Bending

Bending is a process by which metal can be deformed by plastically deforming the material and changing its shape. The material is stressed beyond the yield strength but below the ultimate tensile strength. The surface area of the material does not change much. Bending usually refers to deformation about one axis. Bending is a flexible process by which many different shapes can be produced. Standard die sets are used to produce a wide variety of shapes. The material is placed on the die, and positioned in place with stops and/or gages. It is held in place with hold-downs. The upper part of the press, the ram with the appropriately shaped punch descends and forms the v-shaped bend. Bending is done using Press Brakes. Press Brakes normally have a capacity of 20 to 200 tons to accommodate stock from 1m to 4.5m (3 feet to 15 feet). Larger and smaller presses are used for specialized applications. Programmable back gages, and multiple die sets available currently can make for a very economical process. Air Bending is done with the punch touching the workpiece and the workpiece, not bottoming in the lower cavity. This is called air bending. As the punch is released, the workpiece ends up with less bend than that on the punch (greater included angle). This is called spring-back. The amount of spring back depends on the material, thickness, grain and temper. The spring back usually ranges from 5 to 10 degrees. Usually the same angle is used in both the punch and the die to minimize setup time. The inner radius of the bend is the same as the radius on the punch.

Bottoming or Coining is the bending process where the punch and the workpiece bottom on the die. This makes for a controlled angle with very

little spring back. The tonnage required on this type of press is more than in air bending. The inner radius of the workpiece should be a minimum of 1 material thickness in the case of bottoming; and upto 0.75 material thickness, in the case of coining.

Design Considerations

The bend radius should be kept the same for all radiuses in the part to minimize set up changes. Bend radius guidelines are as follows: For most materials, the minimum inner radius should be at least 1 material thickness. As a general rule, bending perpendicular to rolling direction is easier than rolling parallel to the rolling direction. Bending parallel to the rolling direction can often lead to fracture in hard materials. Thus bending parallel to rolling direction is not recommended for cold rolled steel > Rb 70. And no bending is acceptable for cold rolled steel > Rb 85. Hot rolled steel can be bent parallel to the rolling direction. The minimum flange width should be at least 4 times the stock thickness plus the bending radius. Violating this rule could cause distortions in the part or damage to tooling or operator due to slippage.

Slots or holes too close to the bend can cause distortion of these holes. Holes or slots should be located a minimum of 3 stock thickness plus the bend radius. If it is necessary to have holes closer, then the hole or slot should de extended beyond the bend line. Dimensioning of the part should take into account the stack up of dimensions that can happen and mounting holes that can be made oblong should be. Parts should be inspected in a restrained position, so that the natural flexure of the parts does not affect measurements. Similarly inside dimensions in an inside bend should be measured close to the bend.

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) fabrication

The Computer Numerical Control (CNC) fabrication process offers flexible manufacturing runs without high capital expenditure dies and stamping presses. High volumes are not required to justify the use of this equipment. Tooling is mounted on a turret, which can be as little as 10 sets to as much as 100 sets. This turret is mounted on the upper part of the press, which can range in capacity from 10 tons to 100 tons in capacity. The turret travels on lead screws, which travel in the X and Y direction and are computer controlled. Alternatively, the workpiece can travel on the lead screws, and move relative to the fixed turret. The tooling is located over the sheet metal, the punch is activated, and performs the operation, and the turret is indexed to the next location of the workpiece. After the first stage of tooling is deployed over the entire workpiece, the second stage is rotated into place and the whole process is repeated. This entire process is repeated until all the tooling positions of the turret are deployed.

Advantages

The process is very flexible in being able to produce many different configurations of parts due to the modular nature of the tooling

employed. In most cases, most of the punches and dies are already available and they can be mixed and matched to produce a variety of configurations. Due to the fact that most of the tooling is "available"; the lead-time for tooling is reduced or non-existent. All that needs to be done is to schedule the work order in the production shop, after the programming of the CNC process is done. The quantities that can be economically made can be in the thousands depending on the complexity of the part. Simple outer contours and normal size holes will allow the use of this process for many thousands of parts. However, when the part design involves irregular outer contours or large holes requiring a long cycle time, then dedicated tooling can be justified for smaller production runs. Certain parts with tightly spaced hole patterns or slots require expensive dedicated tooling, however with the CNC turret press, these parts can be easily made using standard tooling.

Design Considerations

To maximize utilization of material, parts are nested as close to each other as possible. They are separated from one another by "micro-ties" which are small width strips that hold the parts together during the punching process. After punching, the parts are separated by vibrating them in a shaker. The parts are known as "shaker parts" or "shake a part". This is very cost effective since no special tooling is necessary for separating them. Burrs are inevitable in the stamping process. The burrs are formed on the side of the sheet metal where the punch exits. Properly maintained tools (proper die clearance and sharpening) have burrs that are less than 10 % of stock thickness. When designing parts, the burrs should be confined to areas that will not be exposed to handling and should be either folded away or otherwise shielded form the user. Otherwise, an added operation of deburring needs to be done at added cost. Flatness/bowing can be an issue if the hole pattern is tight, and/or where excessive material is punched out. This releases the residual stresses in the material, which causes bowing or twisting of the part. Proper use of clamping and strippers can minimize this, as can subsequent straightening operations. Recognizing which side the bow

can occur can also allow some designs to accept this out of flat condition by designing features that are not sensitive to this condition. Edge conditions. Quite often, curves and other difficult features are produced by punching out small sections at a time. This process is called nibbling. This leads to triangular shaped features. These triangular shaped features give the edge a scalloped look. This scalloping can be pronounced if the nibbling pitch is coarse. The amount of scalloping that can be accepted is a function of tooling and product cost. Clamp marks are cosmetic in nature, and if objectionable, can be so positioned to cut them away in subsequent processing.

Lockwashers for threads can be eliminated by forming a dome on the side opposite to the screw head. As the screw is tightened, the domed thread form locks against the male thread and prevents the screw from vibrating loose in service. Parts that need to be welded can be positioned very precisely using shear buttons. Shear buttons on one surface are snugly fitted inside the corresponding holes into the other surface. This allows the parts to be self-jigging and eliminate the need for fixtures and other holddowns. Dimensioning. As in all part design, the designer should be aware of process strengths, weaknesses. Datums should be through hole centers rather than edges of parts. This is because edges can have tapers or roll-offs, which can skew a datum and subsequent measurement. Sound practice of tolerancing methods such as geometric dimensioning and tolerancing are appropriate for the dimensioning of these parts. Process Tolerances. Feature tolerances can vary from 0.12 to 0.38 mm (0.005 to 0.015 in). The program can be tweaked (a little!) to improve these numbers. Repeatability is 0.05 mm (0.002 in) as long as the machine lead screw advances only in one direction.

Laser cutting
Laser cutting machines can accurately produce complex exterior contours. The laser beam is typically 0.2 mm (0.008 in) diameter at the cutting surface with a power of 1000 to 2000 watts. Laser cutting can be complementary to the CNC/Turret process. The CNC/Turret process can produce internal features such as holes readily whereas the laser cutting process can produce external complex features easily. Laser cutting takes direct input in the form of electronic data from a CAD drawing to produce flat form parts of great complexity. With 3-axis control, the laser cutting process can profile parts after they have been formed on the CNC/Turret process. Lasers work best on materials such as carbon steel or stainless steels. Metals such as aluminum and copper alloys are more difficult to cut due to their ability to reflect the light as well as absorb and conduct heat. This requires lasers that are more powerful.

Design Considerations

Lasers cut by melting the material in the beam path. Materials that are heat treatable will get case hardened at the cut edges. This may be beneficial if the hardened edges are functionally desirable in the finished parts. However, if further machining operations such as threading are required, then hardening is a problem. A hole cut with a laser has an entry diameter larger than the exit diameter, creating a slightly tapered hole. The minimum radius for slot corners is 0.75 mm (0.030 in). Unlike blanking, piercing, and forming, the normal design rules regarding minimum wall thicknesses, minimum hole size (as a percent of stock thickness) do not apply. The minimum hole sizes are related to stock thickness and can be as low as 20% of the stock thickness, with a minimum of 0.25 mm (0.010 in) for upto 1.9 mm (0.075 in). Contrast this with normal piercing operations with the recommended hole size 1.2 times the stock thickness.

Burrs are quite small compared to blanking and shearing. They can be almost eliminated when 3D lasers are used and further, eliminate the need for secondary deburring operations. As in blanking and piercing, considerable economies can be obtained by nesting parts, and cutting along common lines. In addition, secondary deburring operations can be reduced or eliminated.

Shearing
Shearing is a process for cutting sheet metal to size out of a larger stock such as roll stock. Shears are used as the preliminary step in preparing stock for stamping processes, or smaller blanks for CNC presses. Material thickness ranges from 0.125 mm to 6.35 mm (0.005 to 0.250 in). The dimensional tolerance ranges from 0.125 mm to 1.5 mm (0.005 to 0.060 in). The shearing process produces a shear edge burr, which can be minimized to less than 10% of the material thickness. The burr is a function of clearance between the punch and the die (which is nominally designed to be the material thickness), and the sharpness of the punch and the die.

Design Considerations

Material selected for shearing should be standard stock sizes to minimize the extra costs associated with special slitting. Burrs and hold down marks which are inevitable, should be considered in the design of the end product. Burrs should be kept away from handling areas, preferably folded away, or in some obscure area. The same can be done with hold down marks too.

Staking
Staking is a method of fastening (usually sheet metal) by squeezing protrusion formed in one part inside a hole in the second part, and then

deforming the protrusion. The act of deformation causes radial expansion of the inner part and locks it in the hole.

Stamping

The operations associated with stamping are blanking, piercing, forming, and drawing. These operations are done with dedicated tooling also known as hard tooling. This type of tooling is used to make high volume parts of one configuration of part design. (By contrast, soft tooling is used in processes such as CNC turret presses, laser profilers and press brakes). All these operations can be done either at a single die station or multiple die stations performing a progression of operations, known as a progressive die.

Equipment Types

The equipments of stamping can be categorized to two types: mechanical presses and hydraulic presses. Mechanical Presses: Mechanical presses has a mechanical flywheel to store the energy, transfer it to the punch and to the workpiece. They range in size from 20 tons up to 6000 tons. Strokes range from 5 to 500 mm (0.2 to 20 in) and speeds from 20 to 1500 strokes per minute. Mechanical presses are well suited for high-speed blanking, shallow drawing and for making precision parts. Hydraulic Presses: Hydraulic Presses use hydraulics to deliver a controlled force. Tonnage can vary from 20 tons to a 10,000 tons. Strokes can vary from 10 mm to 800 mm (0.4 to 32 in). Hydraulic presses can deliver the full power at any point in the stroke; variable tonnage with overload protection; and adjustable stroke and speed. Hydraulic presses are suitable for deep-drawing, compound die action as in blanking with forming or coining, low speed high tonnage blanking, and force type of forming rather than displacement type of forming.

Tooling Considerations

Optimum clearance (total = per side 2) should be from 20 to 25% of the stock thickness. This can be increased to 30% to increase die life. Punch life can be extended by sharpening whenever the punch edge becomes 0.125 mm (0.005 in) radius. Frequent sharpening extends the life of the tool, cuts down on the punch force required. Sharpening is done by removing only 0.025 to 0.05 mm (0.001 to 0.002 in) of the material in one pass with a surface grinder. This is repeated until the tool is sharp. If it is done frequently enough, only 0.125 to 0.25 mm (0.005 to 0.010 in) of the punch material is removed. Grinding is to be done with the proper wheel for the tool steel in question. Consult with the abrasive manufacturer for proper choice of abrasive material, feeds and speeds, and coolant. After sharpening the edge is to be lightly stoned to remove grinding burrs and end up with a 0.025 to 0.05 mm (0.001 to 0.002 in) radius. This will reduce the chance of chipping.

Punching Force: Punching can be done without shear or with shear. Punching without shear. This is the case where the entire punch surface strikes the material square, and the complete shear is done along the entire cutting edge of the punch at the same time. Punching Force = Punch Perimeter Stock thickness Material Shear Strength. e.g., Punch Diameter = 25 mm (1 in), Circumference = 78.54 mm (3.092 in) Thickness = 1.5 mm, (0.060 in) Material Shear Strength (Steel) = 0.345 kN/mm2 (25 tons/in2) Punching Force = 78.54 1.5 0.345 (3.09 0.060 25) = 40.65 kN (4.64 tons) = 4.14 Metric Tons (4.64 US Tons)

Punching with shear. This is the case where the punch surface penetrates the material in the middle, or at the corners, first, and as

the punch descends the rest of the cutting edges contact the material and shear the material. The distance between the first contact of the punch with the material, to when the whole punch starts cutting, is the Shear Depth. Since the material is cut gradually (not all at the same time initially), the tonnage requirement is reduced considerably. The Punching Force calculated above is multiplied by a shear factor, which ranges in value form 0.5 to 0.9 depending on the material, thickness, and shear depth. For shear depths of 1.5 mm (0.060 in) the shear factor ranges from 0.5 (for 1.2 mm / 0.047 in stock) to 0.9 (for 6.25 mm / 0.25 in stock). For shear depth of 3 mm (0.120 in) the shear factor is 0.5. Punching Force = Punch Perimeter Stock thickness Material Shear Strength Shear Factor. Since shear factor is about 0.5, the Punching Force is reduced by about 50%. For the same example above, Punching Force = 78.54 1.5 0.345 (3.09 0.060 25) 0.5 (Shear Factor) = 40.65 kN (4.64 tons) 0.5 = 2.07 Metric Tons (2.32 US Tons)

Blanking
Blanking is cutting up a large sheet of stock into smaller pieces suitable for the next operation in stamping, such as drawing and forming. Often this is combined with piercing. Blanking can be as simple as a cookie cutter type die to produce prototype parts, or high speed dies that run at 1000+ strokes per minute, running coil stock which has been slit to a specified width. For production parts, the final configuration of the drawn or formed shape needs to be established before the blank die can be built-since the blank size and the slit width size needs to be established precisely.

Design Considerations

Corners should have a minimum radius of 0.5 x material thickness or 0.4 mm (0.016in) whichever is greater. Sharper corners can be produced but at a greater die maintenance costs and more burrs. Slots or tabs widths should be greater than 1.5 X stock thickness. The length can be a maximum of 5 times slot/tab width. These rules can be violated at an increased tooling cost-- width as low as 1 X thickness and length as high as 7 X thickness can be achieved.

On cutoffs, avoid full radiuses across the width of stock. A square cutoff is best. If a radius is necessary, then an angle-blended radius is best.

Deburring

Burrs: Burrs are the normal by product of the stamping process. Burrs are often not acceptable, usually for safety reasons, either for handling or for product safety (burrs cutting into insulation, or mechanical chafing). Another reason could be to improve surface appearance-discoloration from welding/brazing, oxidation, scale from heat treatment etc. Cosmetics requirements of finished parts sometimes require graining. Graining is used to hide surface defects by creating uniform scratches using an abrasive belt sander for example. This results in an even surface appearance. Like all finishing operations, this is to be avoided since it adds extra costs to the product. The grinding grit can range from #100 for removal of gross defects, to about #180 for materials that need silk screening. The abrasives used are dependant on the material. Aluminum oxide is used for steels and silicon carbide is used for softer materials such as aluminum. A normal burr from well-maintained tools is usually less than 10% of material thickness. If burrs are not acceptable (burr-free requirement), then deburring needs to be done. Typically deburring results in a rounded edge with a radius of 0.05 to 0.075 mm (0.002 to 0.003 in). Deburring: Deburring is done by tumbling parts in a barrel or a vibratory bowl, along with finishing media. Ceramic media is often used for steels. For softer materials, plastic media, walnut shells etc can be used. This type of deburring is usually confined to unfinished materials. For materials that are already finished, such as pre-plated or pre-painted materials bulk deburring operations are not suitable, because the deburring will remove the finish along with the burrs. For these materials, other forms of deburring such as belt sanding or hand filing will have to be done with the associated higher costs. Deburring can be avoided by considering the direction of the burrs in the design of the parts. If the burrs will be in a non-accessible area or will be folded later, then deburring can be avoided.

Drawing

In drawing, a blank of sheet metal is restrained at the edges, and the middle section is forced by a punch into a die to stretch the metal into a cup shaped drawn part. This drawn part can be circular, rectangular or just about any cross-section. Drawing can be either shallow or deep depending on the amount of deformation. Shallow drawing is used to describe the process where the depth of draw is less than the smallest dimension of the opening; otherwise, it is considered deep drawing. Drawing leads to wrinkling and puckering at the edge where the sheet metal is clamped. This is usually removed by a separate trimming operation.

Design Considerations

Round shapes (cylinders) are easiest to draw. Square shapes can also be drawn if the inside and outside radiuses are at least 6 X stock thickness. Other shapes can be produced at the cost of complexity of tooling and part costs. The corner radiuses can be reduced further by successive drawing operations, provided there is sufficient height for the draw. Perpendicularity can be held to 1, flatness can be held to 0.3%. This can be improved by performing extra operations.

Forming

Forming is similar to bending. Complex parts such as U-sections, channel sections of different profiles can be produced by doing multiple bends. There is no change in thickness. Good dimensional repeatability as well as close tolerances is possible with this process.

Design Considerations

On bends, the short leg (inside length) should be a minimum of 2.5 X stock thickness + radius.

Minimum hole (and short slot) to bend distance should be 2.5 X the stock thickness + bend radius. For long slots, the distance should be 4 X the stock thickness + bend radius.

Bending using tight radiuses or in hard materials often results in burrs and fractures on the outside of the bends. These can be eliminated by using larger bend radiuses and by providing relief notches at the edges on the bend line.

Bend relief notches should be provided = 2 X stock thicknesses in width (minimum 1.5mm / 0.060 in) and radius + stock thickness in length.

Generally, bending perpendicular to rolling direction is easier than rolling parallel to the rolling direction. Bending parallel to the rolling direction can often lead to fracture in hard materials. Thus bending parallel to rolling direction is not recommended for cold rolled steel > Rb 70. And no bending is acceptable for cold rolled steel > Rb 85. Hot rolled steel can be bent parallel to the rolling direction

Machining
Drilling, tapping, counterboring, and countersinking are the usual operations done in sheet metals. Drilling: Drilling is done in sheet metal only when piercing cannot deliver the accuracy required. For example, on a formed part, when holes on different features need to be coaxial, the accuracy obtained by machining may be required. Tapping: Tapping can be done using cut threads or formed threads. Formed threads (thread rolling) is preferable for the following reasons:

Thread rolling is faster than cutting. Fewer burrs are generated, so no clean up is required or risk of future hazards such as shorting with electronic components. Larger sized holes are required for thread rolling vs. tapping, resulting in improved tap life. Rolled threads are stronger due to cold working. Typically, rolled threads are 20% stronger than cut threads.

For very thin stock, either threaded fasteners such as clinch nuts, or forming thread in extruded holes is recommended. OR

The material is upset in the sheet metal hole to form one thread pitch.

Counterboring: Counterboring is often done to provide clearance and a bearing surface for the fastener's head. Countersinking: Countersinking allows for flush mounting of flat head fasteners. Countersinking cannot always be done for very thin stock or for very large fasteners.

Piercing

Piercing is the operation of cutting internal features (holes or slots) in stock. Piercing can also be combined with other operations such as lance and form (to make a small feature such as tab), pierce and extrude (to make an extruded hole). All these operations can be combined with blanking. Piercing of all the holes is best done together to ensure good hole-to-hole tolerance and part repeatability. However if the material distorts, the method described below can be done.

When there are large numbers of holes, in a tight pitch, there could be distortions, due to the high amount of tension on the upper surface due to stretching and compression on the bottom surface. This causes the material not to lay flat. This can be avoided/lessened by staggering the piercing of the holes. Holes are punched in a staggered pattern; then the other holes are punched in the alternate staggered pattern.

Design Considerations

Minimum hole diameter should be at least 20 % greater than stock thickness. In the case of stainless steels, it should be 2 times the material thickness. Minimum wall thickness (distance from hole to edge or hole to hole) should be at least 2 times stock thickness. For non-round slots, the minimum wall thickness should be 2 times thickness for short slots < 10 thicknesses long; and 4 times thickness for long slots > 10 thicknesses long.

Minimum hole (and short slot) to bend distance should be 2.5 the stock thickness + bend radius. For long slots, the distance should be 4 the stock thickness + bend radius.

Introduction

Welding is the process of permanently joining two or more metal parts, by melting both materials. The molten materials quickly cool, and the two metals are permanently bonded. Spot welding and seam welding are two very popular methods used for sheet metal parts. Spot welding is primarily used for joining parts that normally upto 3 mm (0.125 in) thickness. Spot-weld diameters range from 3 mm to 12.5 mm (0.125 to 0.5 in) in diameter.

Materials

Low carbon steel is most suitable for spot welding. Higher carbon content or alloy steels tend to form hard welds that are brittle and could crack. This tendency can be reduced by tempering. Austenitic Stainless steels in the 300 series can be spot welded as also the Ferritic stainless steels. Martensitic stainless steels are not suitable since they are very hard. Aluminums can be welded using high power and very clean oxide free surfaces. Cleaning the surface to be oxide-free, adds extra costs (that can be avoided with low carbon steel). Dissimilar materials cannot be spot welded due to different melt properties and thermal conductivities. Plated steel welding takes on the characteristics of the coating. Nickel and chrome plated steels are relatively easy to spot weld, whereas aluminum, tin and zinc need special preparation inherent to the coating metals.

Manufacturing Considerations

Thickness of the parts to be welded should be equal or the ratio of thicknesses should be less than 3:1. Spacing of welds Min weld to weld spacing = 10 Stock thickness. Center of weld to edge distance = 2 x weld diameter, minimum. Weld to form distance = Bend Radius + 1 weld diameter, minimum. Adequate access for spot welding should be considered. Small flanges in U channels for example may restrict the electrode from entering the part. Flat surfaces are easier to spot weld due to easy access. Multiple bends impose access restrictions, and special fixtures may have to be designed to handle the parts, if access is not a problem.

Prior to finishing, the spot welds have to be sanded or ground to blend the welds with the rest of the surface. It is best to choose the same spot weld size, to minimize setups and increase throughput. Plating of spot welded assemblies can cause problems when the sheet metal is overlapped. This can cause plating salts to be trappedrequiring special cleaning, or potential long-term corrosion problems. By carefully designing the assembly to allow easy draining of plating solutions this can be avoided.

The mating parts can be self-jigged for easy location prior to welding. This can be done by lancing one part and locating in a corresponding slot in the other part; or by boss type extrusion, weld buttons, in part locating to a slot in the other. This type of design can often eliminate the need for external fixtures.

Inert Gas Welding

Metal Inert Gas (MIG) Welding: An arc is struck between a consumable electrode and the sheet metal to be welded. The consumable electrode is in the form of continuous filler metal. An inert gas surrounds the arc and shields it from the ambient to prevent oxidation. Carbon steels, low alloy steels, stainless steels, most aluminum alloys, zinc based copper alloys can be welded using this process. Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding: An arc is truck between a tungsten electrode (non-consumable) and the sheet metal to be welded. An inert gas shields the arc from the ambient to prevent oxidation. A filler material is optional Carbon steels, low alloy steels, stainless steels, most aluminum alloys, zinc based copper alloys can be welded using this process. TIG is quite suitable for welding dissimilar materials, but usual cautions of galvanic corrosion still apply. The TIG process is a slower process compared to the MIG process, but the quality of weld is cosmetically better. There is no weld spatter, and the quality of welds is higher than MIG welding.

Oxy Acetylene Gas Welding: Acetylene or some combustible gas is combined with Oxygen and the flame heats the sheet metal to be welded. A filler metal rod supplies the molten metal for the joint. This method is readily available, but the heat can cause distortion in sheet metal. Due to this, this method is being displaced by other methods such as MIG and TIG welding.

Types of Weld Joints

Butt, T, corner, lap, and T joints are the common types of joints used in sheet metal welding. These can all be used with MIG and TIG welding. Corner joints are used frequently in sheet metal cabinet construction.

Types of welds are often confused with the types of joints. The basic types of welds are fillet, square, and grooved.

Material Thickness and Weld Strength

MIG welding can be done for thicknesses ranging from 0.5 mm to 6.3 mm (0.020 to 0.250 in). TIG can be used for thicknesses as low as 0.125 mm (0.005 in). Weld strength can be upto the strength of the underlying material. To improve overall system robustness it is better to increase material thickness rather than over specifying the weld.

Manufacturing Considerations

The surface to be welded needs to be clean and degreased and any foreign debris should be removed. In the case of hot-rolled steel or aluminum, wire brushing may need to be done to remove scales and oxides, for the highest quality welds. Weld distortion occurs whenever a weld is done. This can be minimized by spacing the weld tacks at least 50 mm (2 in) apart. Welding distortion can also be minimized by fixturing (and clamping) while welding as well as heat sinking. Parts should be designed with features that are self-locating with respect to mating parts. This removes the need for dedicated fixtures and its costs. Fixtures also introduce additional tolerances due to deflections imposed on the parts by the clamping pressure. Fixtures can also slow down production due to fact that parts have to be placed in the fixture and clamps (if any) that need to be activated. Welds locations should be located with operator access in mind. If it is not accessible to a weld electrode, it is not weldable. Thus, in designs that involve sections such as channels, boxes access of electrodes needs to be considered. Tolerancing of welded parts is usually generous. This allows the parts to be welded without too much elaborate fixturing or secondary processing such as grinding. If tight tolerancing is desired, it is best achieved by self-locating features on the mating parts.

Cosmetics Considerations

MIG welding causes a lot of spatter that needs to be sanded or filed, if cosmetically objectionable. Thus, it is best to avoid MIG welding on exterior surfaces if cosmetics are important. TIG welding is better suited for no spatter welding, even though it is more expensive. The parts that are to be welded need to fit well with each other without too large a gap. This is particularly important in fusion welding, where no filler material is used. If too large a gap is used, then excessive shrinkage will take place.

Finish Considerations

Parts that need painting will require surface preparation in the form of sanding and grinding. The cost of this preparation needs to be considered in the total cost. Parts that need to be electroplated should have seams that do not overlap, and not have corners or edges where the plating solutions can be trapped, leading to corrosion in the long term.

Projection welding

Projection welding is a variation of spot welding. Projections are designed in one part. These act as current concentrators for the welding process. When the two parts are mated together, these projections are the high points that first make contact. As the power is cycled, the projections simultaneously carry the current and are welded. This process is known as Resistance Projection Welding, RPW. Due to the efficiency of power transfer, thicker materials can be successfully welded. Materials as thick as 3 mm (0.125 in) can be successfully welded. For thin stock, the traditional spot welding is a preferred method. Low carbon steels, low alloy steels, stainless steels, as well as aluminum can be welded using this process.

Projections are usually semi-spherical or blunt conical type. Projection welding requires that the height of projections be controlled to within a range of 0.075 mm (0.003 in).

Weldability and Joinability of Common Materials

Resistance Welding

Material

Cast iron Carbon Steel, low-alloy steel Stainless steel Aluminum Magnesium Copper, Copper alloys Nickel, Nickel alloys Titanium Lead Zinc Thermoplastics Thermosets Elastomers Ceramics Dissimilar metals

7 10 10 7 7 7 10 7 7 7 10* 1 1 1 3

10 10 7 7 7 7 7 1 7 7 10** 1 1 1 3

1 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 1 1 1 1 1 7 7

1 10 10 7 7 7 10 7 3 3 7*** 1 1 1 3

3 10 10 7 7 10 10 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 3-7

1 3 5 1 1 10 5 1 10 7 1 1 1 1 N/A

10 10 7 7 7 10 10 7 7 10 10 10

Note: 10 = Execllent, 5 = Fair, 1 = Seldom/never used. * : Heated tool; ** : Hot gas; *** : Induction.

Adhesive Bonding

Electron beam Welding

Oxyacetylene Welding

Arc Welding

Soldering

Brazing

7 7 7

Sheet metal thickness gages

Sheet metal thickness gages are based on a weight of 41.82 pounds per square foot per inch of thickness. This is known as the Manufacturers' Standard Gage for Sheet Steel, and is primarily used for sheet steel. For materials such as Aluminum and Brass the thicknesses will be different. Thus a 10 gage steel sheet which has a thickness of 0.1345 inch will weigh 41.82*0.1345 = 5.625 pounds per square foot. In the U.S the most common sheet metal gage specified is the Steel Gage. In the U.K. the most common sheet metal gage is the British Standard Wire Gage. Black iron, steel sheet, and hooping are specified by the Birmingham Gage, which is different from the Birmingham or Stub's Iron Gage that is used for wire gages.

Gage for Common Sheet Metals

Metal Gages are often used in the sheet metal industry. The following table illustrates the sizes of the most used sizes. Note that the Mild Steel Gage is covered in greater detail elsewhere in this site. The values presented here may be used for reference and comparison to other materials. Gage Number 8 9 10 11 12 Brass mm (in) 3.3 (0.129) 2.9 (0.114) 2.6 (0.102) 2.3 (0.091) 2.1 (0.081) Mild Steel mm (in) 4.2 (0.164) 3.8 (0.150) 3.4 (0.135) 3.0 (0.120) 2.7 (0.105) Stainless Steel mm (in) 4.4 (0.172) 4.0 (0.156) 3.6 (0.141) 3.2 (0.125) 2.8 (0.109)

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1.8 (0.072) 1.6 (0.064) 1.4 (0.057) 1.3 (0.051) 1.1 (0.045) 1.0 (0.040) 0.9 (0.036) 0.8 (0.032) 0.7 (0.029) 0.6 (0.025) 0.6 (0.023) 0.5 (0.020) 0.5 (0.018) 0.4 (0.016) 0.4 (0.014) 0.3 (0.013)

2.3 (0.090) 1.9 (0.075) 1.7 (0.067) 1.5 (0.060) 1.4 (0.054) 1.2 (0.048) 1.1 (0.042) 0.9 (0.036) 0.8 (0.033) 0.8 (0.030) 0.7 (0.027) 0.6 (0.024) 0.5 (0.021) 0.5 (0.018) 0.4 (0.016) 0.4 (0.015)

2.4 (0.094) 2.0 (0.078) 1.8 (0.070) 1.6 (0.063) 1.4 (0.056) 1.3 (0.050) 1.1 (0.044) 1.0 (0.038) 0.9 (0.034) 0.8 (0.031) 0.7 (0.028) 0.6 (0.025) 0.6 (0.022) 0.5 (0.019) 0.4 (0.017) 0.4 (0.016)