Workbook COPRA RF and FEA 2013 by M.lindgren

WORKBOOK
COPRA® RF AND COPRA® FEA RF
by Michael Lindgren
©
Copyright by data M Scandinavia AB
©
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Copyright - data M Scandinavia AB
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Disclaimer - data M Scandinavia AB

This document contains the information about the steps involved in using the
functionalities / icons present in the software “COPRA®”. The objective of this
document is to make the user familiar with the functionalities / icons available in
COPRA®.
Also the examples considered in thi document are in view of the above said objective
only and do not contain any information about any design strategy. data M
Scandinavia AB is not responsible for problems arising in the design after the usage
of any functionalities / icons explained in this document.
©
©
Table of contents
Table of Contents
COPRA® RF 2013 ......................................................................3
1. Initialise COPRA® ......................................................................... 3
2. COPRA® Settings ........................................................................ 3
3. CADFinder Db .............................................................................. 9
4. The profile .................................................................................. 12
4.1 Taking drawings from AutoCAD to COPRA® ........................................... 12
5. Flower design with Spreadsheet ................................................. 16
6. DTM simulation .......................................................................... 26
7. Punching holes ........................................................................... 37
8. Tool design ................................................................................. 45
COPRA® RF FEA 2013 ..............................................................66
9. COPRA® FEA Simulation without driven rolls and pre-punched
sheet .................................................................................................. 66
9.1 FEA RF Project Manager .......................................................................... 66
9.2 COPRA2FEA ............................................................................................ 68
9.3 Customizing the user interface.................................................................. 72
9.4 Pre-Processing ......................................................................................... 72
9.5 Run the Simulation .................................................................................... 75
9.6 Open the simulation result ........................................................................ 75
9.7 Study the result station by station ............................................................. 79
9.8 Longitudinal strain ..................................................................................... 90
9.9 Make Animation ........................................................................................ 93
9.10 Change the tool design and do a restart of the simulation .................... 95
10. COPRA® FEA Simulation with driven rolls ............................... 103
10.1 Customizing the user interface............................................................ 109
10.2 Pre-Processing ................................................................................... 109
10.3 Run simulation .................................................................................... 111
10.4 Open the simulation result .................................................................. 111
10.5 Study the result station by station ....................................................... 112
10.6 Cross-section ...................................................................................... 115
10.7 Forming forces .................................................................................... 117
10.8 Strain in the profile .............................................................................. 118
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10.9 Deformation length .............................................................................. 121

10.10 Driven result ........................................................................................ 122
10.11 The geometry of the formed profile ..................................................... 125
10.12 Make animation................................................................................... 128
10.13 Insert one more station and restart the simulation .............................. 128
Make drawings in COPRA® RF ...........................................136
11. Single roll dimensioning ............................................................ 136
12. Dimensioned assembly plans ................................................... 139
13. Bill of materials ......................................................................... 143
14. NC Geometry output of roll contours ........................................ 146
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1. Initialise COPRA®
Double click on the COPRA® icon on your desktop to start AutoCAD with your
installed COPRA® software. When AutoCAD has loaded, open up your drawing
template or alternatively use standard AutoCAD drawing. To initiate COPRA®, click
the COPRA icon in the menu , see Figure 1.
Figure 1. Initialise COPRA®
2. COPRA® Settings
In order for the computer screen to show the same information as the work book the
COPRA® configurations must match. In the menu choose the icon for settings, see
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Icon COPRA Settings
The settings menu opens, see Figure 3, In this main menu we will decide what is to
be shown in the drawings window, for example if the bore hole with its tools and
groove for marking is to be shown, if automatic zoom is to be used, if the previous or
the next profile is to be shown. Tick boxes according to figure, it is possible to change
the settings at any time. Choose ”Pass and Roll Numbers” according to figure.
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Figure 3. Menu for COPRA® settings
In this menu, see Figure 4 there is a possibility to choose if we would like to number
the forming steps, with pass numbers. Meaning that the final profile will have number
1 or alternatively if we want to use station numbers then the final profile will have a
number corresponding with number of forming steps. Fill the boxes as shown in the
figure and choose the marked icon ”Roll-Numbering”.
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Figure 4. Pass and Roll Numbers
Here can we choose how the tools should be numbered, in Figure 5 has
numbering ”T11” been chosen where T indicates Axis type, (in this case Top). The
first 1 indicates Station number and the second 1 indicates tool number on the
chosen Axis. The choice of setting can either be saved for future reference, be used
as default setting or be used for this project only. Choose ”Set as default”.
Figure 5. Roll Numbering
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In the main menu we will find the settings for Rolls information, see Figure 6, for what is to
be shown on the screen when we draw the rolls. For example, the weight of the rolls could
be of interest when it comes to purchasing materials and handling of the rolls at installation.
Figure 6. Rolls information
In the menu ”Roll View”, see Figure 7 , we find settings on how the tools will be
shown in COPRA®. In this case only the half of the top and bottom rolls (i.e. from the
center line to the profile) are to be formed. When choosing side rolls and accessory
rolls the whole tool will be shown.
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Figure 7. Roll View
In the menu for ”profile options”, see Figure 8, can we choose how we would like the
profile to be displayed, as one polyline or with the respective elements as polylines.
We also have a choice if the flower pattern will consist of different/alternating colors
or one color. The text size can be adjusted. Choose settings according to figure.
Figure 8. Profile options.
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Figure 9. COPRA Tools
In the menu ”COPRA Tools”, see Figure 9, we will find ”COPRA Paths”, ”Technologie”
and ”COPRA Options”, see Figure 10, In ”COPRA Paths” we will be able to name the
files for creating drawings, cutting lists etc. In ”Technologies” we decide if numbers
should be used with point or comma signs when exporting data. In ”COPRA Options”
we will find settings regarding archive files and if back up of the current design should
be saved automatically, how often it is to be saved and how many archives that
should be available. Choose settings as in Figure 10.
Figure 10. Menu in COPRA Tools.
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In COPRA Settings 2, see Figure 11, you decide if CadFinder is to be used, see chapter 3
for CadFinder. Use settings as in figure.
Figure 11. COPRA Settings 2
3. CADFinder Db
CadFinder is a data base that is used to handle projects. It has a structured way for
the designer to save and keep drawings, documents, pictures etc. The designer can
easily switch between the programs and save time.
With the aid of files and sub files you can easily build up a tree structure in CadFinder
to organize your projects, see Figure 12, You can build a structure that can hold
information regarding all your roll forming machines in the workshop and use profiles
to see the production. That will get easy access to drawings and documents for each
project.
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Figure 12. Diffrent structures in CADFinder.
To create a new map in CadFinder just right click on CadFinderDB, see Figure 13,
and choose New project. Name your file, for example ”Examples” and click OK.
Figure 13. Create folders in CADFinder
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Right click on the ”Examples” file and choose new project. Name this project ”Mill 5”,
see Figure 14. Here you can add information about the project.
Figure 14. Create project folder
Right click on the folder ”Mill 5” and click ” Create COPRA®-Project”, see Figure 15,
a window will open where you enter a project name, in this case ”hat-section”. Here
you can also add information about the project that will be used when drawings are
automatically created in COPRA®.
Figure 15. Create COPRA®-Project
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4. The profile
When a project is created in CADFinder you will have to import a profile to COPRA®. We will
use two options to create that profile.
 Import a profile drawing to AutoCAD and then to COPRA®

 Create your profile directly in AutoCAD and the import to COPRA®.
4.1 Taking drawings from AutoCAD to COPRA®
To be able to import a DXF file (for example from a customer) using the command ”Insert” in
AutoCAD, the drawing must contain a polyline that describes the cross section, in or outside,
of the profile. You might have to consider tolerances. If you can’t find the command in
AutoCAD you can write ”insert” into the command window in AutoCAD.
The window ”insert” opens, see Figure 16. Find the file on the hard drive by
clicking ”Browse..”. Choose the profile and leave the other fields as shown in figure.
Figure 16. Insert profil from AutoCAD.
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You should now have a profile according to Figure 17. This is the profile that will be used in
the rest of this work book.
Figure 17. Polyline that describe the cross-section of the hat-profile
One alternative is to draw a polyline that describes the profile straight in COPRA®RF.
Choose the command ”Polyline” in AutoCAD, see Figure 18. Draw the contour with
radii that describes the profile. Don’t forget to take tolerances into consideration.
Figure 18. Draw the polyline that describe the profile direct in COPRA
Choose the command ”Section from AutoCAD”, see Figure 19. When prompted
to ”Select Contour-polyline:” choose the imported file by clicking it.
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Figure 19. Section from AutoCAD.
The dialogue box ”CAD-PROFILE” pops up, see Figure 20, which asks if the polyline
is a Centerline or a Contourline. It will also ask about the thickness of the material.
Choose Contourline and thickness 1.5 mm. When you click OK, COPRA® RF will
ask on which side of the material the thickness is on. Choose the outside by clicking
on the outside of the profile. The menu for ”Plane of unfolding” pops up, see Figure
21. Pick ”COPRA Proposal” and click OK. The program will ask if that is a good
suggestion, you should have a suggestion according to Figure 22. Choose that
suggestion.
Figure 20. CAD-PROFILE dialog box Figure 21. Plane of unfolding
Figure 22. Plane of unfolding, proposal from COPRA
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You can now save the profile by creating an archive file. Press ”Archive”, see Figure
23, and choose ”SAVE”. You can at any time create an archive file that will save the
current design phase and open it later if you want to return to it.
Figure 23. Archive the design phase
In the window that pops up after you have saved the file can you enter information
about the project, see Figure 24. This is not necessary when you work with archive
files so choose ”Accept”. You can now see your archived file in CadFinder under the
file Archive, see Figure 25.
Figure 25. The archive file in CadFinder
Figure 24. Title block data
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5. Flower design with Spreadsheet

When you have archived the profile it is time to construct the flower pattern. You can
see the profile in the Spreadsheet window. In this window you can change the length,
radius, angles etc., see Figure 26. In box 1 can you show or hide angles, radii and
lengths. Experiment to find out. In this example you should change the lengths.
Figure 26. Spreadsheet window.
Now try to change the profile, see Figure 27. Start with lightning up the straight parts
and turning off the angles, number 1 in the figure. Then change the lengths for
entities 8 and 10, number 2 in the figure. We can now see that the profile is changing.
In Spreadsheet we can totally change our profile, lengths, radius, angles and the
thickness. This can be done even after we have created our flower pattern.
Figure 27. Change the profile in Spreadsheet
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Figure 28 shows some examples of changes we can do in Spreadsheet; 1 increase

or decrease amount of forming steps, 2 split entities, 3 change plane of unfolding, 4
change the thickness and mirror profile, 5 rotate the profile.
Figure 28. Some examples on changes that can be done in Spreadsheet
Pick lengths according to Figure 29 and save current settings.
Figure 29. Change the length and save current settings
Light up angles in spreadsheet and mark entity 2, see Figure 30 number 1. Choose
the ”Compact view” menu. In the pop up window we can see that the calibration
method and calculation of the neutral line is shown for entity 2, number 3. Click
on ”Constant length of neutral line”, here can we see the different methods we can
use. In this example we will pick ”Constant length of neutral line”.
Figure 30. Open compact view for change calibration method and strip width calculation
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We will also change the method for calculating the neutral layer and thereby the
width of the material for entity 2. Click on the menu ”Standard Neutral line”, see
Figure 31, and choose ”DIN”. To apply the change click update flower, number 2.
After that click on entity 9 in the spreadsheet, choose ”DIN” and update flower,
number 2.
Figure 31. The menu for calculation of strip width and neutral line
For entity 4, Figure 32, choose ”Standard Neutral Line” and put 0.35 as the position
on the neutral layer. Update flower, Figure 31, number 2. Do the same procedure
with entity 7.
Figure 32. Standard neutral line
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To do an over bending of the bent corners we will use COPRA® RF to calculate the
spring back. Choose entity 2 and click on spring back calculation, see Figure 33. A
window opens where we can choose between different ways and materials to
calculate the spring back, see Figure 34. In this example we will pick the type Biswas
and the material St 70-2. That will give an angle for 1.17 degrees. Click OK, we can
now see on Spreadsheet that we have a compensation for 1.17 degrees, see Figure
35. Do the same with the other entities.
Figure 33. Calculate the springback
Figure 34. Models for springback calculation
We will now create the flower pattern. This can be done in a number of ways,
manually, automatically or dynamically. We are going to use the automatic built in
function of COPRA® RF. Put marker underneath station 1, see blue color in Figure
35. Click on automatic unfolding which is the button in the black framed box.
Figure 35. Springback and automatic unfolding
In the pop up window, see Figure 36,, we can choose which arc elements that should
be unfolded and with how many forming steps it should unfold. We choose 0 for ”End
angle” and set Number of steps to 11. Click on ”Initialize”. In the window, see Figure
37, can we see that COPRA® RF has evenly set the arc angles to 8.29 degrees in
each step. We can change the arc angles if we like and we can save the suggestion
to use later. Click OK.
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Figure 36. Automatic unfolding window
Figure 37. Automatic unfolding window where the all arcs have been choosen
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Figure 38 shows the finished flower pattern. To light up all forming steps according to
the figure click on the light bulb. You can also choose to look at individual steps by
choosing the corresponding step in the green field on Figure 38. Finish by turning off
the steps by clicking the light bulb and save the result on the disc, see figure.
Figure 38. Spreadsheet, highlight the flower and save the result
At the moment all of the stations are of the same type, we will now change the names
of the stations to make it easy to see what step they are used for. To do this right
click on station 1. See Figure 39. Choose ”Station attributes”. The window for ”Station
attributes” will pop up, see Figure 40.
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Figure 39. Change the station attributes
Figure 40. Window for the station attributes
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We will mark station 1 and under the menu ”Station type” we will choose ”Entryguide”.
For all stations except the last one we will choose ”Forming”, see Figure 41. For the
last station we will choose the type ”Calibrating”.
Figure 41. Station attributes, formning
Here we can also decide the distance between the stations. To do this, see Figure 42.
Click on ”Pos.abs.” number 1 and choose the distance to the previous station, mark it
as 400 mm, number 2, choose ”Use distance for all stations”, number 3 and click OK.
Figure 42. Horisontal distance
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Now we can see in the top left window, see Figure 43, that we have changed the
station attributes but we are also going to change the numbering order of the stations.
To do that go to “COPRA Settings”, click on the cogwheel in the “COPRA Utils” menu.
Choose “Pass and roll numbers”, see figure.
Figure 43. Change the numbering order of the stations
In the COPRA-Lettering window, see Figure 44 we will choose which numbering

sequence that will list the stations. The first station that does the first forming will
have number 1 and the last station that does the finished profile will have the highest
number. If we want reversed order we will choose ”with pass numbers”. We want the
Entry station to be number 0. We also want the numbering to start over with every
new type of station. Choose according to the figure and click OK.
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Figure 44. COPRA – Lettering
We can now see on the screen in the top left corner, see Figure 45, that all stations
have their own number.
Figure 45. Numbering of repectively station
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6. DTM simulation
Now that the unfolding of the profile is done we will look at how to do a simulation of
the longitudinal strains in the flanges on the profile. In order to do that we first have to
create our roll forming machine, which means we have to decide the horizontal
distance between the stations, and the tools diameter has to be decided. In the
menu ”Rolls” choose ”Axes automatical”, see Figure 46. The window ”Machine data”
will open, see Figure 47. Here we can create a new machine, copy an old machine or
modify an existing machine. We will create a new machine, choose ”Create..”
Figure 46. Axes automatical
Figure 47. Machine data.
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The ”Change Machine Data” window will open. We will name the new machine ”Hat-
section”, see Figure 48. We will give the machine 12 stations. To be able to change
the vertical distance between the top and bottom axes for all 12 stations at the same
time they all have to be marked. Click on the first and last station while holding the
shift button. Stations that turn blue have been marked. For ”Shaft length” choose 300
mm, For ”Vertical Centres” choose 150 mm. Mark ”fixed” under 150 mm. For ”Gear-
ratio” choose 1. We should now have the same numbers as Figure 48. Choose yes
for ”Create top/bottom axes” and press OK.
Figure 48. Change Machine Data
We are now back in the window ”Machine Data” and can see our new machine ”Hat-
section”, see Figure 49. This is where we choose where the point of unfolding should
be placed along the length of the top and bottom axes. Choose 150 mm for left and
right, (which is half the axes length that we set to 300mm) under the menu ”Distance
Machine Side to point of unfolding”. We will also decide that the point of unfolding will
be on the reference diameter and in the center position of entity. Choose ”Adapt Roll
Diameter” and click ”OK and axes”.
We can now see that the axes are shown in the window, see Figure 50, and that the
point of unfolding is placed in the center of the axes, which means that the tools (top
and bottom) diameters are the same size. The downside with this is that we will end
up with really large bottom tools at the end of the forming process. So if there is a
possibility to run top and bottom tools at different speed then we can move the point
of unfolding for a better distribution between top and bottom tools.
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Figure 49. Machine data fort he new machine, Hat-section
Figure 50. Reference diameter for top and bottom rolls are the same.
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To change the proportions of the diameter between the top and bottom tools
click ”Axes automatical” as in Figure 46. The ”Machine data” window pops up. Mark
our machine ”Hat-section” and choose ”Modify”, see Figure 51.
Figure 51. Modify Machine data.
In the window ”Change Machine data” mark all stations again and choose 2
for ”Gear-ratio”. Choose ”gear-ratio fixed”, see Figure 52. For ”Vertical Centres”
choose 150 and press enter. Finish by clicking OK, Click ”OK and axes” in
the ”Machine Data” window, see Figure 51.
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Figure 52. Change gear-ratio.
We can now see that the gear-ratio has changed, the point of unfolding is no longer
centered between the top and bottom axes, see Figure 53.
Figure 53. Gear-ratio has been changed
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Start simulation by choosing ”Simulation of Strains” under the ”Simulation” tab, see
Figure 54. The ”Calculation Parameter FTM” window will open, see Figure 55. First
we will decide how many forming steps we would like to show, this will be done under
the menu ”Pass Selection…”. Choose all the passes. Here we can also create a
temporary machine for the simulation but as we have already created one using Axis
Automatical we will use data from the database. From the menu ”Rollform Line..”
choose the machine Hat-section and tick boxes ”Axis from database” and ”Hor.
distance from database”, see figure.
Figure 54. Simulation of strains.
Figure 55. Calculation Paarameter FTM.
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Under the menu “Coil Material.” you can now choose the materials to be used at the
simulation, see Figure 56. In this menu we can create and modify new materials. Pick
the pre-defined material “St 70-2”. Here you can see the yield point and Young’s
Module of the material. Click OK. To move on press OK and the window showing the
forming length between the stations will pop up, see Figure 57. Here we can control
that there is enough distance between the stations so that the forming process can
take place without problems. Click OK.
Figure 56. Menu Coil Material.
Figure 57. Forming length.
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A new window will open in COPRA® where the diagram of the simulation and the
profile will show, see Figure 58. The diagram will show the maximum strain in the
middle of the sheet that occur in every forming step. The red line is the yield limit of
the material, Rp0.2. In this case we can see that some steps have strains that go
over the yield limit of the material and some steps that are below it.
Figure 58. DTM simulation of the longitudinal starins
We can also choose to study strainss on the surface of the sheet, or if we want to see
the strains as a histogram. In order to do that choose “Simulation diagram” in the
menu, see Figure 59. In this case “Course of Strain in Center” shown. To change the
view of the profile use one of the icons in the “Simulation view” menu. Experiment a
little.
Figure 59. Simulation diagram and simulation view.
We are now going back to the Spreadsheet and optimize the flower pattern to make
the strains more evenly distributed between the different forming steps. To leave the
simulation window and go back to flower design click the “Flower” menu, see Figure
60.
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Figure 60. Go back to flower design
Change the flower pattern in Spreadsheet to optimize the current design. Make the
changes according to Figure 61. Note that there are two options, you can change the
forming angle relative with “@” or change to the absolute value with “= “ see example
forming step 10, see figure.
Figure 61. Optimized flower design.
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Re-run the simulation, see Figure 54 to Figure 57. Now we can see that the
distribution of the strains work better between the forming steps, see Figure 62.
Return to design mode by clicking the “Flower” menu, see Figure 60.
Figure 62. Simulaiton of the optimized flower pattern
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To study the flower pattern in 3D mode, see Figure 63, switch on the light bulb in
Spreadsheet, number 1 in the figure. Change to 3D in the “COPRA” menu, number 2.
Change to a realistic view in the sub menu “Views”, number 3. Use the command
“Orbit” to rotate your model in the “3D-mode” menu, number 4. To end 3D-mode,
change back to 2D, see number 4. In the “Views” menu change from realistic view to
“2D-wireframe model”.
Figure 63. Study a 3D model of the flower pattern
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7. Punching holes
In this chapter we will take a look at how to create punched holes in the material that
is to be formed. COPRA® can create:
 A 3D-model of the finished product

 A flower pattern with visible holes
 A finished element model in COPRA® FEA RF with punched holes
In the menu “Punched sheet” choose “Create 2D punched sheet”, see Figure 64. In
the window you can see the raw material before forming, see Figure 65, where the
lines for the bent corner are marked. In the AutoCAD command space for “Length of
part” we will be asked what length the material is or alternatively about the repeatedly
punched length. Choose 300 mm and hit enter, see bottom of the figure.
Figure 64. Punched sheet.
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Figure 65. Length of the part.
We will create construction lines in AutoCAD to be able to place the punched holes in
the right places, see Figure 66. The center of the hole should be where the lines
cross.
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Figure 66. Create construction lines where the holes should be located.
Choose ”2D tool” in the menu ”2D punching” to open the window named ”Cutout
dialog”, see Figure 67, number 1. In this window we can choose what type of hole we
will use. Choose “Holes”, number 2 in the figure. This time we will choose a hole with
a diameter of 15 mm, number 3 in the figure. This hole will be repeated 9 times so we
will use “Multipunch”, number 4. Choose a “Row” and then enter 9 holes in the Y box,
with a distance of 30 mm between the holes. Click on OK. We will now return.
Figure 67. 2D tool to open up the cutout dialog.
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Stick the center of the first hole where the construction lines cross, see Figure 68.
Figure 68. Insert the holes on the cross of the construction lines.
We also want to place a number of oblong holes. To do that we will use AutoCAD to
place construction lines and we can then place the holes in between the arc lines,
and two holes symmetrically along the profile, see Figure 70. Choose “2D tool” again
but pick “Oblong Hole” instead of “Hole”, see Figure 69. The length of the holes
should be 30 mm and the width should be 10mm. We also want to put the center of
the oblong hole where the construction lines cross, choose that option in the window.
To be able to get the length of the hole along the profile we have to set it to be at an
angle of 90 degrees, see figure “Angle W”. Before we finish we have to enter how
many holes that should be punched. In this case we choose 1 hole, see “Multipunch”
in the figure. Finish by clicking OK. Repeat this procedure to place the remaining
three holes, see Figure 70.
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Figure 69. Insert oblong holes
Figure 70. Put the oblong holes on the construction lines
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To save our raw material with holes in and to be able to see the holes in our flower
pattern we will have to save our result. In the menu “Punched sheet” choose the icon
with a disc, number 1, see Figure 71. When asked if we would like to save the result
and to show it in COPRA®, click OK, number 2.
Figure 71. Save the holes so the can be highlighted in contour to COPRA®.
Now we are ready to create a 3D model of our profile with the punched holes visible.
Choose “Create 3D model” in the menu “3D-model”, see Figure 72. COPRA® is now
creating a model, and to see the result choose ISO-view under the ”Views” menu,
see Figure 72. We have the option to color the model in order to see it better, choose
“Realistic”, the blue ball. To rotate the model choose “Orbit view” in AutoCAD.
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Figure 72. Create a 3D modell
Figure 73. Display the model in iso view
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We will now return to our design and look at the result. Change window to
Drawing1.dwg in the AutoCAD menu “Window”, see Figure 74.
Figure 74. Switch to COPRA flower design
Choose ”Copra Redraw”, see Figure 75. The holes and the center of the holes are
now showing in the profile, see arrows in the figure. Finish by saving and archiving
the result.
Figure 75. Make COPRA® Redraw and archive the model.
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8. Tool design
Now we are ready to draw tools. To get to the right environment where tools can be
drawn click on the tab “Rolls” far down left in COPRA®, see Figure 76. We will also
give the rolls the correct attributes, which means we will state the diameter of the
bore hole, tracks for marking etc. Choose the “default attributes” command, see
Figure 77.
Figure 76. Design rolls.
Figure 77. Default attribute.
Figure 78. Roll Attributes.
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The window for ”roll attributes” will open, see Figure 78. Here we start by stating the
size of the bore hole, choose the tab “Bore”.
In this example we will set the diameter for the hole as 50 mm. The rolls will also
have a keyway, where the groove should have a depth of 14 mm. We also want the
edges of the hole to have a chamfer, see Figure 79, and the hole should have the
tolerance H7. Then choose the tab “Stamping groove”. We want the marking to be on
the left side of the roll, choose “Stamping number” left side, see Figure 80. The
groove for marking should have a depth of 0.5 mm, a width of 8 mm and the inside
diameter of the groove should be 65 mm. You can opt to save this attribute to re-use
for other rolls and designs by clicking on the disc symbol. Click OK.
Figure 79. Bore hole in the tools. Figure 80. The Stamping groove.
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Choose ”Entities for current pass”, see Figure 81. COPRA® RF. The program will
ask you to “Pick First Profile Entity”. With your left mouse button choose the first
entity and the entity closest to the symmetry line on the profile, see Figure 82. We will
only draw the left side of the profile as it is symmetric. Later on we will use the
command “Mirror” to mirror the rolls to the right side. We will be asked if we want to
draw the top and the bottom roll. Choose both of them and click OK.
Figure 81. Entities for current pass.
Figure 82. Pick the first and last entities and choose top and bottom axis
COPRA® RF will now automatically draw entities for both the top and the bottom rolls.
These entities will be modified before we make complete tools. Start by deleting radii
from the outside of the bent corners of the top and bottom rolls. Choose “Delete
Radius Entities”, see Figure 83. The result will be that COPRA® will remove the
radius and fill the radius with left and right entities, see Figure 84.
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Figure 83. Delete radius entites
Figure 84. Result after deleting the radius entites
We will also insert so called ”Relief angles” in our rolls. To do so use the command
“Modify entity”, see Figure 85. Then click on the entity that will have a relief angle,
see Figure 86. When asked what you would like to modify choose “Angle”.
Figure 85. Modify entity
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Figure 86. Modify the angle of an entity
In the pop up window called ”Modify Angle” we can choose how much we want to
change the angle and which side that is to be changed. Choose “left side” and modify
the angle by 0.5 degrees, see Figure 87. Tick the box “keep tangential transition”.
Finish by clicking OK. In Figure 88 can we see the result. Follow the steps to do a
relief angle on the bottom rolls outermost entities, see figure.
Figure 87. Modify Angle. Left side in this case
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Figure 88. Modify the angle of the entity on bottom roll
To fix the transitions between the left and right entities around the radius we will use
the help line in AutoCAD. Stick the help line horizontally with the outer entities so that
it will cross the inside entities where we would like to divide it, see Figure 89. We will
the use the command “Divide the entity”, point to the inside entities. COPRA® RF will
ask for the breaking point. Choose the point where the help line is crossing the roll,
see Figure 89.
Figure 89. Create a Help line and modify the contour. Divide the entity
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We will now remove the entities of the left side of the divide on the roll that we made,
see Figure 90. Choose “Delete entities” under the “Create roll” menu and click on the
relevant entity.
Figure 90. Delete an entity
To fill the space between the entities we will modify the width of the right side entity.
Choose “Modify entity” and then choose the entity that should be modified, see
Figure 91. In the pop up window choose “Width”.
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Figure 91. Change the width of an entity
The window ”Modify Width” will pop up in order to change the width, see Figure 92.
Here we decide to change the right side. Click the boxes “Overlap” and “Crosshairs”,
click OK. Pick the end point for the left entity, see Figure 93. Repeat the same
procedure for the bottom roll radius.
Figure 92. Modify the width of an entity.
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Figure 93. Pick the endpoint of the entity
We will now insert a radius between the different entities. Choose “insert radius
tangentially”, Figure 94, COPRA® RF will now ask which radius that will be used,
choose 1 mm. Click next to the cutting line between the entities for both the top and
bottom rolls.
Figure 94. Insert radius tangentially
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We are now going to draw tools that will prevent the material from moving sideways,
see tools ”T11” and ”B11” in Figure 103. To do this we are going to use construction
lines in AutoCAD and then choose the COPRA® RF command “Entities with
crosshairs”. Do as in Figure 95, draw construction lines for the outer contours for the
planned tools. Then choose “Entities with crosshairs”, the black box in the figure. The
window “Select Rolls” will open, choose “Top”, number 1, click OK and the choose
the two points 3 and 4. Repeat with the bottom tool, in Figure 97 you can see the
finished result.
Figure 95. Create the outer rolls that will lock the material sidways with construction lines in AutoCad.
Choose then the command “entities with crosshair”
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Figure 96. Choose "Top" and the points 3 and 4.
We are now going to modify the width on the second bottom tool so that it can
connect to the first one, see Figure 97. Choose “Modify entity” number 1. Choose
which tool that is to be modified, number 2. The window “Modify Entity” will pop up,
choose “width” and click OK. The window “Modify width” will pop up, see Figure 98,
choose the left side and tick the boxes “Overlap” and “Crosshairs”. Finish by clicking
OK. COPRA® RF will now ask which point the roll should be widened to, choose the
left line on the roll to the far left.
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Figure 97. Modify the width of the bottom entity
Figure 98. Modify width
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Round off the edges of all entities with a radius according to Figure 99. We are now
ready to create the tools that are to be made, i.e. connect entities to suitable rolls.
Choose “Join roll entities”, see Figure 100, and join all entities that are to become
separate rolls
Figure 99. Create radius on the tools
Figure 100. Join roll entites
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As we have a symmetrical profile and have only drawn rolls for the left side we can
choose the command ”mirror tool”, see Figure 101. The window “Mirror Rolls” will
open, see Figure 102. Choose Top and Bottom. We also want the mirror line to be at
the end of the rolls, choose “End of roll”. Finish by clicking OK. We are now finished
with the rolls in forming station 1, see Figure 103. Save the design by choosing save
pass, see Figure 104. Repeat the steps for the rest of the stations up till station 9 the
same way as station 1 has been done.
Figure 101. Mirror the tools
Figure 102. Menu for mirror the rolls
Figure 103. The finised top and bottom tools in station 1
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Figure 104. Save the tool design in station 1
In station 10 we will insert side rolls to improve the forming, see Figure 105. Choose
station 10 in the menu at the left in COPRA®, see Figure 106. Choose axes for side
rolls, see Figure 107, the boxed button in the figure. The window for side rolls will
open, see Figure 108. In this window we will tick the boxes for the left and right axis.
Here we have de possibility to decide where we will put the symmetric axis between
the side axes, and the axes top and bottom positions using the crosshair in AutoCAD,
click the profile. Experiment a bit. Finish by entering the same digits as in Figure 108
and click OK.
Figure 105. Side rolls in station 10 Figure 106. Station 10
Figure 107. Create axis for side rolls
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Figure 108. Create axis for left and right side
The procedure to design tools for side axes is the same as for top and bottom axis,
except that you specify whether it is the left or right side that will be designed. See
Figure 109, choose “Entities for current pass” number 1, and then choose which
entities that will have rolls, number 2 and 3. The window “Select Roller” opens up,
here we can choose if there are rolls for side axes that will be designed. In this case
we will pick left roller, number 4. Click OK, number 5.
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Figure 109. Entites for the axis to the left.
The rolls will now look as in Figure 110. In this case we want the roll to cover the
bottom half bent corner. To do this we will use a help line in AutoCAD. Draw the line
as in the figure, number 1. Choose “Modify Entity”, number 2, and click on the roll
that is to be modified, number 3. The window “Modify Entity” opens up, chose width
and click OK. COPRA® will know that there is a side roll that is to be modified and
asks if it is the top or bottom side that will be modified, see Figure 111.. Choose
bottom, number 1, make sure that the boxes for “Overlap” and “Crosshairs” are ticked.
Click OK, number 2. Point to the help line, number 3. The width of the roll will now
change to the help line.
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Figure 110 Create help line and modify the width of the entity.
Figure 111. Change the width on the bottom side.
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Now round off the bottom corner, see Figure 112 number 1 and 2. Join the roll
entities to make one complete roll, numbers 3 to 5.
Figure 112. Join roll entities.
The tools for the side rolls are not driven, they should have bearings. To do this we
are going to draw in bearings and grooves for retaining rings. Choose the command
“Attributes of rolls”, number 1 in Figure 113. Click the side roll, number 2. The window
“Roll Attributes” opens up, choose the tab “Bore”. Set the bore hole for 35 mm as in
the figure. Under the tab “Bearings” choose the option “Double sided” and enter the
numbers according to the figure, number 4. Choose the tab “Retaining rings”, number
5. Tick the box “Add retaining rings”, see Figure 114, number 1. To see what the
different measurements mean, choose “Details”, number 2. A window will open
where we can see the different measurements, set them according to figure, number
3, and finish by clicking OK.
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Figure 113. Change attribute for the side rolls.
Figure 114 Add retaining rings.
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We are now done designing the side roll for the left side and can use the COPRA®
command “Mirror side rolls”, see Figure 115. We have finished drawing forming
station 10, see Figure 116. Continue to do the same for forming station 11 and the
last station, the calibrating station. Archive your work on a file that you can name
tools.
Figure 115. Mirror the side rolls
Figure 116. The finished tool design in forming station 10
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COPRA® RF FEA 2013

In this chapter we will have a look at two types of simulation. One simulation where
we will ignore friction between rolls and material, and one simulation where we will
take that friction in to consideration.
9. COPRA® FEA Simulation without driven rolls and pre-punched

sheet
In this example we will create a finite element model that will ignore friction, the rolls
are not driven. The material will be pre-punched. We will look at a few parameters
after the simulation. For example forming forces, strains and geometry. We will also
make an animated film and start up a simulation from station 11 where we will use
the result, geometry and strains state, from an earlier simulation. To carry through the
finite element simulation you will have to start COPRA® RF and in the project menu
choose the project you want to simulate.
9.1 FEA RF Project Manager
Go to the menu ”FEA RF” and start ”FEA RF Project Manager”, see Figure 117, in
COPRA® RF. The menu where we can manage our simulation projects will pop up,
see Figure 118.
Figure 117. Start FEA RF Project Manager
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Figure 118. The FEA Project manager
Choose create new file, the marked box, in your project file on the hard drive. When
that is done the window “New project” will pop up, see Figure 119. In this window you
can name the project, enter who the designer is and add comments about the
simulation. Click OK.
Figure 119. New COPRA® FEA RF project.
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We can now see our project in FEA Project manager. In this window we can delete
projects, add more information etc. Choose your project and click “Load in COPRA”,
see Figure 120. The window will shut down and we will return to COPRA® RF.
Figure 120. FEA Project manager
9.2 COPRA2FEA
Now choose ”COPRA2FEA” in COPRA® RF, see Figure 121. The window for
“COPRA2FEA” will open, see Figure 122. In this window we will find three tabs,
Meshing, Material and Process. In the Meshing menu we can choose how many
layers of solid element we want to have through the thickness of the material. In this
case we will choose one layer. In this window we will also have the possibility to start
the simulation from any station, but we will start from station 0. We can also adjust
the mesh to increase or decrease the number of elements, “Subdivisions of arcs and
straight entities or in roll direction”. We will choose 1 as COPRA suggests. Also
choose Meshing “All Station”. Study the mesh by ticking the box “Mesh Preview”, see
Figure 123, and a window will open where we can see numbers of elements, nodes
and the different arc lines. We won’t make any changes but close the window.
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Figure 121. Menu COPRA2FEA Figure 122. Interface COPRA2FEA
Figure 123. Mesh Preview
Choose the tab ”Material”, see Figure 124, and set Youngs Moduls, 210 000 Mpa,
and tick ”from Material Specs”. Enter the yield strength of the material, YS = 350 Mpa,
the ultimate tensile strength of the material, UTS = 690 Mpa and last the elongation
of the material A80 = 6%. Choose the tab “Process”, see Figure 125, to enter the
process conditions. We will start by ticking the box “Apply prepunched sheet”, which
means that we will be using punched material. Choose repeated length of 300 mm.
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Tick the box “Cutting [default 0.5*length]” which means that we will be simulating
cutting when the profile is made. In this simulation we will assume that the material is
cut after the roll forming line and choose from “Coil”, choose the value of 1.3. Choose
“Station settings”, a window where we can enter the distances between the forming
stations will open, see Figure 126. Here we pick a distance of 200 mm between the
stations, tick the box “Constant station distance” and enter 200 mm. Finish by clicking
OK.
Figure 124. Menu for material Figure 125. Menu for the process
Figure 126. Station settings
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Go back to the tab ”Meshing”, see Figure 127. Here we can see the option
“Automesh Holes”, tick the box and choose “Offset Hole region” to 2.5. Open the
window “Mesh Preview” by ticking the box. We can now see the punched holes that
we created in COPRA® RF. Try to zoom by clicking “Zoom Box”. Close the window
by clicking “Close”.
Figure 127. Automesh the holes
We have now finished our model to be able to do a finite element simulation in

COPRA® FEA RF. Finish by clicking “Run Project, number 1, see Figure 128. In the
window that opens click OK, number 2.
Figure 128. Start-up COPRA RF FEA
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9.3 Customizing the user interface
When COPRA® RF FEA is started for the first time the menus are by default placed
on the right hand side and below the window with the model. You can move the icons
to whatever position you want. Try to move them to the left of the model window, see
Figure 129. When you are pleased with the position click “Save Window Settings” as
in figure.
Figure 129. Customizing the user interface
9.4 Pre-Processing
We are going to make a few small changes in the model before we start the
simulation. This can be done in the menu called “Pre-Processing”, see Figure 130. In
this case we are going to insert a chamfer in the front edge of the sheet that will be
formed, so that the material will be placed right going in to the forming rolls. First we
need to zoom in on the front edge of the material.
Choose ”View Menu”, number 1, under the ribbon menu ”Utils”, see Figure 131. The
menu “Views” will open to the left of the window, choose “Top”, number 2. We will
now see the whole model in the window and we are going to zoom in on the material.
Choose the icon with a looking glass, number 3, and mark an area that are to be
zoomed in.
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Figure 130. Pre-Processing
Figure 131. View the model from the top
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To make a chamfer on the front edge of the material choose “Edit”, see Figure 132,
number 1. After that choose how many millimeters into the material the chamfer
should reach. In this case we will choose 4 mm and the number of rows of element
that will be chamfered to 4, number 2. Choose “Create”, number 3. COPRA® will
now create a chamfer and ask if it is ok. If we are not satisfied we can choose Reload.
In this case click OK to save, number 4.
Figure 132. Create chamfer in the begining of the material
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9.5 Run the Simulation
We are now ready to start the simulation. Choose “Run” under the ribbon menu
“Simulation”, see Figure 133. The window to start the simulation will open. Here we
have the possibility to choose the number of CPU:s that will be used to make the
calculation, number 2. Choose the amount that your license will cover. Then click
“Create Job” and wait a second, number 3. Click “Prepare Simulation”, number 4 and
finish by clicking “Start Simulation”, number 5. If the simulation works it will say
“Running” in the status window. We can also see that the simulation has started as
the increments are being shown. Click OK, number 6.
Figure 133. Run simulation
9.6 Open the simulation result
When the simulation has started the results can be studied up and until the last
saved increment that COPRA® RF FEA has calculated. To open the simulation result,
see Figure 134, choose the command “Open” in the menu “Post-processing”, number
1. COPRA will open the explorer where we will choose the file project name_res.py.
The model will load and when that is done choose “View Menu” in the ribbon menu
“Utils”, number 2. After that we will study the model in ISO view, choose “ISO”,
number 3. Zoom in on the model according to numbers 4 and 5 in the figure.
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Figure 134. Open the simulation result
To study displacement, stress and strain choose number 1 in Figure 135. In this
menu we can choose in which direction of the material we want to study a parameter,
in this case we will choose to study the displacement in Y-direction, number 2.
Figure 135. Study the displacement in Y-direction
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In the menu ”Utils” choose ”Station Browser”. Here we can move to forming station
number 2 by using the command “++”, see Figure 136. We can move back to the
previous station by using the command “- -“. Experiment with the different commands
in the menu “Station Browser”. The figure will tell you what the different commands
will do.
Figure 136. Station browser
Try to use the command ”Scan”, number 1 in Figure 137. In the menu “Available
Increments” we can choose the last available increment, number 2. If the simulation
is finished we should have a profile according to the figure. Finish by clicking OK,
number 3.
We can light up or turn off the rolls or the material at any time. Choose “Hide rolls”,
see Figure 138. To zoom in on the profile choose “Fit”. Now we can rotate the profile
by choosing “Dynamic movement”, which is the button showing a hand. To make the
rotation, point to it with the mouse and hold the middle button when moving the
mouse. When we are done we will de-activate dynamic movement by clicking the
hand again.
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Figure 137. Scan available increments
Figure 138. Dynamic movement, translation or rotation
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9.7 Study the result station by station
In this chapter we will study the simulation results station by station. The results,
images, graphs etc. can be saved continuously in the menu “Report Menu”, see
Figure 139. To save an image click “Add New”. A text file will open where you will
enter the chosen text to the figure and the image will be saved automatically. Click
save on the text file and close it. Choose “Make Pass” and “Show”. A word document
will open where you can see the result.
Figure 139. Make a report
9.7.1 Cross-section
Go to station 1 using the menu ”Station Browser”. Zoom in on the station from the
front with the help of the menu “View Menu”. Choose the menu “Cross Sections”, see
Figure 140. In this menu we can study the cross-section of the profile in each station
and compare it with the designed cross-section in COPRA® RF. The cross-sections
can also be saved as a dxf-file that can be opened in AutoCAD. To get to the cross-
sections follow the instructions in the figure. Choose cross-section from the
simulation, number 2, if you want to compare it with COPRA® RF, choose number 3.
To be able to see the cross-sections we have to turn off the simulated profile, choose
number 4. To compare choose number 5. Save the result by clicking “write DXF”.
When you are finished click “Clear” and move on to the next station.
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Figure 140. Cross-section menu
9.7.2 Cross Section on a custom position
To study a cross-section off the profile in a position of your own choice follow these
steps. In this case choose the last increment, go to the menu “Station Browser” and
choose “Scan”. When the menu with all the increments opens choose the last one.
Go to the menu “View Menu” and choose “Top”. Zoom in the part of the profile you
want to study and pick out a cross-section. To do this, see Figure 141,
 Choose “Cross-sections”, number 1

 Light up the nodes, number 2
 Choose “Node”, number 3
 Choose “Node”, number 4
 Choose a node where you want to study the cross-section, number 5
 Press “Done”
 Finish by choosing “From node or z”, number 7
Choose “View Menu”, see Figure 142, and then “Front”. Turn off the rolls and the
profile, number 3 and 4. Zoom in on the result, number 5 and 6. To save the cross-
section as a dxf-file go back to the menu “Cross-Section” and choose “Write dxf”, see
Figure 141. Click “clear” to remove the cross-section from the screen.
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Figure 141. Cross-section on custom position
Figure 142. Cross-section, finished profile
Turn on the profile and the rolls again. We can also look at some different elements,
either along the profile or as a cross-section through the profile. Choose “Plot from
Element”, number 1 in Figure 143. Choose Element, number 2. The window “Select
Element” will open, click “Element”, number 3 and choose an element on the profile,
number 4. Click “Done”, number 5. We can now choose if we want to see the whole
row of elements along the profile or a cross-section, number 6 “xy”, also try “zy”.
Return to “xy”.
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Figure 143. Element plot
Now when we only have a cross-section of elements, we can study the angle of the
flange after forming. Choose “View Menu”, number 1, see Figure 144, and then the
front view, number 2. Zoom in on the profile by clicking “Fit”, number 3 and 4. Turn on
the nodes, number 5. To be able to measure between two nodes click the button
showing a ruler, number 6. Choose two nodes, number 7 and 8. COPRA® will now
show the distance between the nodes and the angle they have relative the global
coordinate system in the command window. In this case we will have an angle of
91.09 degrees. To return to a model where all the elements are showing, see Figure
143, choose plot “All”. We can also turn the nodes off.
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Figure 144. The overbending is to large
9.7.3 Forming forces
To study the force of forming on the rolls go to station 1 using ”Station Browser”, then
choose the ”Displ, Stress & Strain” menu, see Figure 145. To see what effect the
force of the material has on the top and bottom rolls choose “Fn”, number 2. A vector
plot will now show the contact forces between rolls and profile.
To see the impact of the total force that act on respectively top and bottom tools go to
“Advanced”, see Figure 146, and choose “Forces”, number 2. It might take a while for
the program to calculate these. If you want to save the result choose “Report”,
otherwise click OK. NB! If the simulation is using symmetry, i.e. only half the model is
being simulated you will only see half the force that is being used on the axes.
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Figure 145. Contact normal forces in station 1
Figure 146. Forming forces in diffrent dirctions
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9.7.4 Strain and thickness of the material in a specific station
In this chapter are we going to have a look at how to plot strains in the material in a
custom position of the cross-section. We will also study how the thickness of the
material has changed in this cross-section.
In the ribbon menu choose “Post-Processing” plot from node, see Figure 147. In the
left hand menu choose “Node(S)”. The “Select Node” window will open, choose
“Node”, number 3. We can now choose a node in a custom position in the material
where we would like to have a cross-section with strains and changes in thickness.
Choose a node and click “Done”, number 5. To plot the strains choose “eW(s)”,
number 6.
Figure 147. Plot from node
In the graph that opens, see Figure 148, we can see the strain on the upper and
lower surface of the material in the cross-section where the actual node is. In the
figure we can see four areas where we have tensile or compression strain, where we
have the bent corners. For example, we can see that on the surface of the material in
the first bent zone to the left we will have tensile strains of 2.4 % and on the back
side of the bend we will have a compression of 1.285 %, red line. This is the same for
both the outside bent corners. The two inside corners are bent at an angle going the
opposite way. There we will get the compression on the surface instead of the tensile
strains as with the outer corners.
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These graphs will also give us the information that the neutral layer in the bent
corners are not centered, it is pushed towards the inner radius. This is because of the
absolute values of the compressions and the tensile strains are not of the same value.
We can therefor expect the material to be thinner in those areas. We are now going
to see if the material has gone thinner.
Figure 148. Strain in the upper and lower surface
Here we have two alternatives. The first alternative is to plot the thickness for the
same node that we used when we plotted the strains in Figure 148. Choose “T(s)”,
number 5 in Figure 149. The second alternative is to choose a different cross-section
by choosing a new node, choose “Node”, number 1. The “Select Node” window will
open, choose node, number 2 and point to a node in the material and click “Done”,
number 4. Finish by choosing “T(s)”, number 5.
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Figure 149. Plot the thickness reduction in a cross-section
We can see in the graph, Figure 150, the thickness of the material in our chosen
cross-section. The material has been stretched in the bent zone as we established by
plotting the strains in this cross-section. The material is thinnest at the inside corners
which can be explained as it demands more work to get the material from the outside
region when those corners are bent. The material is strained further over the roll that
creates the inner radius.
Figure 150. Thickness reduction of the bent corners.
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Now we want to change the look of the graph, choose ”Plot Settings”, see Figure 151,
number 1. Choose View, number 2. In the window that pops up choose the diagrams
you want to change, number 3. Click OK, number 4.
Figure 151. Plot Settings.
We can now change the title and the names of the X and Y axes. We can also
change the max and min values in the graph. To save an image of the diagram see
Figure 139. To return to the model choose “Model and result”, see Figure 153.
Figure 152. Change labels in a plot
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Figure 153. Go back to model and result
9.7.5 Deformation length
Here are we going to measure the deformation length. Choose the station you want
to study by using “Station Browser”. Under “View Menu” choose the “top” view and
zoom in on the profile. Click “Displ, stress and strain” under the ribbon menu “Post-
processing”. In the left hand side menu, see Figure 154, choose Displ “Y”, number 2.
Turn on the nodes, number 3. Move the model so that you can see the rolls and the
material. Measure the deformation length using the command “Distance”, number 5.
COPRA® will now have two points to measure the distance between, choose a node
in the center of the roll and a node where the color of the material no longer changes,
see figure number 6. The distance can now be seen in the command window at the
bottom, see number 7. The last number, in this case 210 mm, is the distance in the Z
direction in the global coordinate system, which is also the longitudinal direction.
Figure 154. Deformation length
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9.8 Longitudinal strain
An interesting parameter when we design the rolls could be the longitudinal strains in
the material. In this chapter we are going to look closer at that. Choose “Plot from
node”, see Figure 155, number 1. Choose “Node”, number 2. Turn on the nodes if
they are turned off. Choose a node, for example the one in the figure, number 3.
Click on “eZ(z)”, number 4. The window “Plot Longitudinal Strain” opens up. Here we
will choose to plot all the stations, number 5. Click OK. It will now take a while for the
program to plot the graph.
Figure 155. Longitudinal strain.
In Figure 156 can we see the longitudinal strains in the material in our chosen node.
Every peak and dip corresponds to a forming step. Here we can see that we have a
higher strain from compression than from tensile in every station.
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Figure 156. Diagram that shows the longitudinal strain in the all stations.
We can zoom in on the profile to see where this happens, to show the model
choose ”model and result”, see Figure 153. In the menu “View” choose “Top”. Go to
station 8 using “Station Browser”. Zoom in on a roll. Choose “Displ, stress and strain”,
see Figure 157, number 1. Choose “TeqPS” (Total Equivalent Plastic Strain), number
2. To change colors and scales on the material, choose “Settings”, number 3. The
menu “Scalar Plot Settings” will open up, see Figure 158. Here we can choose to
manually set the scales of the colors in the profile that is showing total equivalent
plastic strain. Choose manually and set the max and min values as in the figure. We
can now see that we are getting a plastic compression in the flange when the
material is forced through the rolls. To return to normal color scale choose “Auto”.
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Figure 157. Displacement, stress and strain.
Figure 158. Scalar plot settings.
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9.9 Make Animation
A good way to get a good idea of how the forming works is to make an animated
movie showing different views. First choose the view “ISO” using “View Menu” and
zoom in on the profile at a suitable distance for making the movie. Then choose
“Animation”, number 1 in Figure 159. In the left side menu “COPRA AVI menu” will
we choose which parts of the process movie should show. In this case we will only
show every fourth increment in the movie, choose 4, number 2. The movie will also
show all stations, choose End Station, number 3. We also want all forming stations to
show at the same time, choose “All” and “Prepare”, number 4. The “Animation”
window, number 5, will open. It will now take a while for COPRA® to make all the
images that makes up the movie.
Figure 159. Animation.
When COPRA® has made all the images for the movie it will show ”Ready” in the
opened window, see Figure 160. Click OK and then “Play and Save”, number 2. The
“Marc Movie” window will open, see Figure 161, and the images are loading. Here
you can play the movie and decide at what speed you want it to play. When you are
pleased save the movie by choosing “Save as”, see figure. Close down “Marc Movie”.
We have now returned to COPRA® and we will delete all the images that has been
saved in the background on the hard drive. Choose “Delete Previous”, see Figure
162. Find the movie on your hard drive via the explorer and try to play it.
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Figure 160. Play and save.
Figure 161. Marc Movie.
Figure 162. Delete Previous.
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9.10 Change the tool design and do a restart of the simulation
When a simulation is done there might be a need to change the tool design because
the profile does not live up to the demands of quality you have set up. For example,
the simulation shows that there is a need to add another forming step at the end of
the forming process. You do not have to re-start the whole simulation, you can start it
from just before the station you have changed or added. In this case we are going to
decrease the bent angle in station 11, see Figure 144.
Go to station 11 using “Station Browser”. Rewind the simulation using the button “Inc-
“ to right before the station, i.e. where you want the simulation to start, see Figure
163. Take note of which increment the simulation is in, in this case inc: 1860. Shut
down the program.
Figure 163. The position we want to restart the simulation from. In this case just before the station 11,
inc:1860
Start COPRA® RF and change the angle in Spreadsheet, see Figure 164, and re-
draw the rolls for station 11.
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Figure 164. Change the spread sheet data and re-draw the rolls in station 11.
Save a new archive file and start ”FEA RF Project Manager”, number 1 in Figure 165.
Create a new project, number 2 and 3. Finish by clicking “Load in COPRA”, number 4.
Figure 165. Create a new project with FEA RF Project Manager.
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Set up the simulation model using the ”COPRA2FEA” menu, see Figure 166, number
1. To get the same settings for the new model as for the old one that is to be re-
started use the menu “Load settings”, number 2. In the menu that pops up mark the
old simulation, number 3. Finish by using the command “Load settings”, number 4.
Please look through the tabs Meshing, Material and Process before you finish by
clicking ”Run project”. See Figure 167.
Figure 166. COPRA2FEA.
Figure 167. Menu COPRA2FEA.
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When COPRA® FEA RF has started go to the ”Restart” menu, see Figure 168.
Choose number 2, “Define Mesh/Restart Model”. Find and choose your old model in
the window that opens. Choose number 3, “Define new Copra Model” and search for
and choose the new model in the window that opens up. Enter the increment where
you want the simulation to start from, number 4. In this case we will start the
simulation from increment 1860. Finish by clicking “Load Copra Model”, number 5.
COPRA® FEA RF will now create a model that will start by the entered increment
and with the stretches, strains and geometry that is set to that increment.
Figure 168. Restart the old simulation
Go to the ”Run” menu, see Figure 169, and enter the number of CPU:s that will be
used for the calculation, number 2. Click the buttons for “Create Job”, “Prepare
Simulation” and “Start Simulation”, numbers 3, 4 and 5 in that order. When simulation
has started “Running” will appear. Finish by clicking OK, number 6.
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Figure 169. Start up the new simulation
Open the simulation result ”Open” according to Figure 170. Move forward an
increment, number 2 and choose ISO view in the menu “View Menu”. We can now
see that the simulation will start right before station 11.
Figure 170. The restarted model
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We will now check the angle of the arc from the modified tool. Go to the last
increment by using the command ”Scan” in the menu ”Station Browser” In the
menu ”View Menu” choose ”Top”. Plot an element in “Plot from Element”, see Figure
171.
Figure 171. Element plot.
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Zoom in the profile using the command ”Front” in the menu ”View Menu”. Turn on the
nodes and measure the angle between two nodes, see Figure 172. In this case the
angle is 90.2 degrees.
Figure 172. Measure the angle with the measuring tool
We will finish by checking that the punched holes have the geometry and placement
after forming as we expected. Use the “View Menu” and light up the nodes and do
the measurements, see Figure 173 and Figure 174.
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Figure 173. Measure the distance from the web to the centre of the hole
Figure 174. Top view to study the holes in the web.
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10. COPRA® FEA Simulation with driven rolls

In this chapter we are going to simulate a hat-profile where we will take friction into
consideration, which means that the rolls are driven. We will also simulate cutting
when the profile is formed and finished.
Start COPRA® RF and choose the relevant project. Then choose “FEA RF Project
Manager”, see Figure 175, choose create new project, see Figure 176, in your project
file for simulation projects on the hard drive. When that is done a window “New
project” will pop up, see Figure 177. In this window you can name the project, enter
the name of the designer and add comments about the simulation. Click OK.
Figure 175. FEA RF Project Manager
Figure 176. FEA project manager
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Figure 177. Create new FEA project
We can now see our project in FEA Project manager. In this window we can add
projects, add more information etc. Choose your project and click “Load in COPRA”,
see Figure 178. The window will shut down and we will return to COPRA® RF.
Figure 178. Load in COPRA
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Now choose ”COPRA2FEA” in COPRA® RF, see Figure 179. The window for
“COPRA2FEA” will open, see Figure 180. In this window we will find three tabs,
Meshing, Material and Process. In the Meshing menu we can choose how many
layers of solid elements we want through the thickness of the material. In this case
we will choose one layer. In this window we will also have the possibility to start the
simulation from any station, but we will start from station 0. We can also adjust the
mesh to increase or decrease the number of nodes, “Subdivisions of arcs and
straight entities or in roll direction”. We will choose 1 as COPRA suggests. Also
choose Meshing “All Station”. Study the mesh by ticking the box “Mesh Preview”, see
Figure 181, a window will open where we can see the Mesh and numbers of
elements, nodes and the different arc lines. We won’t make any changes so just
close the window.
Figure 179. COPRA2FEA
Figure 180. COPRA2FEA, meshing
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Figure 181. Mesh Preview
Figure 182. COPRA2FEA Material Figure 183. COPRA2FEA, process
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Choose the tab ”Material”, see Figure 182, and set Youngs Moduls, 210 000 Mpa,
and tick ”from Material Specs”. Enter the yield strength of the material, YS = 350 Mpa,
the ultimate tensile strength of the material, UTS = 690 Mpa and last, the elongation
of the material to A80 = 6%. Choose the tab “Process”, see Figure 183, to enter the
process conditions. We will start by ticking the box “Cutting [default 0.5*length]” which
means that we will be simulating cutting when the profile is made. In this simulation
we will assume that the length of the material is cut before the roll forming machine,
choose “Pre Cutted Length” and enter 1000 mm. As we will use driven tools in the
simulation we have to enter the friction between the rolls and the material. We also
have decide at what speed production should take place. Choose “Friction”.
The window ”Speed and Friction” opens up, see Figure 184. Choose “Get COPRA
Ratio”, number 1 and tick the boxes “Set friction”, “Set speed” and “Diameter ratio”
and enter values according to the figure. Choose “Set All Axis Driven”, number 2.
Now all the rolls are driven and their friction coefficient is set to 0.1. As the side rolls
in stations 11-13 are not driven we will have to take them out of operation. Click on
the arrow in station 11, number 3. Station 11 will now show in the small upper
window to the right, number 4. Unmark boxes Left and Right and enter 0 for speed.
Do the same with stations 12 and 13. Finish by clicking OK.
Figure 184. Speed and friction
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We are now ready to open COPRA® FEA RF. Choose “Run project”, see Figure 185.
Click OK in both of the windows that will open, see Figure 186.
Figure 186. Licens information

Figure 185. COPRA2FEA, run project.
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10.1 Customizing the user interface
When COPRA® FEA RF is started for the first time all the menus will be placed by
default on the right hand side and below the window with the model. You can move
the icons to the position you want. Try to move them to the left of the window with the
model, see Figure 187. When you are happy with their position click “Save Window
Settings”, see figure.
Figure 187. Customizing the user interface
10.2 Pre-Processing
We are going to make a few small changes in the model before we start the
simulation. This can be done in the menu called “Pre-Processing”. In this case we are
going to insert a chamfer in the front edge of the sheet that will be formed, so that the
material will be placed right going in to the forming rolls. First we need to zoom in on
the front edge of the material. Choose ”View Menu”, number 1, under the ribbon
menu ”Utils”, see Figure 188. The menu “Views” will open to the left of the window,
choose “Top”, number 2. Choose “Fit”, number 3, we will now see the whole model in
the window and we are going to zoom in on the material. Choose “Zoom Box”,
number 4, and mark an area that are to be zoomed in, in this case the front edge of
the material.
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Figure 188. View Menu
To make a chamfer in the front edge of the material choose ”Edit”, see Figure 189.
Then choose how many millimeters into the material the chamfer should reach. In
this case we will pick 4 mm and the rows of elements to be chamfered to 4, number 1.
Choose “Create”, number 2. COPRA® will now create a chamfer and ask if it is ok. If
we are not happy we can click “Reload”. In this case click OK to save, number 3.
Figure 189. Chamfer in the front of the material
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10.3 Run simulation
We are now ready to start the simulation. Choose “Run” under the ribbon menu
“Simulation”, see Figure 190. The window to start the simulation will open. Here we
have the possibility to choose the number of CPU:s that will be used to make the
calculation, number 1. Choose the amount that your license will cover. Then click
“Create Job” and wait a second, number 2. Click “Prepare Simulation”, number 3 and
finish by clicking “Start Simulation”, number 4. If the simulation works it will say
“Running” in the status window. We can also see that the simulation has started as
the increments are being shown. Click OK, number 5.
Figure 190. Run the simulation
10.4 Open the simulation result
When the simulation has started the results can be studied up until the last saved
increment that COPRA® RF FEA has calculated. To open the simulation result, see
Figure 191, choose the command “Open” in the menu “Post-processing”. COPRA®
will open the explorer where we will choose the file “project name_res.py”. COPRA®
will load the result into the program.
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Figure 191. Open the simulation result
10.5 Study the result station by station
In this chapter we will study the result of the simulation station by station. Results,
images, graphs etc. can be saved continuously in the menu “Report Menu”, see
Figure 192. To save an image click on “Add New”. A text file will open up where you
will enter the chosen text to the figure, and the image will be saved automatically.
Click save on the text file and close it. Choose “Make Pass” and “Show”. A word
document will open where you can see the result.
Figure 192. Make a report
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We will start by zooming in the profile in ISO view. Choose “Utils” and then “View
Menu”, see Figure 193. In the left hand side menu choose “ISO”, number 2. Choose
“Fit” and “Zoom Box”, number 3 and 4. We also want to plot displacements on the Y-
axis, choose “Displ, Stress and Strain, number 1, see Figure 194. Choose “Scalar”,
number 2. In the window that opens up we can choose which/what scalar we want to
have a look at, in this case we will choose “Displacement Y, number 3. Click OK,
number 4.
Figure 193. View the simulation result
Figure 194. Displacement in Y-direction
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In the menu ”Utils” choose ”Station Browser”. Here we can move to forming station
number 1 by using the command “++”, see Figure 195. We can move back to the
previous station by using the command “--“. Experiment with the different commands
in the menu “Station Browser”. The figure will tell you what the different commands
will do. Finish by going back to forming station 1.
Figure 195. Station browser
We can light up or turn off the rolls or the material at any time. Choose “Hide rolls”,
see Figure 196. To zoom in on the profile choose “Fit”. Now we can rotate the profile
by choosing “Dynamic movement”, which is the button showing a hand. To make the
rotation, point to it with the mouse and hold the middle button when moving the
mouse. When we are done we will de-activate dynamic movement by clicking the
hand again.
Figure 196. Move and rotate the model
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10.6 Cross-section
Go to station 1 using the menu ”Station Browser”. Zoom in on the station from the
front with the help of the menu “View Menu”. Choose the menu “Cross Sections”, see
Figure 197. In this menu we can study the cross-section of the profile in each station
and compare it with the designed cross-section in COPRA® RF. The cross-sections
can also be saved as a dxf-file that can be opened in AutoCAD. To get to the cross-
sections follow the instructions in the figure. Choose cross-section from the
simulation, number 2, if you want to compare it with COPRA® RF, choose number 3.
To be able to see the cross-sections we have to turn off the simulated profile, choose
number 4. To compare choose number 5. Save the result by clicking “write DXF”.
When you are finished click “Clear” and move on to the next station.
Figure 197. Cross-section
If we zoom in on the tool and the profile, see Figure 198, it will sometimes look like
the profile do not have contact with the tool. That is because the resolution on the
tool is low. To change this go to the menu “View”, see Figure 199, and choose “Plot
control”. In the window that opens go to “Surface Settings”, number 2 and click the
icon. In the window that opens choose “High”, number 3 and then “Redraw”, number
4. We can now see that the profile has contact with the tool in our model.
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Figure 198. Zoom the tools
Figure 199. Increase the resolution
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10.7 Forming forces
To study the impact of the forming forces on the tools go to station 1 using ”Station
Browser”, choose the menu “Displ, Stress and Strain”, see Figure 200. To see how
the forces from the material work on the top and bottom roll choose “Fn”, number 2. A
vector plot will now show the contact forces between roll and profile.
Figure 200. Forming forces
To see the impact of the total force working on respective tool go to “Advanced”, see
Figure 201, and choose “Forces”, number 2. It might take a while for the program to
calculate these. If you want to save the result choose “Report”, otherwise click OK.
NB! If the simulation is using symmetry, i.e. only half the model is being simulated
you will only see half the force that is being used on the axes.
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Figure 201. Forces on axis in the station
10.8 Strain in the profile
In this chapter are we going to have a look at how to plot strains in the material in a
custom position of the cross-section. We will also study how the thickness of the
material has changed in this cross-section. In the ribbon menu choose “Post-
Processing” plot from node, see Figure 202. In the left hand menu choose “Node(S)”.
The “Select Node” window will open, choose “Node”, number 3. We can now choose
a node in a custom position in the material where we would like to have a cross-
section with strains and changes in thickness. Choose a node and click “Done”,
number 5. To plot the thickness choose “T(s)”, number 6.
Figure 202. Plot from node
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We can see in the graph, Figure 203, the thickness of the material in our chosen
cross-section. The material has been stretched in the bent zone. The material is
thinnest at the inside corners which can be explained as it demands more work to get
the material from the outside region when those corners are bent. The material is
strained further over the roll that creates the inner radius.
Figure 203. The thickness of the material after forming in station one
Now choose to plot the strains that are angular towards the direction of forming, click
“eW(s)”, see Figure 204. The graph will now show the strain on the upper and lower
surface of the material in the cross-section where the actual node is. In the figure we
can see four areas where we have tensile or compression strain, where we have the
bent corners. For example, we can see that on the surface of the material in the first
bent zone to the left we will have tensile strains of 2.4 % and on the back side of the
bend we will have a compression of 1.2 %, red line. This is the same for both the
outside bent corners. The two inside corners are bent at an angle going the opposite
way. There we will get the compression on the surface instead of the tensile strains
as with the outer corners.
These graphs will also show us the information that the neutral layer in the bent
corners are not centered, it is pushed towards the inner radius. This is because of the
absolute values of the compressions and the tensile strains are not of the same value.
We can therefor expect the material to be thinner in these areas, which showed in
Figure 203. To return to the model choose “Model and result”, see Figure 205.
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Figure 204. Strain at the top and bottom surface, perpendicular to forming direction
Figure 205. Model and result
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10.9 Deformation length
Here are we going to measure the deformation length. Choose the station you want
to study by using “Station Browser”. Under “View Menu” choose the “Top” view and
zoom in on the profile. Click “Displ, stress and strain” under the ribbon menu “Post-
processing”. In the left hand side menu, choose Displ “Y”. We can change the color
scales of the profile to get a clearer image. Choose “Range Settings”, see Figure 206.
In the left menu choose “Manual”, it is set to “Auto” by default. We can now try
different intervals, for example choose min = 5 and max = 10. We can see that
deformation starts between the formings steps where the color goes from blue to
dark red, about half way between the forming steps. Finish by choosing “Auto”.
Figure 206. Deformation length
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10.10 Driven result
In this chapter we will have a look at what information we can get from the simulation
with driven rolls. We will start by looking at which speed the profile will have going
through the roll forming machine. Choose “Driven”, see Figure 207, choose to look at
all increments, choose “All”, number 2. Light up the nodes and choose “Nodes”,
number 3. In the window that opens “Select Node” choose node, number 4. Click on
a node in a custom position in the material, number 5. Click “Done”, number 6. We
will now choose “RF Line Speed”, number 7.
Figure 207. RF Line speed
The graph that opens, see Figure 208, shows clearly that the profile is losing speed
at the end of the roll forming line. Especially when the un-driven side rolls comes in to
operation. This means that there will be some sliding between the profile and the
horizontal rolls. It also means that if we plan to produce profiles that are pre-cut we
will have to have a big enough distance between them, otherwise there will be a
collision between the profiles at the end of the machine. If we want to make changes
to the layout of the graph use “plot Settings”, see figure.
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Figure 208. The plot shows the speed of the material through the line
Go back to ”Driven” and choose ”Rot Speed Idler”, see Figure 209, to study the
speed of rotation between the side rolls. We will also see that the speed is slowing
down only when the profile is at the end of the machine. In the first forming station
with side rolls the rotation speed is higher as the previous forming station is pushing
the profile forward.
Figure 209. The speed of idler rolls
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To plot the elongation of the material in between two nodes to see if we strain or
compress the material, choose ”Driven”, see Figure 210. In this example we will
study the edge of the material. Choose the increment “All”, number 2. To light up
nodes choose “Show”, number 3. Then choose “Nodes”, number 4. In the window
“Select Node” choose “Node”. We will now click on two nodes where we want to
study the change of elongation between stations, number 6. Choose “Done”. Finish
by choosing “Elongation”. COPRA® will plot a graph, see Figure 211, which will show
the elongation in percent. We can see that we will be compressing the material in the
flange when we get through the different forming stations. Finish by going back and
show the model, choose “Model and result”, see Figure 205.
Figure 210. Elongation
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Figure 211. Elongation between two nodes
10.11 The geometry of the formed profile
To study the geometry of the roll formed profile go to the ”Station Browser” menu and
choose the command ”>>”, see Figure 212, COPRA will move to the last forming
station. Choose “Fill rolls”, number 2.
Then go to the menu ”Cross-sections”, see Figure 213, where we choose to plot the
cross-section in a position that we pick by choosing a node, choose ”Node”, number
1. Light the nodes if they are turned off. Choose a node on the profile, number 2.
Finish by using the command “plot from node”, number 3.
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Figure 212. Geometry of the finished profile
Figure 213. Plot cross-section of the finished profile
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COPRA® will now draw the cross-section but to be able to see it we will first have to
turn off rolls and material. Go to the “Utils” menu, see Figure 214. Turn off rolls and
material, see number 2 and 3. Zoom in on the cross-section using the command
“Front”, number 4. Save the cross-section as a dxf-file by choosing “Cross-section”,
see Figure 215, and pick “Write DXF”, number 2. Finish by removing the cross-
section, choose “Clear” next to the command “Write DXF” and light up rolls and
material, see Figure 214 number 2 and 3, and tick the boxes.
Figure 214. View cross-section
Figure 215. Save cross-section as a dxf file
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Go to the last increment using ”Station Browser”. Under the menu “Views”, zoom in
on the profile using the commands “Top” and “Zoom Box”, see Figure 216. We can
see that the profile has had some “End Flare” after the cut.
Figure 216. End flare after cutting the profile
10.12 Make animation
See chapter 9.9
10.13 Insert one more station and restart the simulation
In this chapter we will increase the number of stations by adding a forming station
between stations 9 and 10. We will then re-start the simulation from station 9. We will
not simulate the forming from the beginning, but re-use the model simulation from
station 9. First we will have to find out from which increment we will re-start the
simulation. Use “Station Browser”, Figure 217, number 1. Choose “..”, number 2. A
window will open that ask which station we want to go to, choose 9, number 3 and
click OK. Zoom in on the model in the “Views” menu if you like. Write down which
increment the simulation is in, In this case it is increment 2320, see figure, number 4.
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Figure 217. Go to station 9
Open up COPRA® RF, choose which project to add stations to. Choose the tab
“Rolls”, mark and right click on station 10, see Figure 218, and choose “Insert station”.
Then go to Spreadsheet, see Figure 219, and change angles according to the figure.
In the “Rolls” tab we also have to change and re-draw the tools for the forming
stations 10 and 11. NB if you are unsure about how to use the tool design see
chapter 8.
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Figure 218. Insert station
Figure 219. Change the bend angles for the new and old station
Save the change by creating a new archive map. We will now make a new simulation
project, choose “FEA RF Project Manager”, see Figure 220. Create a new project in
the project manager, number 2. Name the new project “Restart” and click OK,
number 3. We are now ready to load in COPRA, Choose “Load in COPRA”, number
4.
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Figure 220. New FEA project
In COPRA® RF choose ”COPRA2FEA”, number 1, see Figure 221. In the window

that opens “COPRA2FEA” can we upload the settings of the FEA model from the
earlier project that we are going to re-start. Choose “Load settings”, number 2, and
chose the earlier project, number 3, finish with “Load settings”, number 4.
We have the same settings in our new model, see Figure 222, as we have in our old
model that we are about to re-start. Finish “COPRA2FEA” by choosing “Run Project”.
COPRA® FEA RF will start.
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Figure 221. COPRA2FEA
Figure 222. Menu with the same settings as for the old model
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When COPRA® FEA RF has started go to the menu ”Restart”, see Figure 223.
Choose number 2, “Define Mesh/Restart Model”. Search for and choose your old
model in the window that opens up.
Then choose number 3, “Define New Copra Model” and find and choose the new
model in the window that opens up. Enter the increment where you want the
simulation to start, number 4. In this case we will start the simulation from increment
2320. Finish of with “Load Copra Model”, number 5. COPRA® FEA RF will now
create a model that will start by the entered increment and with the strains, tensions
and geometry that has been set.
Figure 223. Restart the old model
Go to the ”Run” menu, see Figure 224 and enter the number of CPU:s that will be
used for the calculation. Click the buttons for “Create Job”, “Prepare Simulation” and
“Start Simulation”, numbers 2, 3, and 4 in that order. When simulation has started
“Running” will appear. Finish by clicking OK, number 5.
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Figure 224. Start simulation
Open the simulation result ”Open” according to Figure 225. Move forward an
increment and choose ISO view in the menu “View Menu”. We can now see that the
simulation will start right before station 9, see Figure 226.
Figure 225. Open result file
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COPRA® FEA RF 2013
Figure 226. The model starts from formingstation 9
We can now see if we have less ”End flare” after cutting the profile. Choose “Views”
and “Top” and move to the last increment, see Figure 227.
Figure 227. Check the End flare after cutting
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MAKE DRAWINGS IN COPRA® RF
Make drawings in COPRA® RF

In this chapter we will look at how to make drawings, assembly plans and a list of
materials in COPRA® RF. We will start by making drawings. To make a drawing start
by choosing the actual project in CAD Finder.
11. Single roll dimensioning

Choose ”Standard Roll Dimensioning” under the ribbon menu ”Roll utilities”, see
Figure 228.
Figure 228. Standard roll dimensioning.
The dialogue box ”Single roll dimensioning” opens up, in this example we are only
going to make a drawing of forming station 1. Choose from station 1 up to station 1,
see Figure 229, number 1. Tick the boxes according number 2 in the figure. Cjoose
“All”, number 3. Go to “Drawing frame”, number 4. In the window that opens tick the
box “edit Drawing frame”. Tick the boxes ”Pattern from file”, ”Zoom automatically”, ”In
Layout”, ”max” and template ”dataM-ISO A4”. Finish by clickon OK, number 6
Choose ”Machine”, number 1 in Figure 230. In the window that opens up tick the box
“using roll attributes”, number 2 and finish by clicking OK, number 3. Click OK in the
window “Single Roll Dimensioning.
In the window that open up choose ”Show it..”, see Figure 231.
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Figure 229. Single roll dimensioning and drawing frame
Figure 230. Machine data
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Figure 231. Show the drawing
Now COPRA® will open a dimensioned drawing, see Figure 232. The drawings that
are created will be found in CAD Finder for easy access in the folder “Rolls.dwg”, see
Figure 233.
Figure 232. The drawing
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Figure 233. Drawings in CAD Finder
12. Dimensioned assembly plans

Our next task is to make an assembly plan from COPRA®. Choose “Dimensioned
Assembly Plans” from the ribbon menu “Rolles++”, see Figure 234.
Figure 234. Dimensioned assembly plan
COPRA® will open a new menu, see Figure 235. There we will choose how many
stations we are going to do under “Pass Selection..”, number 1, choose station 1 to
station 2. Choose “Machine..”, number 2 and tick the box for “Using rollattributes”,
number 3. Finish by clicking OK. Also tick the box by number 4 according to the
figure. We do want some measurements to be shown on the drawing, in this case the
diameters of the rolls and the width, tick boxes according to number 5.
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Figure 235. Settings for the assembly plan
Under ”Options..”, see Figure 236 we will choose to save the drawings in CAD Finder.
Choose “CAD Finder” in the window “Drawings settings”. Enter number 3 and 4 in the
window “CAD Finder” according to the figure, finish by clicking OK, number 5.
We want to create an AutoCad drawing where we will have all the forming stations
collected, but with a separate layout for each of the forming steps. To do this choose
“Options..”, see Figure 237. In the window that opens up un-check “Edit drawing
frame” and finish by clicking “OK”.
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Figure 236. Save the dimension plan in CAD Finder
Figure 237. Drawing frame
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In ”Options..”, see Figure 238, number 1, choose the command ”settings” all in one,
number 2. In the window “Settings” choose “template station, number 3, and in the
window “Templates” set template from file, number 4 and make sure that the text is
according to figure. Finish all open windows by clicking OK.
Figure 238. Template
Figure 239. The assembly for station 1
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We have now created our assembly plans for stations 1 and 2 under respective tab,
see Figure 239. We have also saved an assembly plan in CAD Finder including both
stations 1 and 2, see Figure 240.
Figure 240. Assembly plan in CAD Finder
13. Bill of materials

Before we create a list of materials we have to make sure that we are in the right
project, choose project in CAD Finder. To create a list of materials for all rolls, choose
“Materiallist”, see Figure 241. The window “Create Cutting List” will open up, see
Figure 242. Under “Pass Selection” choose all stations, number 1. Tick the box
“Table View”, number 2. Finish by clicking OK.
Figure 241. Material list
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Figure 242. Number of station in the cutting list
COPRA® will now create a ”Cutting list” for all the forming steps, see Figure 243.
Here we can choose the look of the table, right click on the table and choose
“Configure table”. In the window that opens, see Figure 244, we can tick boxes for
the different features we want the table to show. Close the window.
Figure 243. Cutting list in a table view
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Figure 244. Table layout
Right click the table again and choose ”Print”, see Figure 245. The window “Generate
Report” will open, see Figure 246. Choose “Report style” dataM and “Layout” fit to
page. We can then make a “Preview” to make sure they look right. Choose printer
and print.
Figure 245. Print the material list
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Figure 246. Generate a report
14. NC Geometry output of roll contours

When we have created the list of materials we will create DXF files and CNC files. Go
to the menu “Rolls++” and choose “NC”, see Figure 247. In the window that opens,
“NC – CONTOUR DATA”, see Figure 248, can we choose which rolls we want to add,
choose for example station 12 in the menu “Pass selection..”. Tick the boxes NC-
code and same for all rolls. Finish by clicking OK. We can now see our CNC files and
DXF files in CAD Finder, see Figure 249.
Figure 247. Create NC conturs for the rolls
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Figure 248. Settings for the NC conturs
Figure 249. The NC contour in CAD Finder
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COPRA® RF AND COPRA® FEA RF

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10.9 Deformation length .............................................................................. 121

Figure 1. Initialise COPRA®

Figure 2. Icon COPRA Settings

Figure 3. Menu for COPRA® settings

Figure 4. Pass and Roll Numbers

Figure 5. Roll Numbering

Figure 6. Rolls information

Figure 7. Roll View

Figure 8. Profile options.

Figure 9. COPRA Tools

Figure 10. Menu in COPRA Tools.

Figure 11. COPRA Settings 2

Figure 12. Diffrent structures in CADFinder.

Figure 13. Create folders in CADFinder

Figure 14. Create project folder

Figure 15. Create COPRA®-Project

 Import a profile drawing to AutoCAD and then to COPRA®

4.1 Taking drawings from AutoCAD to COPRA®

Figure 16. Insert profil from AutoCAD.

Figure 17. Polyline that describe the cross-section of the hat-profile

Figure 19. Section from AutoCAD.

Figure 20. CAD-PROFILE dialog box Figure 21. Plane of unfolding

Figure 22. Plane of unfolding, proposal from COPRA

Figure 23. Archive the design phase

Figure 25. The archive file in CadFinder

Figure 24. Title block data

5. Flower design with Spreadsheet

Figure 26. Spreadsheet window.

Figure 27. Change the profile in Spreadsheet

Figure 28 shows some examples of changes we can do in Spreadsheet; 1 increase

Figure 28. Some examples on changes that can be done in Spreadsheet

Pick lengths according to Figure 29 and save current settings.

Figure 29. Change the length and save current settings

Figure 32. Standard neutral line

Figure 33. Calculate the springback

Figure 34. Models for springback calculation

Figure 35. Springback and automatic unfolding

Figure 36. Automatic unfolding window

Figure 39. Change the station attributes

Figure 40. Window for the station attributes

Figure 41. Station attributes, formning

Figure 42. Horisontal distance

Figure 43. Change the numbering order of the stations

In the COPRA-Lettering window, see Figure 44 we will choose which numbering

Figure 44. COPRA – Lettering

Figure 45. Numbering of repectively station

Figure 46. Axes automatical

Figure 47. Machine data.

Figure 48. Change Machine Data

Figure 49. Machine data fort he new machine, Hat-section

Figure 51. Modify Machine data.

Figure 52. Change gear-ratio.

Figure 53. Gear-ratio has been changed

Figure 54. Simulation of strains.

Figure 55. Calculation Paarameter FTM.

Figure 56. Menu Coil Material.

Figure 57. Forming length.

Figure 58. DTM simulation of the longitudinal starins

Figure 59. Simulation diagram and simulation view.

Figure 60. Go back to flower design

Figure 61. Optimized flower design.