ME 221 Manufacturing Technology

Lecture Notes On
Sheet Metal Operation I (Cont..)
Bending
• Bending is a metal forming process in which a force is applied to a piece of sheet metal,
causing it to bend at an angle and form the desired shape.
• Bending is defined as the straining of the sheet metal around a straight edge:
• Bending is the process by which a straight length is transformed into a curved length. It is a
very common forming process for changing sheet and plate into channel, tanks, etc.

• Bending operations involve the processes of V-bending and edge bending:

Edge Bending
V-Bending
• V-bending—sheet metal is bent along a straight line between a V-shape punch
and die.
• Edge bending—bending of the cantilever part of the sheet around the die edge.
V-Bending Edge Bending
 For low production  For high production
 Performed on a press brake  Pressure pad required
 V-dies are simple and inexpensive  Dies are more complicated and costly

• For a given bending operation the bend radius can not be made smaller than a
certain value, otherwise the metal will crack on the outer tensile surface.
Minimum bend radius is usually expressed in multiples of the sheets thickness. It
varies considerable between different metal and always increases with cold
working. Bend radius is not less than 1 mm and for high strength sheet alloys the
minimum bend radius may be 5t or higher.

• Stretching during Bending

• If bend radius is small relative to stock thickness, metal tends to stretch during
bending, so that estimation of amount of stretching (final part length) is important.
Bending Allowance
• The Bend Allowance is defined as the material you will add to the actual leg
lengths of the part in order to develop a flat pattern.
• The bend allowance (BA) is the length of the arc of the neutral line between the
tangent points of a bend in any material.
• The Bend Deduction is defined as the material you will have to remove from the
total length of your flanges in order to arrive at the flat pattern.
• The bend deduction BD is defined as the difference between the sum of the
flange lengths (from the edge to the apex) and the initial flat length.

Where
 BA = Bend allowance;
 A = Bend angle;
 R= Bend radius;
 T = Stock thickness and
 K is factor to estimate stretching
 If R < 2T, K = 0.33
 If R = 2T, K = 0.50
where Lb is the length of the blank, L are the lengths of
the straight parts of the blank
Springback
• It is the dimensional change of the formed part after pressure of the forming tool
has been removed. It results from the change in strain produced by elastic
recovery.
• Spring back = increase in included angle of bent part relative to included angle of
forming tool after tool is removed.
• Reason for spring back
• When bending pressure is removed, elastic energy remains in bent part, causing
it to recover partially toward its original shape
• Spring back in bending shows itself as a decrease in bend angle and an increase
in bend radius 1. During bending the work is forced t take
the radius Rb and include angle Ab of the
bending tool (punch in v-bending)
2. After punch is removed the work springs
back to radius R and angle A
When a plate is bent, using a bending tool, the
plate initially assumes the angle of the tool θ’.
As the plate is removed from the tool, it
springs back to an angle θ’b less than the tool
angle .
 The spring back, Sb defined as follows
Bending Force
• Maximum bending force estimated as follows
• F=Kbf Ts WT2/D
• Where
 F = Bending Force
 TS = Tensile strength of sheet metal
 W= Part width in direction of bend axis
 D = Die opening dimension
 T = Stock thickness and K is factor estimates bend force
 For V-Bending- Kbf = 1.33
 For Edge-Bending - Kbf = 0.33 or 0.50

• A sheet-metal part 3mm thick and 20mm long is bent to an included angle of 60 o
and a bend radius of 7.5mm in a V-die. The die opening is 15mm. The metal has
tensile strength of 340 MPa. Compute the required force to bend the part.
(5426.4 N)
Design of Die elements: Die Block Design
• Overall dimensions of the die block will be determined by the minimum die wall
thickness required for strength and by the space needed for mounting screws and
dowels and for mounting the stripper plate.
• Wall thickness requirements for strength will depend on the thickness of the stock
to be cut. Sharp corners in the contour may lead to cracking in heat treatment, and
so require greater wall thickness at such points.
• Two, and only two, dowels should be provided in each block or element that
requires accurate and permanent positioning. They should be located as far apart as
possible for maximum locating effect, usually near diagonally opposite corners.
Two or more screws will be used, depending on the size of the element mounted.
Screws and dowels are preferably located about 1 ½ times their diameters from the
outer edges or the blanking contour.
• Die block thickness is governed by the strength necessary to resist the cutting
forces, and will depend on the type and thickness of the material being cut. On
very thin materials 13 mm thickness should be sufficient but, except for temporary
tools, finished thickness is seldom less than 22 mm, which allows for blind screw
holes and also builds up the tool to a narrower range of shut height for press room
convenience.
Design of Die elements: Die Block Calculations
• Method 1 (“Rule of Thumb”). Assuming a die block of tool steel its thickness
should be 20 mm. minimums for a blanking perimeter of 75 mm. or less 25 mm.
thick for perimeters between 75 mm. and 250 mm. and 32 mm. thick for larger
perimeters. There should be a minimum of 32 mm. margins around the opening in
the die block.
• The die opening should be straight for a maximum of 3 mm; the opening should
then angle out at ¼ to 1 ½ to the side (draft). The straight sides provide for
sharpenings of the die; the tapered portion enables the blanks to drop through
without jamming.
• To secure the die to the die plate or die shoe, the following rules provide sound
construction:
• On die blocks up to 175 mm square, use two M10 cap screws and two dowels
of dia. 10 mm.
• On sections up to 200 mm. square, use three cap screws and two dowels.
• For blanking heavy stock, use cap screws and dowels of dia 12-mm. diameter.
Counter bore the cap screws 3.2 mm. deeper than usual, to compensate for die
sharpening
• Method 2. This method of calculating the proper size of the die was derived from a
series of tests, whereby die plates were made increasingly thinner until breakage
became excessive. From these data the calculation of die thickness was divided
into four steps:
• 1) Die thickness is provisionally selected from Table Die Thickness Per Ton Of
Pressure

• * For each ton per sq. cm. of shear strength.