Tube beading is a metal forming process that forms a bead on the end of a

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. Tube beads can be used to help hold a

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on the end of a tube or to strengthen the end of the tube.Gregory Miller, "Tube Forming Processes: A Comprehensive Guide," 2002

There are two forming processes: ''internal roll forming'' and ''ram forming''.

Internal roll forming

Internal

roll forming Roll forming, also spelled roll-forming or rollforming, is a type of rolling (metalworking), rolling involving the continuous bending (metalworking), bending of a long strip of sheet metal (typically coiled steel) into a desired cross-section (g ...

is generally slower than ram forming but it holds tight tolerances. Serrated clamp jaws are used to hold the tube while radial pressure is applied by an internal roller to form the bead.

Ram forming

Ram forming is quicker and usually preferred when speed of production is a concern. The

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usually uses this process over internal roll-forming. A clamp is used to hold the tube, the tube is expanded to desired diameter by an expansion punch, and then another punch is used to reduce the tube back to pilot diameter. Multiple beads are possible using this process.

References

Metal forming {{metalworking-stub