Use the minimum bend dimension values in the charts below for your minimum closeness of cutout to a bend.
Minimum bend radius 304 stainless steel sheet.
For thin gauges 063 and less 1 2 the material thickness for simple bends of 90 degrees or less is acceptable.
This tool allows you to determine tonnage internal radius v die opening and minimum flange you just have to insert the characteristics of the sheet metal to be bent.
It is possible to choose other bends if you require but additional lead time and tooling charges may apply.
We go beyond the general rules of sheet metal bending as our customers want tight bend radii for sheet metal parts.
Making a custom metal form using sheet metal is a surprisingly delicate process.
To get the best results a design engineer has to account for many factors such as the end use of the metal form the material the sheet metal is made of plain steel stainless steel etc and the dimensions shape of the final product.
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.
The bend radii listed are standard minimum if manufacturing for aircraft and aerospace applications.
Material bend radii and minimum bend size charts please note.
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The minimum bend radius data shown in these charts is measured to the inside of the bend.
Recommended minimum bend radii for steel and aluminum.
Aluminum is less forgiving than cold rolled steel or stainless steel.
Specifing a bend radius from here will help prevent hair line cracks.
The tool can calculate the required bending force for bending aluminum stainless steel mild steel and weldox or strenx high strength steels.
For instance right now in solidworks for say 11 ga sheet metal i use a bend radii of 0 005 and a k factor of 0 275 and that seems to work pretty well when i put the flat views on my prints.
You described a rough rule to find a steel s minimum bend radius.
And by that i mean the cut out prior to bending comes out to the right size.
Sheet metal bend radii if these guidelines are not followed more research and or some form of analysis may be requried.
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.
Divide 50 by the material s reduction percentage as specified by the material supplier subtract by 1 and then multiply by the plate thickness.
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.
