Method of manufacturing a beam

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a beam comprises rolling, in a longitudinally profiled rolling process, two flange pieces ( 6,7 ), such that one surface ( 8 ) of each rolled flange piece is profiled according to a predetermined thickness profile; and joining ( 12,13 ) the rolled flange pieces together via a web of the beam or by profiled surfaces of the flanges.

1 . A method of manufacturing a beam, the method comprising:
 rolling, in a longitudinally profiled rolling process, two separate flange pieces, such that at least one surface of each rolled flange piece is profiled according to a predetermined thickness profile of the flange;   orienting the rolled flange pieces to have their respective at least one profiled surface of each flange facing toward the other flange; and   joining the rolled flange pieces together by providing a web and between the facing surfaces of the separate flange pieces.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising rolling the flange pieces and orienting the rolled flange pieces such that another of the surfaces of each rolled flange piece that faces outwardly and away from the other flange piece is substantially flat. 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising the rolling of the two flange pieces is performed on the flange pieces which are then together and back to back. 
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the rolled flange pieces comprise T shaped flange pieces. 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 2 , wherein the flange surfaces of the manufactured beam that face away from the other flange are substantially flat and parallel. 
     
     
         6 . A method of manufacturing a beam, the method comprising:
 rolling, in a longitudinally profiled rolling process, a flange piece having a plurality of surfaces; during the rolling process, providing the plurality of surfaces of the rolled flange piece with a profile according to a predetermined thickness profile;   the longitudinally profiled rolling process comprises rolling at least one Y-shaped section;   thereafter finishing the Y-shaped sections to form each of them into a T-shaped section; and   joining two of the rolled flange pieces together via a profiled surface of each flange piece.   
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising providing the web as a corresponding rolled web piece and joining the rolled flange pieces via the rolled web piece. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising the rolling comprises one or more rolls rolling the stock, and manipulating the one or more rolls then rolling the stock during the rolling operation to vary individual beam dimensions of at least thickness of at least one of a flange and/or the web along the beam length. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising casting raw material with at least part of the required thickness variation already present in the cast material and rolling the cast material. 
     
     
         10 . A method of manufacturing a beam, the method comprising:
 rolling, in a longitudinally profiled rolling process, two separate flange pieces, such that at least one surface of each rolled flange piece is profiled according to a predetermined thickness profile of the flange;   orienting the flange pieces to have their respective at least one profiled surface of each flange facing toward the other flange; and   joining the rolled flange pieces together.   
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 4 , wherein a shape of each of the flange pieces includes a stem that extends toward the stem of the other flange piece. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 7 , further comprising rolling the flange piece by rolls and at least one of the rolls having two parts separated in the longitudinal direction providing a gap between the separated parts of the at least one roll, and rolling a flange piece to develop a stem during the rolling of the flange and to have the stem extend into the gap between the two separated parts of the at least one roll. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 12 , further comprising at least two of the rolls for rolling the flanges, each of the two rolls having two separated parts, wherein each roll is for rolling a respective flange piece;
 adjusting the at least two rolls to have the stem of each of the two flanges being rolled extend into the same gap between the two roll parts of each of the at least two rolls for the stem of each flange to extend toward the stem of the other flange.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , further comprising welding the stems extending toward each other to each other. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising rolling the web in a longitudinally profiled rolling process such that the web is profiled according to a predetermined thickness of the web. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , further comprising the web having opposite edges along the longitudinal direction of the web which define a depth of the web and the method further comprising:
 rolling the web to have a longitudinally profiled depth between the flanges that is variable, such that the depth of the web along the opposite edges of the web that are respectively toward the flanges are profiled to receive the profiles of the thickness of the respective flanges where the flanges are at the edges of the web.   
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the flanges are rolled with respective profiled surfaces that face each other with matching thickness profiles. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the web and flanges are welded to each other along longitudinal edges of the web to define the beams.