Bend Radius Sheet Metal Rule Thumb

Greg paulsen is director of applications engineering at xometry.

Bend radius sheet metal rule thumb. The inside bend radius should be equal to the thickness of the material that you re forming. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. Relief cuts for bends must be at least one sheet s thickness in width and be longer than the bend radius. There s a rule of thumb to determine a steel s minimum bend radius and this generally works for aluminum too.

Never design a hole smaller than 040 diameter unless laser cutting. If a piece of material is bent too tightly problems can occur. 2 5 material thickness bend radius. Here s a good rule of thumb for most materials.

The problem with bending too tightly. If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius. When using a punch press the diameter of a hole should always be equal to that of your tooling and you should never use a tool who s diameter is less than that of the material s thickness. 4 0 5 2.

Use this document to choose values that are both manufacturable and meet your needs. The distance between the sheet metal bend line and edge of the hole should be two times or greater the thickness of the sheet metal. Also spaces between pierced holes and bends should accommodate the bend radius h and be far enough from the bend. So in this case the minimum inside bend radius is 2 times the material thickness.

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. Divide 50 by the material s tensile reduction percentage as specified by your supplier. Bend radii minimum bend sizes. If the steel has a tensile reduction value of 10 percent divide 50 by that value.

In other words if you re bending 1 8 sheet use a tool with a 1 8 radius to form the inside of the bend. Finding the true minimum bend radius for steel or aluminum plate requires a little research. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. Minimum sheet metal bend radius depends on the selection of tool and the process.

The more ductile the sheet metal the. Minimum sheet metal bending radius. It is most economical to use a single bend radius throughout the design but if necessary you can utilize multiple radii. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece.

If the material is 0 5 in. The most common problem with bending a piece of sheet metal too tightly is. Note that this is just a rule of thumb. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation.

A simple rule of thumb. The sheet metal design rule of thumb in this case is.