Aluminum Alloy For Bending Sheet Metal

The best aluminum alloys for bending come down to series 3xxx and series 5xxx and sometimes series 6xxx.

Aluminum alloy for bending sheet metal.

Miserable to bend cracking is very common and cold bending will always weaken the metal. The bend allowance and bend deduction are two measures that relate the bent length of a piece of sheet metal to the flat length. Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle. Material bend radii and minimum bend size charts please note.

A bending brake is a specialized metalworking tool used to create precise linear bends and folds in light gauge sheet metals like the kind used to make flashing for doors windows and roofs. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation. Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. Proper bending can be done with annealing the aluminum first although it s not an ideal candidate for formed parts.

For non heat treatable 3xxx and 5xxx alloys o temper is the easiest temper to bend in. The top 3 aluminum alloys for being are the 3003 which has medium strength and the best cold workability the 5052 which is the highest strength alloy of the more common non heat treatable grades and the 6061 which is one of the more. How to bend sheet metal without a brake. Therefore the bend allowance added to the flange lengths is equal to the total flat.

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. Highly formable and one of the best kinds of aluminum to bend. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. Look at tempers when it comes to optimizing the bending ability of the aluminium alloy.

In this post we ll explain it to you. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece. Bending is a delicate and demanding process most of the time and common fabricating processes require a degree of formability that make your choice of proper alloy critical. Consider tempers in optimizing an aluminium alloy s bending ability.

Use the minimum bend dimension values in the charts below for your minimum closeness of cutout to a bend. In high purity forms aluminum is soft and ductile. The bend allowance describes the length of the neutral axis between the bend lines or in other words the arc length of the bend. Purchase a metal bending brake online or at your local hardware store.

Which aluminum alloy bends the best is a a common question customers want the answer to.