Century, Inc. News

Century Rollforming Expands Tool Design Software Capabilities

Century Rollforming has increased tool design capability and capacity by purchasing the latest COPRA design software from Data M Corporation in Germany. The COPRA software is specific to roll tool design and allows data concerning part geometry, material specifications, and rollforming machine configuration to be input and factored when designing a set of roll tools to produce a part for customer application. The sophisticated software is a powerful tool that when coupled with the experience of the Tool Designer, expedites the calculations required to explore various alternative design concepts while optimizing the design for a specific application. This results in a more efficient design process and shortens the lead time required to test and deliver the tool set to customers. The COPRA software allows studies of prospective customer applications to be explored theoretically before any tooling is produced or machines committed to testing and production. Testing in this virtual world is practical because the costs are much lower than creating hard prototype tooling, which allows many more alternative application parameters to be explored.

Working with Data M, Century has fulfilled requirements for complete Finite Element Analysis (FEA) studies for customer applications. In these FEA studies, complete roll tool designs as it relates to our customer’s product design, part material, rollforming machine, and cut off specifications are analyzed. The FEA studies produce a virtual piece part, augmenting and quantifying discussions concerning part dimensional tolerances, machine specification decisions, material recommendations, and failure analyses of existing processes. These studies result in more optimized tool concepts, product designs, improved capital equipment utilization, savings in prototype tool costs and reduced tryout, and development of production roll tools. The addition of this latest tool design software for the Century Rollforming Division is in accord with Century’s belief in developing and maintaining the latest in cutting edge technology.

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