PROFIL is the roll design software for every manufacturer of cold roll-formed profiles or seamed tubes from sheet metal and for designers of rollformers and tube forming machines.

PROFIL enables quicker working and cost reductions in planning, design, calculation and drawing of the profile, the flower pattern (bending steps) and the roll tooling.

PROFIL enables quicker working and cost reductions in planning, design, calculation and drawing of the profile, the flower pattern (bending steps) and the roll tooling.

PROFIL has built in CAD interfaces (DXF, IGES and MI), which can be used for generating drawings in any CAD system.For AutoCAD, SolidWorks, and LOGOCAD Triga, the very modern ActiveX-interface is used.

The PROFIL story PROFIL has been designed by UBECO in co-operation with the German rollforming industry.

When it was presented at the Euro-BLECH exhibition in 1986, the attendees were impressed by the capabilities of the software. Soon PROFIL became a leading software for rollforming design in Germany. The first version was running under MS-DOS and HP-UNIX. Since 1997 the WINDOWS version has been available.Because of its very easy to handle graphical user interface PROFIL became famous world-wide. In the mean time more than 350 systems have been sold. Customers in more than 25 countries are using PROFIL for their design

PROFIL will not replace the engineer. This is not possible. But it will give him practical help for a quicker and safer design.To achieve these aims, the software must relieve the designer of tedious work, e.g. calculating the developed length, drawing the profiles and roll tools, compiling the parts list etc. So the designer is able to fully concentrate on the design.

A designer, in most cases, is not a computer technician. Therefore the software must speak the designer's language. And the software must be easy to operate and easy to learn.

The software must fulfil practical requirements and must have great flexibility to adapt to specific requirements. It also must contain the latest results of scientific research.

PROFIL supports the section definition. Create new profiles by entering the dimensions into the system, by importing a CAD contour or by using the design toolbox for standard profiles, or by combining these powerful tools to get your design.

PROFIL works as your assistant while designing. Besides determining the neutral line and calculating the developed length of the sheet metal, PROFIL calculates all the important data for the bending process: spring back, statics, and the stress of the band edge.

PROFIL speeds up your work designing the flower pattern. Simply change angle or radius values with the editor or by using the modify toolbox to create the bending steps. You may select constant developed length or a constant radius method.

PROFIL supports modification and optimization of the flower. After every modification of a bending angle, the stress of the band edge is recalculated and displayed.

PROFIL speeds up the roll design by directly using the profile contour or any contour drawn in CAD. Use the powerful commands to modify the rolls to your individual needs. Create roll drawings just by key stroke. Roll tool drawings are dimensioned automatically.

PROFIL supports manufacturing of the roll tools by creation of parts lists and NC-programs (DIN 66025). PROFIL supports the quality management by checking the final design with the calculation of stress of band edge, the profile stress analysis (PSA), and the finite element simulation(FEA).

PROFIL helps searching for suited rolls, if existing old rolls of the roll stock should be re-used in a new project. PROFIL helps searching for recent projects, if the designer wants to consider experience from similar profiles that are produced in the past.

Profile Design:
Enter the geometry of the desired profile, either graphically by drawing it in CAD or numerically by entering the data (length, angle, radius etc.) into the system. Or use the profile toolbox for quick and easy defining of U-, C- Hat- or Z-profiles.
PROFIL provides the drawing of the shaping pass loaded and discharged, the developed length, the spring back, the stress of the material and the statics.

Flower Design:
Derive the flower out of the shaping pass by defining the angle sequence.PROFIL provides the drawings of the flower, the stress of band edge for normal and for center line forming.

Roll Design:
Derive the geometry of the rolls from the passes.

PROFIL provides all the drawings of the rolls, the blank size and the weight, the parts list (sawing list) and the NC-program.

Designing the profile by the Profile Design Toolbox: The quickest method for defining a simple profile like U-, C-,Hat- or Z-profile is to use the Profile Design Toolbox (example:C-profile).

Open the appropriate toolbox window and simply enter the dimensions of the desired profile into the input fields. Further toolbox windows can be used for applying extension segments to the profile (straight and bent elements and combinations of them).

A very quick method for defining a simple profile is to enter the numerical data directly into the profile list.After every input the drawing of the profile is updated. So the correct input can be checked immediately. The profile list is the numerical description of the profile.

Each line of this list describes either a straight segment (L = Line) or a bent segment (A=Arc) of the profile. Entity "PS" terminates the profile list and gives the profile the attribute symmetric; the other half of the profile will be mirrored automatically.Entity "P" splits a profile in two asymmetric halves. After "P" follows the second half.

This is the most comfortable method for defining a profile. It is suited for every kind of profile, especially most complicated ones. Create a drawing inside of your CAD system.

You have to draw the lower contour line only, the sheet thickness is entered later. If you want to design a symmetrical profile, you only need to draw one half (see example in the top).

When finished, simply transfer the drawing to PROFIL.

Designing the flower pattern

Select by pressing the button "Angle" or "Radius", if you want to modify angle or radius by predefined step values. Select by clicking on the profile, which arc segment of the profile should be bent (marked in light blue color). Now press "Up" or "Down" or "Fast Up" or "Fast Down" and the arc will be modified.one of the methods A2 or A3 (constant radius) is used for calculating, can be defined in the profile list previously. While designing the flower pattern, open the Stress of Band Edge Window and take care to not exceed the yield point.

Alternatively, you can enter the new radius or angle of the arc segment directly into the appropriate column of the Profile List.

The profile will be bent dependent on the selected bendingmethod (A1, A2 or A3) and the drawing of the flower will be updated immediately.

If the rolls should get the same contour as the profile, the automatic generation from the profile list is very useful. This method works for every kind of profile, folded too.Afterwards, the rolls can be modified by a set of powerful functions:

· conical, cylindrical, and arched extension
· split at corner, split between corners, join
· turn, move, mirror, delete
· cut, copy, paste (to and from the clipboard)
· change width, diameter and fillet radius at each corner
· attach clearance angle

Otherwise, if you want to define the roll contour by yourself, the CAD design is recommended. Simply transfer the profile drawing to CAD and design the desired roll contour by modifying the profile contour. Afterwards transfer the roll contour back to PROFIL.

To re-use existing rolls from the roll stock, use the Roll Stock Management.

The Tube Design Toolbox contains a set of powerful functionsfor designing:

· calibration stands for round and shaped tubes
· welding pass
· fin passes
· break down passes for normal and W-forming
· top and bottom roll for the fin passes
· top and bottom roll for the break down passes
· side rolls

Shaped tubes are formed from a round tube by calibrating stands or by drawing rings. Designing the cross sectional pattern of the intermediate stages is a very time-consuming task if it has to be done manually.PROFIL is able to do this automatically

The pre-defined calibrating factor says how much the developed length of the tube decreases in each stand and the pre-defined forming degree enables the designer to distribute the 100% of the forming between the welded tube and the shaped tube to each stand. The software proposes the cross sectional pattern for all passes until the round welded tube.

If you call this function repeatedly, PROFIL always creates other variants since there are many solutions of the same problem.

Calculating the developed length

Other method: This is the most precise one of all known methods, because it calculates the developed length dependent on the sheet thickness, the bending radius and the angle.

DIN 6935 method: It calculates the developed length dependent on the sheet thickness and the bending radius and is as a result of it less precise than the Other method.

User defined methods: Further user defined methods can be added to consider company specific standards.

Bending methods

Constant developed length (A1): While the developed length is constant, either the angle is pre-set and the radius is calculated or the radius is pre-set and the angle is calculated.

Constant radius method (A2/A3): While the radius is constant, the angle is pre-set and a new length is calculated.

In order to keep the strip width constant, the length of the previous (left) or the next segment (right) or both are corrected.

Track Holding Method (A4): The surplus length is divided automatically to the previous and next segment, that the strip is guided straightaway with constant intersection point of the tangents on the inner or outer side.

If the bent profile leaves the machine, the legs of the profile spring back.

This is calculated dependent on the material, the sheet thickness and the bending radius and angle. Both for the single arc and for the whole profile can be selected, if the drawing should be displayed loaded or discharged.

This is important for the roll design, at least the last attacking roll tool should be designed for the loaded state to compensating for the spring back.

Calculating the statics

If a profile is designed for a load-bearing construction and the strength calculation is necessary, the static parameters of the cross-section of the profile are needed.

These are calculated automatically and are displayed in a separate window. By this, a profile can be designed by satisfying given parameters. The statics can be transferred to the CAD-system.

Calculating the stress of band edge

If the legs of profile are bent step-by-step from one stand to another, the edges travel a longer way than the web of the profile. This causes strain and stress in the edges.

If this process is limited to the elastic area of the material, the strain and stretching will return to the original length again, as the profile leaves the stand.

In the other case, if the stress of edge has exceeded the yield point between two bending steps, this will cause a remaining strain in the material causing problems like twists or waves at the edge of the profile. The relative stress related to the yield point is calculated and displayed in a separate window. By this, the designer can watch if the safe load of the band edges is kept while bending.

The sheet surface is divided in small rectangular shell segments. While running through the rollforming machine, the rectangles are deformed. From lengthening or shortening of the edges the expected strain and from it the stress can be derived. The stress related to the yield point of the material is assigned to a color and displayed in the 3D model.

The profil stress analysis is an integrated feature of the software PROFIL and works without FEA (Finite Element Analysis), this means the results are available after key-stroke immediately. The longitudinal stress is calculated not only at the band edge but in the whole profile cross section.

This is very important if maximum stress is not at the band edge, e.g. if folded edges are bent up.

Virtual rollforming machine

The FEA (Finite-Element-Analysis) simulation of the rollforming process enables the designer to get very precise information about stress and strain within the profile while running through the rollforming machine and after leaving the final stand of the machine. Furthermore is calculates the profile shape that is formed by the designed rolls.

To enable the designer to benefit from the FEA result without being an FEA expert, the software PROFIL has a built-in interface to the leading FEA system ABAQUS/Explicit from ABAQUS Inc.,Rhode Island USA. The FEA system calculates explicit and is able to consider oilcanning effects that occur very often when thin sheet is formed.

An implicit calculation needs special measures to avoid break off when the function becomes irregular. As a result of the simulation the designer first gets the shape of the profile after leaving the final stand. This drawing can be compared with the designed shape. Colors inform about positions of high stress and remaining strain. This enables the designer to locate the reason for unwanted deformations and gives him the information which rolls need to be modified.