars. Awebinar is a seminar held overthe world wide web, so theword is just created by addingweb and seminar.

In future we’ll be announcingthese webinars on our homepage(www.datam.de). And this iswhere you can register for them.If you wish, we’ll inform you of anevent by e-mail. You’re registeredfor a webinar at a mouse click.

A data M specialist will holdthe webinar, and all participantsform the “virtual classroom”. Buteach participant sits at their owncomputer, and follows the pres-

• Hole patterns• Automatic networking

of holes• CAD interface with

Inventor and SolidWorks• FTM

Roll construction in COPRA® RF:• Cloning rolls• Distance rings• Draw plates• Recycling rolls

Hole pattern editor in COPRA® RF:• Creating and processing

2D hole pattern• Creating and processing

3D perforated sheet model• Creating 3D FEA control model• Generating new COPRA®

project from 3D model (adopting profile and

hole pattern)

Working with FEA:• Generating data from

COPRA® RF project with hole pattern

• Preparing FEA model• Simulating model• Analyzing results

Parametric profile and flower development inCOPRA® RF in conjunctionwith COPRA® SpreadSheet:• Profile construction in

COPRA® RF• Development of flower• Parametric modifications

in design and development

To find out about webinars, visit www.datam.de/webinar.htm

Online seminars - webinars at data M!



COPRA® RF 2009

Cloning rolls• Automatically cancel clone

selection in the current stitch.

• Cancel all clones in the cur-rent stitch.

• Cancel clones across stitches.

• Notice of where used for clones.

• Roll number optionally excludedfrom the cloning operation, i.ecloned rolls can be numbered differently.

• Cloned rolls can be modified atany point – no mother roll towhich other rolls relate.

• Cloned rolls with different num-bers are output in lists with the same geometry and different numbers, i.e. only the associ-ated roll number appears, andmanufacturing knows that theroll is an identical part (e.g. re-quiring no new NC program).

• Only dimension cloned rollsonce. If a cloned roll was al-

For many profiles rolls maybe used multiple times. For amore effective process chain,version 2009 enables rolls tobe cloned. The following func-tions are available:

• Manually clone rolls in the cur-rent stitch and across stitches.

• Select a roll or automatically clone all rolls in the current stitch.

• Automatically clone a rollacross the selected stitch.

• Image tools and automaticallyclone.

• Image roll(s) and automaticallyclone.

• Copy roll(s) and automaticallyclone.

• Copy rolls and clone acrossstitches.

• Interactively cancel clone(s). Cloned rolls with the same roll number.

ready dimensioned, informationis retained by a control param-eter. Analogously for NC data,the DXF file and NC file are on-ly created once for cloned rolls.

• Trace and clone rolls of thesame gometry stitch by stitch.

• Attributes of cloned rolls areidentical.

• Identify clones by color andline weight or by prefix in theroll number.

• Subsequently alter the color of a cloned roll.

• Show the installed position (identical or mirror-inverted).

• As an option automaticallyshow notice of where usedwhen saving a modified clonedroll; the degree of geometry modification can optionally be judged by showing the original contour.

• All modification functions for rolls are also available for cloned rolls.

• Modification of one cloned rollautomatically modifies allclones.

• Position-variant and position-invariant shifting of cloned rollswithin a stich.

number of classifying codes orother descriptive features. In thecase of special profiles, becauseof the variety of possible forms,such a search can turn into a for-midable task.

COPRA® RF now offers a meth-od in its database that does away

with the need for classifying rollcontours (with profile cross-sec-tions soon to follow). The search,across all ready saved contours,is for similarities of geometry andnot for allegiance to a particulargroup. The method used here isbased on a mathematical Fouriertransform, with the necessarycalculations running in the com-puter unnoticed by the user – theprofile cross-sections or roll toolsthat are found are presented inascending order sorted by theirsimilarity with the reference pro-file. Speedily and simply, the usercan in this way view not only theparticular profile cross-sectionbut also the forming plus the rolltools used for the purpose.

COPRA® Recycling -Database

Many a COPRA® RF user mayhave thousands or even tens ofthousands of rolls that are out ofuse, either because the particu-lar profile is no longer produced,

At this year’s BLECHEXPO,data M is presenting new ver-sions of its COPRA® RF rollforming program for design-ing roll tools, and COPRA®

Metal Bender for 3D sheetmetal design under AutoCADor Inventor.

Successful and cost-attractivemanufacture of roll formed partsnot only calls for an efficient toolset – the design, production andmaintenance of roll tools arealso of decisive importance. Thedata M booth at the BLECHEXPO2009 show is consequentlyfocusing on “time- and cost-effective management in devel-oping roll tools”.

As part of a front-to-end pres-entation the engineers from theBavarian-based company areshowing their COPRA® RF soft-ware solution for developing anddesigning roll tools. Repeatedlyneeded roll geometries can nowalso be cloned from existenttools.

A new kind of database func-tion allows re-use of old rolls(Recycling Database).

A fully automatic and highlyprecise roll gauging machine –COPRA® RollScanner 100-3 –illustrates how simple it is to savean existing set of roll tools in thedatabase.

Of course data M will also bedemonstrating the latest versionof its successful COPRA® FEA RFsimulation package and explain-ing the various add-ons.

Similarity search for profileand roll cross-sections

When you start to design atool, one of the questions imme-diately posing itself is often:“Haven’t we done something like this before?” or “Haven’t wealready solved this problem?”

If the answer is “Yes”, you startto search for the documentation.That means defining a whole

or the roll was beginning to showtoo much wear and tear. If yousay the average value of a roll is€ 150, the user can fast be stock-ing rolls worth € 1.5 million ormore that are no longer used.This is where the COPRA®

RollScanner comes in.

In the combination of COPRA®

RF Roll Database and COPRA®

RollScanner it is then possible tosend scanned rolls straight to thedatabase and retrieve them. Youcould already search throughcriteria like roll bore, maximumdiameter or maximum width. Butthen you also found rolls whosecontours were smaller at certainpoints than those of the rolls youwere looking for. What is specialabout this solution is the seamlessintegration of the single worksteps and ease of operation –essential for good acceptance.

COPRA® RF and FEA RF – automatic networking of perforated strip

It was possible before now withCOPRA® FEA RF to transfer thepunch pattern to the flat strip for finite element simulation. But thatcan be time-consuming – dependingon the shape and position of theperforations. COPRA® FEA RFversion 2009 automates the pro-

cess. For this purpose parts ofCOPRA® MetalBender were inte-grated into COPRA® RF software.

The profile cross-section is gen-erated in AutoCAD as a 3D object.Taking the punch library, the dif-ferent hole shapes are produced atthe appropriate positions in theready profile. Seeing as this is already done three-dimensionally,you no longer find the restrictionsor problems familiar from 2D.

Of course you can also read ina ready modeled profile as a 3Dvolume model. You can turn andshade the profile in any way, verysimply define the surfaces and ref-erence points for the areas to bepunched. The punch library is veryeasily expanded by your ownpunch shapes. It is also possibleto draw and alter perforations withstandard AutoCAD.

The cross-section produced inthis way with all perforations is thenwound up, the perforations in theflat strip then automatically beingat the right positions.

But the hole pattern can also begenerated direct in winding up. Itis possible to automatically pro-duce a 3D model from the 2D holepattern. This creates the readyprofile with all punchings (even inor through bending zones).

The resulting punch contoursare transfered to COPRA® FEA RFwhere the network is automaticallymatched so that all perforationscontained in the blank cut go intothe flat strip. This does away withthe tedious manual working of theflat strip in COPRA® FEA RF.

In addition, extra tools such assocalled drawing dies, as oftenused in roll forming, can now easilyand automatically be transferredfrom COPRA® RF CAD to COPRA®

FEA RF simulation. These ad-ditions very much simplify model-ing of the roll forming operation,contributing to realistic verificationof the forming process.

Exhibitions & events



Special show – “Time- and cost-effective

data M with special show

data M at EUROBLECH 2008



management of roll tools”

Simulation of roll forming process –COPRA® FEA RF softwareModel with driven rolls

Up to version 2007 COPRA®

FEA RF worked without frictionand the rolls did not rotate. Thispresents advantages when itcomes to judging the quality of thedesign. But extra aspects like increasing the driving diameter,longitudinal elongation or hole deflection in the strip caused bydifferent speeds were not consid-

ered. Since COPRA® FEA RF ver-sion 2008 it is possible to auto-matically generate an FEA modelwith rotating rolls and friction:

Display of forming forcesSimple determination of the dis-

tribution of forces appearing in thestations.

Multiprocessor capabilityCOPRA® FEA RF version 2009

comes with two options for paral-lel processing. One is a parallel_2

license allowing a simulation to becomputed by two processors. Thisreduces time to compute by up to40%. The second option is a par-allel_4 license that cuts comput-ing time by as much as 65%.

SolidWorks interfaceIn addition to Inventor, data M

presents an interface for Solid-Works. This allows a roll design tobe transfered straight into Solid-Works for completion, e.g. byadding stations, tool holders for

accessory rolls and similar extraapparatus.

COPRA® FEA RF – the data Msimulation program for roll forming– is especially appreciated byusers because of the realisticmapping of the roll formingprocess.

It helps to understand the pro-cess better and pinpoint the caus-es of manufacturing problems.

at BLECHEXPO 2009

COPRA® RollScanner demonstrates how simple it is to save an existing set of rolls in the database.

COPR

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COPR

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COPRA® RF

COPRA® RF design and process simulation of perforated profiles.COPRA® RollScanner for precise capture of roll geometries.

Determination of the transport diameter by comparing the forward and backward slip between the rolls and the profile.

Illustration of a model with friction/ rotating rolls:- driven rolls at specific rotating speed (purple arrows),- rotating idler rolls driven by sheet metal (green stripes),- welding and deactivation of welding addition,- drawing die (with friction) for improved forming process.

Cloned rolls with the same roll number.

In this version of COPRA® RFwe have been concentrating onfour major issues, that will makethe design of sections with pre-punched material, or the han-dling of trapezoidal and corru-gated sections, much easier;and also the design process forcomplex open sections will bemore effective. The focus forCOPRA® RF 2009 has been onthe following features:

• A 3D punch hole editor for usewith pre-punched material (1).


ing reduced, to compensate theloss in stability; more and higherstrength materials are beingused.

More and more profiles are al-so being rolled with pre-punchedmaterial, where the quality of theholes in the final section in termsof correct position and shape arealso an important issue. For allcases, only little experience andtrial and error method are avail-able within the roll forming in-dustry.

COPRA® RF 2009 - what’s new?

COPRA® RF 2009 software


Contact

Contact data M for more information!Phone or fax us:

Tel: + 49 80 24 / 6 40 - 0Fax: + 49 80 24 / 6 40 - 300

e-mail us:

[email protected] visit us on the internet:www.datam.dewww.roll-design.comwww.copra-metalbender.comhttp://rollscanner.datam.de

Why not get in touch with us and find out more about our products? We’ll be glad to consult or send you our free information brochures.

To find out about webinars, visit:www.datam.de/webinar.htm

• The possibility to automaticallymesh pre-punched material (2).

• The possibility to clone rolls (3).• The possibility to re-use/

recycle existing roll tools (4).

In recent years it has become apparent that the use of finite element simulations will be moreand more important in the rollforming industry.

Due to growing popularity oflightweight construction, thesheet thickness is constantly be-

and add them, creating a per-sonal punch tool library. The pro-gram also allows the possibilityto make the individual stationsvisible including the punch holes.

2. COPRA® FEA RF Punch-Hole MeshingWith all the information aboutshape and position of punchedholes created, with the punchhole editor, the mesh can now becreated automatically.

Therefore, it is no longer neces-sary to transfer the information

1. COPRA® RF 3D Punch-HoleEditor

Before the meshing of pre-punched material can be doneautomatically, it is necessary todefine punched hole shape andpunched hole position in the COPRA® RF design software.

With the previous versions thiswas simply not possible, as thiswas based upon 2D only. Ourtarget has been to allow anypunched hole shape in any com-bination. For this reason we havedecided to combine the COPRA®

RF software with our COPRA®

MetalBender 3D solution.

In MetalBender 3D it is veryeasy to define 3D sheet metalparts with any punched holeshape. Therefore we have takenthis facility and integrated it intothe COPRA® RF software.

Another target was to makethe handling as easy as possible;the punched holes can be de-fined either in the flat strip, or inthe final section.

Beneath the integrated libraryof standard holes, the user canalso define punch tool shapes

ing it easier to find the optimumconstellation.

This new feature saves hours of time previously necessary toprepare the FEA mesh.

3. COPRA® RF Roll Design –Cloning Rolls> See page 9.

4. COPRA® RF Roll RecyclingDatabase> See page 6.

about the punch holes into theMSC.Mentat program, delete theelements in the position of theholes, and drag the nodes intothe correct position.

To make life even easier, a meshpreview is now available, illus-trating the automatically calcu-lated mesh with or without holes,and any change in the meshingparameters will update the meshpreview automatically.

The preview also shows thenumber of elements, thus mak-

1. 3D Punch-Hole Editor 2. Punch-Hole Meshing 3. Cloning Rolls 4. Roll Recycling Database

Therefore, the only way to avoidexpensive and time wasting ex-periments is to virtually simulatethe process with FEA. This is thereason why data M Sheet MetalSolutions GmbH has on the onehand focused upon making theroll design faster, and on theother to take away the time wast-ing modification of the FEA meshwhen using pre-punched mate-rial, with COPRA® FEA RF. Thetarget being to significantly re-duce the time required for pre-paring an FEA simulation.

now available!

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