Thick grade 350 and 400 may have a minimum bend radius of 2 5 times the material thickness when transverse bending while longitudinal bending may require a minimum bend radius that s 3 75 times the material thickness see figure 1.
Minimum bend radius sheet metal.
Crca inside bend radius equal to 0 65 times of sheet thickness is also enough.
In steel between 0 5 and 0 8 in.
It is possible to choose other bends if you require but additional lead time and tooling charges may apply.
5052 h32 aluminum bends in about the same way as mild steel.
The minimum inside bend radius is even larger when bending with the grain.
The tables below show bend radii and minimum bend sizes for materials and tooling combinations stocked by protocase.
Bend radii minimum bend sizes.
3003 h14 is extremely ductile.
But for harder materials e g.
Being able to read a bend force chart is crucial for any brake press operator and sheet metal engineer.
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.
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We go beyond the general rules of sheet metal bending as our customers want tight bend radii for sheet metal parts.
The gauge inside radius die opening and minimum flange length are all interconnected through different equations and relationships the air bend force.
It requires an inside bend radius of at least 6x the material thickness.
The bend radii listed are standard minimum if manufacturing for aircraft and aerospace applications.
To keep it simple i also use a 2 mm inside 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.
Brittle metal such as aluminum generally requires a larger bend radius than ductile material like cold rolled steel.
If a piece of material is bent too tightly problems can occur.
The tool can calculate the required bending force for bending aluminum stainless steel mild steel and weldox or strenx high strength steels.
I can now see that the minimum flange length is 8 5 mm for such a bend so i have to keep it in mind when designing.
Use this document to choose values that are both manufacturable and meet your needs.
The minimum bend radius data shown in these charts is measured to the inside of the bend.
For example 6061 t6 aluminum is very difficult to bend.
It is most economical to use a single bend radius throughout the design but if necessary you can utilize multiple radii.
Let s say i have a 2 mm thick sheet and i want to bend it.
The problem with bending too tightly.
