Cold forming techniques for the manufacture
of steel structural sections
MARTIN MACDONALD
MANOJ HEIYANTUDUWA
DAVID K. HARRISON
Cold-formed steel structural sections are manufac-
tured by using various cold forming processes such
as cold-roll forming, brake pressing, bend braking, etc.
These cold forming processes bring changes into the
material properties of final formed section profiles
due to the effect of the cold working that takes place
during the forming process, particularly at any formed
bends or corners. Cold working causes strain har-
dening of the material being formed and generally
increases yield and tensile stress and decreases
ductility. The level of strength increase depends on
the type of steel, history of cold working and method
of forming used. This strength increase provides a sig-
nificant advantage which can, in some applications,
be used in the design process, as outlined in the AISI,
BS5950 Part 5 and Eurocode 3 Part 1.3 design code
recommendations [1 – 3].
An investigation on cold-roll forming of light-gauge
steel sections was carried out by Kato in 1963 [4]. In
this research, many factors affecting the roll forming
load were investigated. The investigation began with
the determination of the forming action which had
taken place in the roll forming process. The forming
action for a given pair of rolls was simulated in steps
for static analysis by pressing the sheet metal with
pairs of dies shaped to bend the work into a channel,
and the forces involved were determined for these
Fig. 1. Force actions during cold roll forming process (adapted
from Kato [4])
Dr Martin Macdonald, Manoj Heiyantuduwa, prof. David
K. Harrison – School of Engineering & Computing, Glasgow
Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK.
steps. The dynamic force measurements were taken
by mounting load sensing devices such as piezoelec-
tric elements or strain gauges onto the test machine.
Figure 1 shows an outline drawing of the force actions
that occur during a cold rolling forming process.
The effects of cold forming on material properties
of cold-formed steel members were investigated by a
number of researchers to quantify the enhanced ma-
terial properties and to investigate if they could be
incorporated into the design process. In 1967, Karren
and Winter [5] at Cornell University conducted a series
of investigations to find out the effect of cold forming
on the material properties of light-gauge steel mem-
bers. These investigations ranged from a type of
simple unidirectional tensile straining of flat sheets to
more complex types of forming found in corners and
flat elements of sections. Further, these investigations
were extended to study the effect of cold forming on
the load carrying capacity of axially compressed
cold-formed columns [6, 7]. The results of a series of
experiments carried out showed an almost 100%
increase in yield stress at the formed corners. How-
ever the maximum increase of tensile stress at
corners was found to be only 47% above the virgin
material. It was also found that the flat elements gain
much smaller increases in both yield and tensile
stress values compared to those at corners. The effect
of cold forming on the yield stress of thin gauge
carbon and stainless steel members was investigated
by Macdonald et al [8]. A series of experiments was
carried out using a standard hardness test approach
to determine local yield and tensile stresses at cold
formed corners. The results of the experiments were
compared with two design code approaches. Another
research investigation was carried out by Hlavacek [9]
where a method to calculate the increased yield
strength of a sheet to a relatively high degree of accu-
racy was proposed.
Cold-forming methods
Cold-forming is a process of transforming a flat
sheet of metal into section profiles such as channel
sections by using cold rolling, brake pressing or fold-
ing operations as discussed in detail by Rhodes [10].
Folding is the simplest process that can be used to
produce specimens of short lengths and of simple
geometry, by folding sheets into a series of bends. In
brake pressing, a section is formed from a length of
strip by pressing between two dies to form the
required profile. A typical press braking machine is
shown in fig. 2. Cold rolling is the more widely used
operation to manufacture cold-formed section profiles
with large volumes and longer lengths. The necessary
profile is formed by passing the metal strip through
successive pairs of rollers. Most of the commercially
available cold-formed products are manufactured
using cold rolling which provides consistent sections
ROK WYD. LXVII 앫 ZESZYT 2/2008
 a) b)

Fig. 2. Typical press braking machine (a), typical cold roll

forming machine (b) (adapted from Rhodes [10])

with a high degree of accuracy to any desired

length. A typical cold roll forming machine is shown
in fig. 3.
The increase in the strength values and the varia-
tion of increase across the cross-sections of the
members was found to be largely dependent on
the method of cold-forming employed in the manufac-
turing process. Figure 3 shows a variety of structural
section shapes in use today that can be produced by
cold forming processes. In brake pressing and folding
operations, strain hardening is restricted only to
narrow areas along the formed corners of the section.
Whereas in cold roll forming, both the corners and the
flat portions of the section undergo a level of strain
hardening with the corners undergoing the greatest
levels.
Estimation of the effects of cold forming
on material properties
As discussed in the previous section, the majority
of the strain hardening occurs in the corners and its
affect is much higher here than in the flat elements.
This leads to a variation of mechanical properties
across the cross-section resulting in higher increased
yield stress around the formed corners than the
increase in flat portions.
쐌 Strength increase at the corners
Karren [11] investigated the effect of various cold
forming methods on the proper-
ties of corner elements of cold
formed sections. The theory of
plasticity and theory of strain
hardening were used to derive a
formula with the ratio of corner
yield strength to virgin yield
strength as given below:
rial yield and tensile material stresses, a is the corner
radius and t is the sheet thickness.
쐌 Strength increase in flat elements
The amount of strength increase in flat elements of
a section that takes place during cold forming largely
depends on the cold forming method that has been
employed. Brake pressing and bend braking cause
very small amounts of cold working in the flat ele-
ments and hence the strength increase is negligible.
However with cold rolling, the overall section under-
goes a considerable amount of cold working and
hence the flat elements gain increased strength
values. Due to the complexity of various cold-rolling
processes and the involvement of a large number of
variables, the strength increase in flat elements were
calculated based on experimental results [6].
쐌 Full section material properties
Full section tensile tests were carried out to find out
the strength increase due to cold working effects [6].
Test results showed an increase in yield strength for
full sections as high as 70% above the virgin yield
stress. Figure 4 shows the yield and tensile stress
increase throughout the cross-section of a ‘hat’
section tested.

(1)

where β and m are constants

which depend on the virgin mate-

Fig. 3. Various structural section shapes

produced by cold forming

ROK WYD. LXVII 앫 ZESZYT 2/2008 41


Fig. 4. Yield and tensile stress increase across the cross-section
[6]
The following formula was proposed by taking the
simple weighted average on the results of full section
tests carried out:
σys = cσyc + (1 – c)σyf (2)
where: σyc is the average tensile strength of the cor-
ners based on equation (1), σyf is the average tensile
yield stress of the flats obtained from tests in the case
of roll-formed sections, or equal to the virgin yield
stress if brake pressed or folding used, and c is the
ratio of corner area to total cross-sectional area.
쐌 Design codes: AISI, BS 5950 Part 5, Eurocode 1.3
The AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute) ‘Speci-
fication for the Design of Cold Formed Steel Structural
Members’ [1] adopted the equations proposed by
Karren [11] and Karren and Winter [5] to take the
effects of cold forming on the yield stress into
account. The British Standard, BS 5950 Part 5 [2] pro-
vides the following equation to compute the increased
yield stress for cold-formed steel sections:
(3)
where: Ysa is average yield strength of the cold-
-formed section, Ys is virgin material yield strength,
C is the ratio of corner area to total cross-sectional
area, N is the number of 90o bends in the section with
an internal radius, t is the sheet thickness, A is the
gross area of the cross-section, and Us is virgin mate-
rial ultimate tensile strength.
ENV 1993-1-3: 1996; Eurocode 3 Part 1.3 [3] also
provides an equation to compute the increase in yield
strength which is identical to the equation provided
by the British Standard BS 5950 Part 5.
Effects of cold forming on
the load-carrying capacity
of compression and flexural members
Cold-formed sections can be considered as con-
sisting of flat elements joined using curved elements
at the corners. If a flat element is supported by two
other elements along the longitudinal edges, the
element is considered as a stiffened element and if
the flat element is supported along only one longitu-
dinal edge this is considered as an unstiffened ele-
ment. When a cold-formed member is subjected to a
compressive load, initially the flat elements of the sec-
tion undergo local buckling, characterised by ripples
42
of short wavelength along the elements of the section.
However, the load can be further increased until the
entire cross-section undergoes changes to its shape.
The load-carrying capacity beyond local buckling is
termed as the post-buckling capacity of the section.
The section finally fails by the formation of local
plastic mechanisms which can suddenly lead to the
collapse of the section without displaying any clear
sign of failure.
쐌 Compression members
Compression members can be categorised as
short members (stub columns), moderately slender
columns and slender columns based on their slender-
ness ratio. The buckling capacity of slender columns
(Euler buckling stress) stays below the proportional
limit of the stress-strain curve and hence the strength
increase due to cold working does not make any
significant influence to the buckling capacity. How-
ever, for short and moderately slender columns,
buckling often occurs in the inelastic range. Since the
amount of cold working modifies the shape of the
stress-strain curve, the buckling capacity of short and
moderately slender columns can be improved [6].
쐌 Flexural members
The effective width concept has been employed for
computing the load-carrying capacity of flexural mem-
bers in many design codes. The AISI specification
until the 1996 edition [1] provided a more complicated
iterative procedure to calculate the load-carrying
capacity of flexural members. Eurocode 3 Part 1.3 [3]
provides a very similar approach which involves the
calculation of effective width in compression flanges
and compressed portions of webs based on stress
values obtained from the initial position of the neutral
axis. BS 5950 Part 5 provides a much simpler method
of computing the load carrying capacity by computing
the maximum stress developed in the section. Webs
are assumed to be fully effective and the effective
widths of compression flanges and the position of
neutral axis can be calculated from a single proce-
dure.
Considering the strength increase due to cold
forming, there are three possibilities which can be
used in the computation of the load-carrying capacity
of cold-formed sections. The first possibility is to
completely neglect the effect of cold-forming on the
properties and use the virgin material properties.
Second possibility is to include the strength increase
at corners but neglect the increase in the flat ele-
ments. The third possibility is to include the strength
increase at corners and the flat elements.
Conclusions
Various cold-forming techniques and their effects
on material properties of cold-formed steel structural
members were discussed in this paper. The amount of
cold working and hence the changes that take place
in the material properties, largely depends on the
cold forming process that has been employed in the
manufacturing process. Formulae developed to take
the yield strength increase into account in the design
process which have also been adopted into the
current design codes are presented. Design proce-
dure of cold-formed steel compression and flexural
members are discussed with various possibilities
of including yield strength increased due to cold
ROK WYD. LXVII 앫 ZESZYT 2/2008
forming into design calculations. Taking increased
yield strength into account can substantially improve
the load-carrying capacity of cold-formed structural
sections in particular applications and the chosen
manufacturing (cold forming) method can also in-
fluence the behaviour.
REFERENCES
1. AISI, Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel
Members with Commentary. American Iron and Steel Insti-
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work in buildings: Code of practice for design of cold
formed thin gauge sections. BSI, London 1998.
3. ENV 1993-1-3, Eurocode 3: Design of Steel Structures, Part
1.3: Supplementary rules for cold formed thin gauge mem-
bers and sheeting. Brussels, Belgium 1996.
4. Kato K.: A Basic Study on Cold-Roll Forming Technique.
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1967, pp. 433 – 469.
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