Sheet Metal Bend Radius Vs Thickness

The hardness of the metal.

Sheet metal bend radius vs thickness.

This apply for sheet metal with 2 mm and lesser and obvious tonnage of the machine wi. If you are working with a material thickness of 0 100 in multiply that by 0 63 to get a minimum inside bend radius of 0 063 in. If the material is 0 5 in. The formed bend radius is dependent upon the dies used the material properties and the material thickness.

Similarly the harder a piece of metal is the more room you ll have to allocate for the bend as well or risk fracturing the sheet metal. When sheet metal is bent it stretches in length. We go beyond the general rules of sheet metal bending as our customers want tight bend radii for sheet metal parts. The bend deduction is the amount the sheet metal will stretch when bent as measured from the outside edges of the bend.

It is most economical to use a single bend radius throughout the design but if necessary you can utilize multiple radii. 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. It depends which material you are bending and what is the requirement.

The thickness of the metal. The material thickness will be measured in decimal form not by the gauge number. You will need to know your material thickness mt the bend angle b the inside radius ir and the k factor k. Use this document to choose values that are both manufacturable and meet your needs.

Let s say you have a similar part to the one on the image above it has a straight leg of 20 mm and another of 70 mm. Finding the true minimum bend radius for steel or aluminum plate requires a little research. The bending angle is 90 sheet thickness 5 mm and the inside radius is 6 mm. For this material this is the minimum producible inside radius with air forming.

If minimum flange requirement is too close you can choose r t 2 also and suitable die. Note that this is just a rule of thumb. 4 0 5 2. The tables below show bend radii and minimum bend sizes for materials and tooling combinations stocked by protocase.

You described a rough rule to find a steel s minimum bend radius. We want to know the final length of the detail. First we must start with the k factor. It is possible to choose other bends if you require but additional lead time and tooling charges may apply.

Now multiply that answer by the plate thickness. So in this case the minimum inside bend radius is 2 times the material thickness. The bend radius refers to the inside radius.