Sheet Metal Bending: 5 Key Points You Need to Know

What ensures the perfect bend in sheet metal? This article unpacks five crucial factors that can make or break your sheet metal bending projects, covering essential aspects like minimum bending radius, bending height, hole margins, bending line position, and the importance of positioning holes. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of these fundamental principles, ensuring precision and quality in their metalworking tasks.

Important Points To Know About Sheet Metal Bending

Table Of Contents

1. Minimum bending radius

The minimum bending radius refers to the radius of the inner bend corner, provided that the outer fibers of the sheet do not break during the bending process.

It is only necessary to specify the minimum bending radius upon special request, and it should be increased as much as possible under normal conditions.

Table 1 lists the minimum bending radii for various thickness series of commonly used sheet metal materials.

Table 1 Minimum bending radius

Thickness (mm)12345681012
Materials
Q19522×××××××
Q235××55510101015
Q345××551010101515
Commonly used aluminum alloy sheet222555×××

2. Minimum bending height

2.1 To ensure the quality of the bent workpiece, the straight edge of the bent parts should not be less than the minimum bending height.

When bending to form a right angle, as shown in Figure 1, the minimum bending height is determined by formula (1).

hmin = r+2t·····················(1)

minimum bending height

Fig. 1

2.2 Special requirements of the bending height:

If the design needs to bend the bending height h ≤ r + 2t, the first thing needs to do is to increase the height of the bending, then bend and process it to the required size.

After processing shallow arc grooves in the bending deformation zone, bend again, as shown in Figure 2.

special requirements of the bending height

Fig. 2

2.3 Height of the straight edge of the bent side with beveled corners.

When bending a bent piece with beveled side edges, as shown in Figure 3.

The minimum height of the side edges is as in equation (2).

hmin = (2~4) t > 3mm···············(2)

minimum height of the side edges is as in equation

Fig. 3

3. Minimum hole margins

When a bend is required after punching, the hole should be positioned outside the bending deformation area to prevent it from becoming deformed during the bending process.

The distance of the hole edge from the inner surface of the bent edge is shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Minimum hole margins

Minimum hole marginsMinimum hole margins
t (mm)s (mm)
t (mm)s (mm)≤25s≥2t+2
≤2s≥t+r>25-50s≥2.5t+2
>2s≥1.5t+r>50s≥3t+r

4. Position of the bending line

4.1 When partially bending a section, the bend line should not be at a location of dimensional abruptness to avoid bending cracks caused by stress concentrations at the sharp corners of the dimensional change.

The distance S from the mutation should be greater than the bending radius r, see Figure 4a.

Or punching process holes or grooves to separate the deformation zone from the non-deformation, see Figure 4b, 4c.

Note the size requirements of the figure: S ≥ R; slot width k ≥ t; slot depth L ≥ t + R + k / 2.

Position of the bending line

Figure 4

4.2 When the hole is located in the bending deformation zone, the process measures to be taken before bending is shown in Figure 5.

the process measures to be taken before bending

Fig. 5

5. Bent parts should be designed to set the process positioning holes

To ensure the precise positioning of the sheet in the die and prevent movement during bending that leads to wasted product, the bent parts should be designed with process positioning holes, as illustrated in Figure 6.

Particularly for parts formed through multiple bends, process holes must be used as reference points for positioning to reduce cumulative error and guarantee product quality.

Bent parts should be designed to set the process positioning holes

Fig. 6

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Shane
Author

Shane

Founder of MachineMFG

As the founder of MachineMFG, I have dedicated over a decade of my career to the metalworking industry. My extensive experience has allowed me to become an expert in the fields of sheet metal fabrication, machining, mechanical engineering, and machine tools for metals. I am constantly thinking, reading, and writing about these subjects, constantly striving to stay at the forefront of my field. Let my knowledge and expertise be an asset to your business.

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