Bend Radius For Steel Sheet

Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle.

Bend radius for steel sheet.

The material thickness will be measured in decimal form not by the gauge number. Minimum sheet metal bend length recommendations. It is most economical to use a single bend radius throughout the design but if necessary you can utilize multiple radii. The bend radii listed are standard minimum if manufacturing for aircraft and aerospace applications.

The tables below show bend radii and minimum bend sizes for materials and tooling combinations stocked by protocase. The most common problem with bending a piece of sheet metal too tightly is. Each and every bend in a piece of sheet metal has a certain minimum internal radius that needs to be taken into account when planning the design of a sheet metal form. The minimum bend radius data shown in these charts is measured to the inside of the bend.

In a previous bending basics article you mention a material s tensile reduction percentage used for calculating the minimum inside bend radius of various metals. The bend allowance formula takes into account the geometries of bending and the properties of your metal to determine the bend allowance. You described a rough rule to find a steel s minimum bend radius. Since commercial sheet metal bending can be done with less concern for stresses caused during forming operation the radius can be near zero for thin sheet metal.

Minimum recommended sheet metal bend length. Bend radius throughout the sheet metal design is kept constant to take the advantage of using the same tool during manufacturing. You will need to know your material thickness mt the bend angle b the inside radius ir and the k factor k. Let s say i have a 2 mm thick sheet and i want to bend it.

To keep it simple i also use a 2 mm inside radius. Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. Divide 50 by the material s reduction percentage as specified by the material supplier subtract by 1 and then multiply by the plate thickness. Minimum sheet metal flange bend length is required to avoid cracks in the bending area.

Bend radii minimum bend sizes. If a piece of material is bent too tightly problems can occur. Use this document to choose values that are both manufacturable and meet your needs. Larger bend radii require about the same force for bottoming as they do for air bending however smaller radii require greater force up to five times as much than air bending.

The problem with bending too tightly. We go beyond the general rules of sheet metal bending as our customers want tight bend radii for sheet metal parts.