Bend Radius For Steel Sheet

Use this document to choose values that are both manufacturable and meet your needs.

Bend radius for steel sheet.

Bend radius throughout the sheet metal design is kept constant to take the advantage of using the same tool during manufacturing. Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. The bend radii listed are standard minimum if manufacturing for aircraft and aerospace applications. 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.

You described a rough rule to find a steel s minimum bend radius. The most common problem with bending a piece of sheet metal too tightly is. You will need to know your material thickness mt the bend angle b the inside radius ir and the k factor k. Minimum sheet metal bend length recommendations.

It is most economical to use a single bend radius throughout the design but if necessary you can utilize multiple radii. Bend radii minimum bend sizes. 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. Minimum recommended sheet metal bend length.

The problem with bending too tightly. Minimum sheet metal flange bend length is required to avoid cracks in the bending area. 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. The minimum bend radius data shown in these charts is measured to the inside of the bend.

The bend allowance formula takes into account the geometries of bending and the properties of your metal to determine the bend allowance. Larger bend radii require about the same force for bottoming as they do for air bending however smaller radii require greater force up to five times as much than air bending. The tables below show bend radii and minimum bend sizes for materials and tooling combinations stocked by protocase. Let s say i have a 2 mm thick sheet and i want to bend it.

We go beyond the general rules of sheet metal bending as our customers want tight bend radii for sheet metal parts. The bending radius must be at least 0 8 t to 2 t for sheet steel. Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle. If a piece of material is bent too tightly problems can occur.

The material thickness will be measured in decimal form not by the gauge number. Divide 50 by the material s reduction percentage as specified by the material supplier subtract by 1 and then multiply by the plate thickness.