Air Bending Of Sheet Metal

Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations.

Air bending of sheet metal.

Air bending is the most common type of 3 types of bending used in sheet metal shops today. Bending is a manufacturing process that produces a v shape u shape or channel shape along a straight axis in ductile materials most commonly sheet metal. Commonly used equipment include box and pan brakes brake presses and other specialized machine presses typical products that are made like this are boxes such as electrical enclosures and rectangular ductwork. Proper bending can be done with annealing the aluminum first although it s not an ideal candidate for formed parts.

For this reason the actual angle of the tooling is relatively unimportant. Geometry of tooling imposes a minimum bend dimension. Highly formable and one of the best kinds of aluminum to bend. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation.

The tooling only touches the material at three points. The diagram shows one such mechanism. The gauge inside radius die opening and minimum flange length are all interconnected through different equations and relationships the air bend force. 3a even less contact is made with the metal than with bottom bending.

The punch is then forced past the top of the die into the v opening without coming into contact with the bottom of the v. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece. Refer to the chart for values for folder as well as various press brake tooling combinations.

With air bending fig. Miserable to bend cracking is very common and cold bending will always weaken the metal. In this process the workpiece comes in contact with the outside edges of the die as well as the punch tip. In air bending a bend angle is formed by driving the punch into the sheet metal to a specific position within the die opening.

Different bend angles can be obtained using the same set of tools. Being able to read a bend force chart is crucial for any brake press operator and sheet metal engineer. An air bend force chart or force chart breaks down a number of key components of sheet metal bending in an easy to reference format. Use the minimum bend dimension values in the charts below for your minimum closeness of cutout to a bend.