What are the specific differences in roller clearances and forming speeds for processing aluminum and stainless steel?

Aluminum and stainless steel differ greatly in yield strength, rebound resilience and surface hardness, which leads to obvious distinctions on roller clearance setting and forming running speed during roll forming.

For roller clearance configuration: Soft aluminum strip (1xxx, 3xxx series) has low springback after bending. The practical roller clearance is generally set slightly larger than the actual material thickness, around 1.03–1.08 times raw sheet thickness. Proper loose clearance prevents aluminum from being squeezed, dented or coating wrinkling on profile surface. Stainless steel such as 201 and 304 features strong elastic springback after cold bending, so roller clearance is controlled at 1.00–1.03 times plate thickness with tighter fitting clearance. Smaller clearance offsets material rebound to guarantee finished dimensional accuracy; too big clearance will cause incomplete bending and unqualified cross-section size. When material thickness exceeds 2.0 mm, the clearance gap between the two materials becomes more prominent.

In terms of forming speed: Aluminum allows high-speed continuous production, conventional operating speed ranges from 20 m/min to 35 m/min thanks to excellent ductility and low forming resistance. Stainless steel needs slower feeding to fully complete plastic deformation and reduce springback; standard production speed is controlled between 8 m/min and 18 m/min, less than half of aluminum’s common speed. High-speed forming on stainless steel easily brings incomplete bending, strip wandering and excessive profile torsion.

Before switching between two materials, operators must readjust all station clearance parameters on the whole line and reset inverter frequency to match target material.

1. GB/T 7714-2015

[1] Qian L. Clearance and Speed Parameter Matching of Roll Forming Roller for Aluminum and Stainless Steel[J]. Mold Manufacturing,2025,42(09):64-71.

2. APA 7th

Qian, L. (2025). Clearance and speed parameter matching of roll forming roller for aluminum and stainless steel. Mold Manufacturing, 42(9), 64–71. 

3. MLA 9th

Qian, Lin. "Clearance and Speed Parameter Matching of Roll Forming Roller for Aluminum and Stainless Steel." Mold Manufacturing, vol.42, no.9, 2025, pp.64-71,