If you are looking for a fully automatic production line that can produce both 2 wave and 3 wave highway guardrails, you have come to the right place. In the traffic safety equipment sector, demand for guardrails continues to grow steadily. High efficiency and stable forming equipment are the foundation of reliable production capacity and product quality.

Our 2/3 waves highway guardrail roll forming machine integrates automatic uncoiling, leveling, punching, roll forming, cutting, and stacking into one seamless system. It delivers a complete production workflow from steel coil to finished product. Whether you serve highway construction, bridge protection, or urban expressway projects, this production line provides dependable guardrail manufacturing for your business.

Main Applications and End Use Scenarios

This production line is specifically designed for manufacturing highway guardrails. Finished products include

and 3 wave guardrails (width 506mm), with a profile height of 85mm. Product length can be customized to 4000mm, 4320mm, or 4500mm to meet project requirements.

• Finished guardrails are widely used in the following scenarios:
• Highways: primary safety barriers for roadside protection and median separation
• Bridges and elevated roads: crash barriers installed on both sides of bridge decks
• Tunnel interiors: protective and guiding facilities inside tunnels
• Urban expressways: separation barriers for elevated city roads and main arterials
• Mountainous high risk sections: safety protection for curves, slopes, and cliff side roads

 

Fully Automatic Production Process

The complete production line consists of nine core process steps working in close coordination. These steps form an integrated automated manufacturing system.

Production process flow:

 

Hydraulic uncoiler → Leveler → Hydraulic press and pinch → 3 set hydraulic pre punching → Pre cutting → Main roll forming machine → Post hydraulic stop cutting → Transport table → Automatic stacker

Step 1: Automatic Uncoiling and Leveling The production line starts with the hydraulic uncoiler, which automatically unwinds steel coils weighing up to 10 tons. The steel strip then enters the leveler, where a 7 roller leveling system (3 upper rollers and 4 lower rollers) combined with 2 pinch rollers eliminates coil curvature and surface waves. The leveling rollers use 40Cr material, heat treated to HRC48-52, ensuring consistent performance over long term use.

Step 2: Hydraulic Press and Punching After leveling, the steel strip moves into the hydraulic press and pinch unit, which guides the strip head smoothly into the following stations. The strip then enters the 3 station hydraulic punching system, which represents the technical core of this production line:

• 300 Ton Hydraulic Punching Machine: punches 18 slot holes simultaneously (9 holes on each side), delivering far greater efficiency than traditional single hole punching methods
• 60 Ton Hydraulic Punching Machine: punches traceable serial numbers on the profile, equipped with variable character punching dies and a precise indexing system
• 30 Ton Hydraulic Punching Machine: punches one or two holes in the middle of the profile, available with single punching die or optional double punching die

A conveyor belt automatically transports punched waste materials into the waste box, keeping the workshop environment clean and organized.

Step 3: Roll Forming After punching, the steel strip enters the main roll forming machine. The machine uses a gear box transmission system with K series reducers. The frame is fabricated from high quality steel sections, welded and then treated with shot blasting or vibration to relieve welding stress. CNC gantry milling ensures the flatness of all mounting surfaces. Each forming station features a positioning key groove on the bottom of the frame, guaranteeing the parallelism of all roller shafts.

The rollers are the core components of the forming process. We select Cr12MoV die steel (equivalent to 1.2379 steel) for the rollers, machined on CNC lathes and vacuum hardened to HRC60-62. The shaft diameter is Φ110mm, a dimension that ensures excellent bending strength and long term stability during the forming process.

Step 4: Post Hydraulic Stop Cutting, Transport, and Stacking After forming, the continuous guardrail profile enters the post hydraulic stop cutting station, where it is cut to the preset length with a length tolerance of ±2mm. Finished products are then automatically conveyed on the transport table and finally stacked neatly by the automatic stacker.

The entire process requires minimal manual supervision, significantly reducing labor costs and operator workload.

Core Technical Advantages

Frame and Structure: Rigidity Meets Precision
The frame is the backbone of the entire equipment. We use high quality steel sections with welded construction, followed by shot blasting or vibration treatment to eliminate welding stress. CNC gantry milling ensures the flatness of all mounting surfaces. Positioning key grooves at the bottom of each forming station guarantee the parallelism of every roller shaft.

Roller Material and Craftsmanship: Wear Resistance Matters
Rollers directly determine product forming quality and equipment maintenance intervals. Cr12MoV is a premium cold work die steel that, combined with vacuum hardening to HRC60-62, delivers wear resistance and fatigue performance far superior to ordinary roller materials. CNC lathe machining controls roundness and radial runout at the source. Spacers made from thick wall tubes increase the contact area with roller shafts and effectively reduce shaft vibration.

Punching and Cutting Dies: One Positioning, All Operations Complete
The 3 station hydraulic punching system drives production efficiency. The 300 ton main press punches 18 holes in one stroke. The 60 ton marking press handles traceability numbers. The 30 ton auxiliary press processes middle holes. All three systems work together to complete every punching need in a single positioning. The pre cutting blade uses Cr12Mov material, heat treated to HRC58-62. The post hydraulic stop cutting delivers accurate product length with no steel waste.

Control System: International Brands for Reliable Operation
The production line uses Siemens PLC for electrical control, equipped with a 7 inch touch screen for both manual and automatic operation. The inverter, touch screen, and low voltage electrical components are all Siemens brand. The encoder is Omron. The hydraulic pump station uses Yuken brand pumps, and the motors are Siemens. This combination of leading international brands fundamentally ensures equipment reliability and maintainability.

Technical Parameters

Parameter Category	Parameter Item	Specification Data
Raw Material	Material Grade	S235JR, S355JR
	Steel Strip Thickness	3.0mm
	Steel Strip Width	482mm / 744mm (final width depends on client drawing)
	Coil ID	Φ508mm ~ Φ600mm
	Coil OD	≤Φ1600mm
	Coil Weight	≤10T
Product Specification	Product Width	310mm (2 wave) / 506mm (3 wave)
	Product Height	85mm
	Product Length	4000mm / 4320mm / 4500mm
	Length Tolerance	±2mm
Machine Performance	Forming Type	cold roll forming
	Production Speed	≤10m/min (approximately 1-2 pieces per minute at 4500mm length)
	Working Direction	from right to left / from left to right (optional)
	Voltage	380V, 50Hz, 3 Phase (customizable)
	Total Power	approximately 133KW
Equipment Footprint	Site Requirement	approximately 40m length × 4m width × 2m height
Core Components	Roller Material	Cr12MoV, hardened to HRC60-62
	Shaft Diameter	Φ110mm
	Leveling Roller Material	40Cr, heat treated to HRC48-52
	Punching Capacity	300T / 60T / 30T

Customization Capabilities

Guardrail standards vary across different countries and regions, and even within the same region, different projects may have unique specifications. We fully understand this need for flexibility and offer the following customization options:

• Profile cross section shapes: 2 wave, 3 wave, or other special sections according to client drawings
• Punching patterns: hole distribution, hole diameter, and hole count can be designed to client requirements
• Traceability number characters: the variable character punching die on the 60 ton press supports quick character replacement
• Product length: 4000mm, 4320mm, and 4500mm are standard options; other lengths are negotiable
• Working direction: right to left or left to right, adapting to different factory layouts
• Voltage and frequency: 380V, 415V, 440V; 50Hz or 60Hz all available

Return on Investment and Long Term Value

Investing in a guardrail roll forming production line delivers returns not only through the equipment itself but through total lifecycle cost savings.

• Cr12MoV rollers with vacuum hardening offer significantly longer service life than ordinary roller materials, reducing replacement frequency and lowering spare parts costs
• The Siemens PLC plus Yuken hydraulic pump combination reduces failure rates and minimizes production downtime
• The 3 station punching system completes all punching operations in a single positioning, eliminating cumulative errors common in multi step processes
• The water cooling system ensures stable equipment temperature during extended continuous operation
• We provide full process support from installation to production launch
• The equipment requires only approximately 40m length × 4m width × 2m height of floor space

One production line, two guardrail profiles, fully automatic operation, and international quality standards. That is the guardrail forming solution we deliver for your business.

Would you like to learn more about the technical details or request a customized proposal? Please feel free to reach out to us.

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