How To Bend Stainless Steel Sheet Metal

Bend radii minimum bend sizes.

How to bend stainless steel sheet metal.

Similarly the harder a piece of metal is the more room you ll have to allocate for the bend as well or risk fracturing the sheet metal. It is most economical to use a single bend radius throughout the design but if necessary you can utilize multiple radii. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation.

Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle. And if that is not enough send us your drawing. Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece.

When the sheet metal is put through the process of bending the metal around the bend is deformed and stretched. Chromium and nickel give stainless steel its stain resistance and attribute to the hardness of the metal. 2 the stainless steel sheet has a strong rebound tendency compared with carbon steel when bending. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations.

For most applications with stainless steel or aluminum you can get away with a zero radius bend on anything under 0 050 thick. This added hardness increases the amount of force needed to place a bend on a stainless steel sheet. Divide 50 by the material s tensile reduction percentage as specified by your supplier. Stainless steel sheet metal carbon steel sheet metal also known as mild steel sheet metal.

It just won t really be at maximum strength. Understanding the bend allowance and consequently the bend deduction of a part is a crucial first step to understanding how sheet metal parts are fabricated. You as our customer have 14 different forms and shapes to choose from. 3 the percentage of elongation of stainless steel plate is lower than the carbon steel the bending angle of the workpiece r is larger than that of carbon steel or there is the possibility of cracks.

As you bend a stainless steel sheet the bend area cold hardens increasing the amount of pressure required to finish the bend. If you d like to achieve the absolute maximum strength in the bends here s a chart for aluminum and stainless that is currently used by the aerospace industry for their flying tin cans.