ROLL FORMING DESIGN GUIDE: LIGHTWEIGHT TRAILER, TRANSPORTATION PARTS

Simultaneous weight reduction and cost reduction is one of the most important development targets in the transportation industry.

That doesn’t just apply to traditional cars, trucks, and trains. It also applies to trailers, buses, and alternative transportation like e-cars and e-trucks.

These applications are deeply ingrained in the world of roll forming. Not surprisingly they have design best practices that are both similar and unique compared with traditional vehicles.

The best lightweight materials for cars might be different from the ideal materials for trailer components. Traditional automotive weight reduction ideas might not necessarily agree with e-truck weight reduction needs.

This roll forming design guide is dedicated to lightweight trailer and transportation components -- ignore at your own risk!

A 7-STEP ROLL FORMING DESIGN GUIDE

If your application sounds like what we’ve described above, your roll forming design challenges probably fit into these buckets:

Material substitutions -- strength vs. weight

Durability and hardness

Formability issues, including cutoff and springback considerations

Size

Complexity

Additional features

Aesthetics

Material Substitutions

Aluminum is the favorite for many kinds of applications that require lightweight materials.

Steel, of course, is much stronger than aluminum. Conversely, aluminum is much lighter than steel. Talking in generalities (and not specialty or unique grades), you only need a little more aluminum to fabricate a shape with comparable strength to the same shape made from steel. Consider that:

A cubic foot of standard-grade aluminum weighs 169 lbs.

A cubic foot of standard-grade steel weighs 490 lbs.

There’s a second balancing act engineers are facing when choosing materials: cost vs. corrosion resistance. Aluminum costs 3.5x as much as steel, but unlike steel it creates a self-protective layer when exposed to oxygen.

In the case of truck frames and trailers (and possibly other applications), there are several popular aluminum grades:

2024

5052

6061

6063

Note that 6061 and 6063 are “extrusion-grade” types of aluminum, which are difficult to find in coil form. For this reason, roll forming suppliers generally avoid these grades. “Roll forming-grade” aluminum types include 5052 and some 3000 series grades.

But all lightweight component designers already know about aluminum. Let’s talk about something more interesting -- special steels.

SPECIALTY STEELS

Engineers have used specialty steels instead of conventional steel for years. These range from HSLA (high-strength low-alloy) steels to UHSS (ultra-high-strength steel) material.

The latter can reach tensile strengths up to 232,000 pounds per square inch (PSI). These steels already contribute to weight reduction efforts in traditional automobiles.

Your application, however, may not require such a powerful material. That’s why forward-thinking roll formers are recommending a certain HSLA steel for more and more projects.

80,000 PSI VS. 30,000 PSI STEEL IN ACTION

The alloying used to make steel has come a long way. The auto industry has started using much higher-strength steel in chassis components because they can make thinner sections with equal strength.

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