TI Metal Forming
Metform is working together with TI Metal Forming in India to put its innovative technology to work to build a better stainless steel backbone for India's railway cars.
Roll Forming for India's Railways
An intricate network of railway tracks traverses the landscape in India. It is one of the largest railway systems in the world and it is in immediate need of significant investment to keep up with the growing demands of moving people and goods all over the country.
The core of every railway car is the "center sill", the key supporting beam that runs the length of the car base. To date, these have been constructed with two pieces of formed stainless steel welded together to create the final product.
Indian Railways is now seeking to build all new cars with center sills constructed of one single piece of metal, rather than two welded pieces. With no welded joint to contend with in the sill, the structural integrity is increased, leading to greater durability, longer life and reduced manufacturing cost..
Innovative Roll Forming Solutions
Creating these railway cars requires innovative cold forming technology, provided by Metform International. The challenges faced in this project include shaping 10 mm thick sheets of stainless steel to meet the exacting specifications and tolerances needed by the client, and to do so consistently every time, managing key loads for many years to come.
Accomplishing this requires a significant amount of force and mill horsepower to gradually form and hold the shape through each of the 21 roll passes. The key to this precision performance lies in the specific tooling design to ultimately form the part to the stringent print requirements.
Part of this methodology includes unique driven anti-flare fixtures to provide additional forming control. These unprecedented fixtures and side rolls, developed by Metform, allow the customer more flexibility over traditional design techniques.
This pioneering technology makes it possible to form heavy sections not previously considered, and allows TI Metal Forming to achieve their engineering goals for Indian Railways.

