In this paper, the compliant behaviour of a conventional setup of a roll forming mill is examined. On such a mill, few parts significantly contribute to the deflection of the tools when a strip of metal is transported and deformed. A major impact originates of the shafts with strung rolls. The rolls are changed in case a modified profile geometry is produced. This leads to varying properties of the setup through changing rolls and changing assembly parameters. The identification and

more »

... g of the main impact factors on the stiffness of this assembly is crucial to ensure constant properties when disassembled and assembled again. The roll set, the axial preload and the feather key position are assumed to have the biggest impacts. These parameters are varied in a set of experiments to gather data to evaluate the significance of these impact factors. In the experiments the setup is burdened with a process-like load. Deflections and loads are measured and recorded simultaneously. The collected data sheds light on the main impact factors on the deflections, which are the roll set and the axial preload. These factors should deviate as little as possible from the first assembling to following assembling procedures of the identical roll set to ensure the same force-deflection behaviour of the whole setup. The data is then used to generate a nonlinear regression model to show that the used parameters are sufficient to describe the deflection behaviour of a roll forming mill.