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.
Bend aluminum sheet smallest radius.
We recommend printing it out to keep as a reference.
We go beyond the general rules of sheet metal bending as our customers want tight bend radii for sheet metal parts.
It requires an inside bend radius of at least 6x the material thickness.
Radii for various thicknesses expressed in terms of thickness t.
This free chart outlines what bend radii is required for the approximate thickness of aluminum.
It is possible to choose other bends if you require but additional lead time and tooling charges may apply.
Brittle metal such as aluminum generally requires a larger bend radius than ductile material like cold rolled steel.
Per the aluminum association inc.
For 0 5 in thick 7050 aluminum the minimum bend radius may be specified as much as 9 5 times material thickness.
The most common problem with bending a piece of sheet metal too tightly is.
The trend is obvious.
3003 h14 is extremely ductile.
If your bend radius needs to be adjusted a member of engineering design services team will contact you before your design is manufactured.
The tables below show bend radii and minimum bend sizes for materials and tooling combinations stocked by protocase.
The bend radius you select may not be available if the geometry of the part will not allow us to bend with the specific tooling required to achieve that radius.
5052 h32 aluminum bends in about the same way as mild steel.
The harder and thicker the plate is the greater the minimum bend radius.
X research source basic bending brakes typically retail for around 20 50 and are small enough to fit easily on most work benches or tabletops.
Aluminum is typically thicker and stronger and requires more force to bend as well as consideration of edge conditions and punch nose radii.
For example 6061 t6 aluminum is very difficult to bend.
Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape.
When working with aluminum over sheet metal several variables need to be considered.
Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations.
Again the minimum inside bend radius is even larger when bending with the grain.
If a piece of material is bent too tightly problems can occur.
Aluminum minimum bend radii for 90 degree cold forming of sheet and plate.
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 problem with bending too tightly.
This is done through the application of force on a workpiece.