Minimum Radius Sheet Metal Bends

Minimum inside bend radius for sheet metal recommended inside bend radius for sheet metal parts should be equal to material thickness.

Minimum radius sheet metal bends.

Crca inside bend radius equal to 0 65 times of sheet thickness is also enough. Use this document to choose values that are both manufacturable and meet your needs. Layout method sheet metal stretches when it bends is an oversimplification. Bending is a stamping process that uses pressure to force the material to plastically deform.

The minimum bend radius data shown in these charts is measured to the inside of the bend. It is most economical to use a single bend radius throughout the design but if necessary you can utilize multiple radii. Bends specified as angles may be toleranced at plus or minus one half degree at a location adjacent to the bends. Each and every bend in a piece of sheet metal has a certain minimum internal radius that needs to be taken into account when planning the design of a sheet metal form.

Commonly used bends include v bend z bend offset bend and hemming bend etc. I can now see that the minimum flange length is 8 5 mm for such a bend so i have to keep it in mind when designing. Thick grade 350 and 400 may have a minimum bend radius of 2 5 times the material thickness when transverse bending while longitudinal bending may require a minimum bend radius that s 3 75 times the material thickness see figure 1. To keep it simple i also use a 2 mm inside radius.

Let s say i have a 2 mm thick sheet and i want to bend it. But for harder materials e g. Curls the minimum radius is two times the. In low carbon steel sheet metal the minimum radius of a bend should be one half the material thickness or 0 80 mm 0 03 inch whichever is larger.

If a piece of material is bent too tightly problems can occur. The sheet metal bending height should be at least 2 times the thickness of the sheet metal plus the bending radius that is h 2t r. Thereby forming a certain angle and curvature shape. In steel between 0 5 and 0 8 in.

For bent sheet metal variation in the raw material thickness increases the recommended precision to 0 010 in. Bend radii minimum bend sizes. Upon close examination of the bends we find that the sheet metal stretches on the outer surface and that the inside surface seems to shrink. 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.

When designing sheet metal parts and enclosures it is helpful to use these values as the basis for your design. The bend radii listed are standard minimum if manufacturing for aircraft and aerospace applications. The minimum inside bend radius is even larger when bending with the grain.