Motorsport Plumbing Systems: Bead Rolling
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Bead Rolling
05.01
| 00:00 | In the silicon couplers module of the components section, we discuss the common issue of couplers blowing off charged air plumbing under high boost pressures, even with suitable hose clamps. |
| 00:12 | Fortunately, we can greatly reduce the chances of this happening by rolling a bead onto the end of our tubes. |
| 00:19 | A bead is a small raised bump around the outside of the tube that can help prevent this issue by concentrating pressure between the coupler and pipe to increase the friction while still allowing the coupler to slide over the end of the pipe. |
| 00:34 | Further to this, when the hose clamp is tightened above the bead, it's much more difficult to move past the bead compared to down a uniform size pipe. |
| 00:44 | Finally, a bead can also stiffen the end of the pipe, helping it to hold its shape, just like bending and forming sheet metal adds structure. |
| 00:53 | This isn't only beneficial for intake and charge air plumbing but also coolant lines where silicon hoses and couplers are common. |
| 01:01 | Bead rolling of sheet metal with the purpose of stiffening the material and adding visual features could very much be considered part of the fabrication processes we just discussed. |
| 01:11 | But when the end of a tube is bead rolled, the bead also serves a specific purpose for our plumbing by adding security to the connection. |
| 01:20 | In this module, we're going to cover a few different methods of how to form a bead on a pipe. |
| 01:26 | The first is ram forming, which is a method used in more industrial processes and not something we'll be doing ourselves. |
| 01:33 | As you might have guessed, this uses a machine that applies a huge amount of force to the end of the tube, forming it into the desired shape using a die. |
| 01:42 | This can create a very uniform and repeatable bead in a short amount of time, but comes with a huge expense that's unrealistic for the home enthusiast. |
| 01:51 | Another somewhat roundabout way of creating a bead is to actually weld a bead around the end of the tube. |
| 01:58 | While this isn't too difficult for a proficient welder, it clearly also requires some fairly expensive equipment and experience. |
| 02:06 | If not done perfectly, it will likely weaken the end of the tube rather than strengthen it. |
| 02:12 | The most common, cheapest, and most simple method used by home enthusiasts is the clamping method. |
| 02:18 | This uses a dedicated tool with a male and female side of a die or a pair of crimping pliers with a similar shape, potentially modified with the end cut off and clearance at the root to prevent the pipe touching the pliers anywhere other than the die section. |
| 02:34 | Squeezing the handle of the tool together will form the material between the tool. |
| 02:38 | The initial form will be the most difficult but working around the end of the pipe will eventually build up a bead. |
| 02:45 | The issue here, besides the amount of time and effort it takes to work around the end of the pipe, is that the result won't be very uniform. |
| 02:53 | And while it will be hidden underneath the coupler, the concentrated areas of stress will be more prone to cracking, especially if the hose clamp is over-tightened. |
| 03:03 | The ideal solution for a home enthusiast or small shop is a dedicated bead rolling tool, although you'll probably need to be using it fairly often to justify the cost and space. |
| 03:14 | These use male and female dies on bearings that rotate. |
| 03:18 | The material of the pipe is sandwiched between the dies where we can adjust the distance between them and therefore the pressure on the material. |
| 03:26 | As the dies are rotated, either by a motor or manually by hand using a crank, the pipe is also rotated and the pressure from the dies forms a bead around the end of the pipe. |
| 03:37 | If the bead roller doesn't have a stop to keep the pipe straight and the bead a set distance from the end of the pipe, we can draw a line or use some tape so we have a path to follow and we can ensure our bead remains straight. |
| 03:50 | Since we use our hands to keep the pipe straight, we obviously need to be careful not to catch anything between the dies. |
| 03:57 | Using gloves isn't recommended for this reason, especially with motorised bead rollers. |
| 04:03 | It's best to start with light pressure to avoid making the rotation too difficult and overstressing the pipe, as this could cause it to fracture. |
| 04:12 | We can then increase the pressure gradually to build up a bead, but we need to be careful not to overdo it as the material will come thinner and harder as it's formed, and eventually reach a limit where it could split. |
| 04:25 | Most likely though, due to the shape of the bead, we'll reach a limit where the difficulty to increase the pressure on the material increases significantly and at this point we should stop. |
| 04:35 | To recap the main points here: adding a bead to the end of our plumbing can be beneficial for security and integrity in various applications. |
| 04:44 | Though other methods do exist, the most effective and efficient option is usually a bead rolling tool, which uses a set of dies that rotate and through increasing the pressure between them, we can form a bead around the end of our piping. |
