Roll Former Equipment For Steel Framing

Stud and Track Produced by a Roll forming Machine

Stamping, press brake bending and extrusion are some well known metal fabrication techniques. However it is the process of roll forming that is preferred for its technical superiority and cost efficiency for metal fabrication. A steel stud, the C channel and U channel used for steel framing in buildings are all produced by a metal stud rollformer to ensure highest quality of the finished material. In addition to roll forming, a stud roll former machine can also be used for other functions such as material cutting and roll punching.

Roll Forming Machines

A typical steel stud roll former machine has a line with four major sections for specific functions. The entry section or first part of the machine is the place where the material is loaded. The metal in a stud building machine is usually put in sheet form or fed from a continuous coil. The next section has a set of station rollers and this is the segment where the actual roll forming takes place. The steel stud is shaped as it makes its way through the stations. The stud roll formers located here not only shape the metal, but are the very driving force of the machine.

Steel Studs

The third section in a stud building machine is the cut-off press where the steel stud is cut to a pre determined length. Unlike other metal forming techniques, roll forming makes it possible to include cutting of steel channels in a single operation. The final section is the exit station, where the finished part exits the machine onto a roller conveyor or assembly line, and is moved.

Stud building machines that use roll forming to produce metals are very energy efficient as heating of material is not required. Precise and uniform steel studs for framing can be successfully produced with these machines.

Roll Forming Equipment for Steel Studs and Track

Stud and Track in Framing: Benefits of using High Strength Steel Studs

Framing of the structure being constructed is the basic outline which offers support to other materials and makes the structure strong, durable and reliable. The construction of numerous high rise buildings, bridges and other super structures is made possible with the use of steel stud framing. Steel framed structures can effectively withstand adverse weather, wind and the seismic loads caused by hurricanes and earthquakes.

C Channel and U Channel Roll Forming Machinery

Characteristically, steel framing comprises a C channel and U channel fabricated with high strength steel and this material is chosen by the builders due to its typical qualities including:

• Higher strength to weight ratio than most other building materials

• 100 percent recyclable nature

• Stable dimensions that do not expand or contract with moisture content

• Consistent quality

A steel stud being inorganic in nature does not rot and high strength steel channels produced through roll forming technique also do not warp, split, crack or creep. Buildings with steel stud framing have shorter and more predictable construction schedules.

Roll forming proves to be the most apt process for the production of any metal stud. Along with steel studs, it is also used to produce studs, tracks and channels of aluminium, zinc, copper and other ferrous and non ferrous metals. The metals produced by roll forming are also used in a variety of other applications including automobiles, electrical and general engineering works. For a steel stud used in building construction, the stud building machine operating at room temperature adds a strain hardening impact and increases its yield strength to as high as 70 per cent more than virgin metal yield strength.

Stud and Track rollformer machine

Stud and Track used in Steel Framing

The use of steel framing in building construction has several advantages over the traditional reinforced concrete construction. The strength, resistance, durability and resilience of a steel stud make it an ideal material used in construction. Steel is also a non combustible product and so the height and area restrictions that concern combustible materials for a building do not apply to steel.

C Channel U Channel Roll Former

Typically, builders use a C channel with a U channel for steel stud framing in building construction and these channels are produced with the roll forming technique of metal fabrication.

The stud building machine forms the channels at room temperatures to lend extra strength and durability to each roll formed steel stud. The process of roll forming augments metal studs with adequate rigidity and has discrete advantages over other techniques for production of metal stud. As against press brake process, stamping and extrusion, roll forming is better for fabrication of a C channel and U channel used in steel framing because:

• It can produce parts with greater lengths, limited only by the length of the material being fed into the stud roll former
• It provides greater consistency and uniformity to the profile of metal stud
• It offers the flexibility to include all secondary operations in the same process of metal forming
• It gives a superior surface finish to each steel stud

Using the right process to produce steel framing materials is important and roll forming proves to be the most efficient and cost effective for same.