Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Sheet metal bending is the most common process in sheet metal enclosure manufacturing. It is
a process where sheet metal is made to desired shape by plastically deforming the metal about
one axis with a press brake.
The critical information here is - in the bending process, the metal is stressed beyond its yield
strength but below its ultimate tensile strength. There is almost no change to metals surface
area.
The basic metal bending process goes like this.
1) The sheet metal is placed on the Vee die, held in place with hold-downs, positioned in place
with stops and gages.
2) The upper part of the press, the appropriately shaped punch, presses down and forms the
desired v-shaped bend.
>> What Machines Are Used in Sheet Metal Bending?
Sheet metal bending is done with press brakes. Standard press brakes have a capacity of 20 to
200 tons to accommodate sheet stock from 3 feet to 15 feet. Bending is a very flexible process
when combined with programmable back gages and multiple die sets, since a large variety of
different shapes can be made in bending process.
Operating a press brake could be the most difficult task in a metal-fabricating shop. It requires a
highly trained operator with hundreds of hours of training and experience to tackle the everincreasing amount of precision required. Mistakes are costly and usually lead to the metal being
scrapped.
>> What Are Bend Allowances?
Bend allowance comes from the fact that when sheet metal is bent, the inside surface of the
bend is compressed and the outer surface of the bend is stretched.
So, when we want a 90 degree bend in which one panel side has a length of A, and the other
panel side has a length of B, the total length of the flat piece will NOT be A+B, but rather equals
A+B plus a bend allowance or A+B minus a bend deduction(depending on how we measure A
and B).
Lets look at the illustrations below.
So bend allowance is a term which describes how much material is needed between two panels
to accommodate a given bend. Determining bend allowance is commonly referred to as bend
development or simply development.
The correct K-factor to use in your CAD program can be calculated as follows.
Bend Deduction = A +B Total Flat Length
Outside Setback = (Tan(Bend Angle/2)) * (Thickness + Bend Radius)
Bend Allowance = (2 * Outside Setback) Bend Deduction
K-factor = (-Bend Radius + (Bend Allowance / ( * Bend Angle / 180))) / Thickness
This method produces the most accurate results other than by using a bend table.