Scale of forming surface in cold roll-beating forming process is a major defect. Controlling scaly defects is an important method to improve forming surface quality. According to the basic principle of cold roll-beating forming,the reasons and impact factors of scaly generation are analyzed. The finite element model of cold roll-beating forming was established by the finite element analysis software ABAQUS and the red copper was selected as sheet material. Under the up-beating condition and down-beating condition,the effects of friction coefficient to scaly height and scaly interval were studied. The results show that scaly height increases with the increase of friction coefficient in down-beating,while decrease in up-beating,scaly interval almost invariant in both roll-beating ways. Cold roll-beating forming experiment was carried out in refit milling machine and cross section parameters of scale in forming workpiece surface were measured by Leica DCM3D. In terms of actual measurement condition,experiment results with simulation results are uniformly. The correctness of finite element simulation is verified by experiment.Provide reference for inhibiting strip defects by selecting roll-beating methods and process parameters and improving both workpiece surface quality and dimensional precision.