Roll Forming And AAA Air Support

Roll Form Stringers, are an intricate, integral, and important part of Aircraft manufacturing and maintenance. In the airline and aerospace industry, roll formed parts are commonly used throughout the inside of the aircraft. AAA Air Support is one of the premier manufacturers and distributors of roll formed parts throughout this industry.

Roll forming and roll formed products:

Creating a roll formed part, begins with a flat sheet of metal, typically aluminum or steel. This is then, carefully run through a roll forming machine. The process eventually produces a final part, at the other end of the machine, with a specific shape.

The process works by passing the sheet metal through a series of rollers. Each roller adds more of the desired shape to the metal. Essentially, this is the roll forming process. When the process is complete, these various rollers will succeed in forming a specific shape known as a cross-section or profile.

Due to the fact that this process is consistent and repeatable, roll forming is a cost-effective method for producing high volumes of precise metal components.

The Roll Forming Process:

This is a simplified description, adapted from an entry at Wikipedia:

“Roll forming is a type of rolling involving the continuous bending of a long strip of sheet metal into a desired cross-section. The strip passes through sets of rolls mounted on consecutive stands, each set performing only an incremental part of the bend, until the desired cross-section, or profile, is obtained. Roll forming is ideal for producing constant-profile parts with long lengths and in large quantities.”

Roll forming, and the parts produced with the process, have distinct differences from extruded parts. An extruded product is produced by heating a metal billet and either pushing or pulling it through a die. This extrusion process typically creates shapes with sharp corners.

Roll forming, on the other hand, involves a continuous bending of a long strip of sheet metal to produce a desired cross-section. The metal strip passes through sets of rollers, mounted on a series of stands. Each set performs an incremental part of the bend.

Roll forming is considered a leaner and more material-efficient process. It is more cost-effective in high volumes, such as thousands of feet or individual parts. In addition, roll forming is a faster process, producing a greater amount of feet per hour.

Processing, is a significant part of roll forming. The metal is heat treated to a workable condition. This allows the material to be bent, turned, and formed without cracking. Ageing is done, following the forming, to ensure that the material will stay in its formed condition.

AAA Air Support Manufacturing, roll form our products using a wide range of aluminum alloys, titanium, and stainless steel. Roll forming is, however, primarily suitable for high-volume production; requiring numerous and intricate dies. The rolls and dies used are more expensive than those used for producing extruded parts.

Roll forming is the most efficient method for producing long parts like seat rails. The only length limitation is the length of the coil being fed into the line, which produces less scrap than sheet metal.

Roll forming is also a great method for producing parts with complex designs. These items can be adapted with multiple bends, and for parts requiring secondary operations, such as notches, slots, and hole punches.

Roll Forming From AAA Air Support

In addition to being a distributor of aerospace roll form parts, AAA Air Support is also an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Our 15,000 square foot facility based in Wichita, Kansas which allows us to operate with expanded capability, maximum quality control, and reduced production times.

As a Manufacturing ISO Certification Facility, our Wichita plant is strategically located near Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. The Wichita region is known as the “Air Capital of the World” and is ranked as the most manufacturing specialized region in the United States.
And, according to the Greater Wichita Partnership, “[T]he Air Capital of the World provides direct access to the most-trained and most-advanced workers in the world with a pure, raw talent for building complex objects.”
AAA Air Support’s Wichita manufacturing facility is also strategically situated for providing fast shipments worldwide.

An ISO9001 and AS9100 approved manufacturer, AAA Air Support is committed to providing aerospace roll form shapes to the highest of industry standards. All our roll forming machines are monitored closely to consistently provide tight tolerances and maintained quarterly, per ISO
requirements.

All our tools are interchangeable. This eliminates downtime, and is a crucial factor for reducing lead times. AAA Air Support also provides secondary processing including coatings, ultrasonic inspection, and contoured sections up to 75 feet in length.

Tolerance and bend radius factors for aerospace industry roll forms are critical. AAA Air Support supplies material compliant to BAC1480 standard tolerances unless specified. Our bend radius specification is BAC5300.

Working with AAA Air Support

As one of the premier manufacturers of roll formed products and aircraft roll formed stringers for almost two decades, AAA Air Support knows aerospace manufacturing and what it takes to succeed; agility, flexibility, and an intuitive responsiveness to customers’ real needs and concerns. We can produce as little as 12 feet of material; custom shapes are no problem.

Our in-house tooling design and manufacturing supplies materials to print, at an affordable price. With our extensive range of existing inventory, and immediate availability, we offer delivery of a variety of customer part numbers and alloys as a next-day shipment. We offer world-class customer service and a number of great roll forming benefits including:

● Custom Roll Forming
● Tight Tolerances
● Short runs welcome
● In-house Tooling Design and Manufacture
● Value added services available upon request.

Should you require 100 feet of an aluminum extrusion product, or just a few feet of stainless-steel tubing, AAA Air Support promises to always ship out your part orders quickly, efficiently, and with our Quality Aerospace Standards. Our ‘AOG Goal’ is to provide your company with the materials to complete the project or get the airplane back in the air service. Your request is our ‘top priority’.