A cage forming system is a continuous forming process by groups (beams) of single simple rolls and additional supporting outer and inner roll tools.

COPRA® RF allows for a modeling of various types of straight edge forming systems due to its parametric structure. The lineal beams are either predefined or - if there are single mounted rolls - each roll and respective position is defined in specific database tables.

In order to achieve a proper forming result it is important to have a smooth strip entry into the forming cage. Therefore it is important to optimize both entry passes as well as the position of forming and guiding rolls in the forming line. Such tasks have to be done by 'trial and error' and are usually quite time consuming and pretty costly.

There are comfortable input dialogue boxes for designing the cage tools and references for proper positioning. There is also a 3D collision check available where the user can verify if roll tooling and sheet strip match.

There are some obvious advantages to perform a mill setup on the computer rather than on the mill by practical trials. These include the possibility to add, edit or remove any cage station (straight edge forming system) within the current tube mill roll tool layout. This is done via the built-in tool browser where the forming lineal can be positioned between the existing forming stations.

The cage beams are defined in a spreadsheet-like manner where every cage beam is treated as an independent part. Once such a forming lineal has been defined in the software database it can be re-used in any other design project as well.