This measurement will be necessary for calculating your bend allowance.
Determine natural bend of sheet aluminum.
90 degrees bend angle.
We will start by calculating the bend allowance.
If your sheet metal is too thick you may need special machinery like a brake or a torch to bend your sheet into the desired shape.
The material thickness will be measured in decimal form not by the gauge number.
You only have to insert interior angle flange lengths k factor inside radius and material thickness.
Cells on the right will output the desired values.
You will need to know your material thickness mt the bend angle b the inside radius ir and the k factor k.
Determine the angle at which you want to brake the metal and mark it on the protractor.
Choose a bend radius that matches your minimum bend.
If you re bending 0 020 thick material use a 0 020 radius.
If you have any questions or want to discuss your design contact us.
A cutout or the edge of your flange to your bend.
After bending the sheet we need to do some measurements as shown in figure 2.
General advice on aluminum.
The minimum bend radius data shown in these charts is measured to the inside of the bend.
Cut the section of metal out or otherwise prepare the metal to be bent by removing any burrs or sharp edges.
The bend allowance formula takes into account the geometries of bending and the properties of your metal to determine the bend allowance.
Figure 2 illustrates the sheet that is bent with the bend angle of 90 degrees.
For most applications with stainless steel or aluminum you can get away with a zero radius bend on anything under 0 050 thick.
Determine the thickness of your sheet.
The bend radii listed are standard minimum if manufacturing for aircraft and aerospace applications.
You will use the protractor to gauge the brake as you bend the metal little by little.
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.
Bend allowance calculator the bend allowance and bend deduction are two measures that relate the bent length of a piece of sheet metal to the flat length.
Determine your minimum bend by measuring the distance from your closest feature i e.
In other words if you re bending 1 8 sheet use a tool with a 1 8 radius to form the inside of the bend.
The bend allowance describes the length of the neutral axis between the bend lines or in other words the arc length of the bend.
With this free online tool we quickly get the sheet metal bend deduction and therefore the sheet metal blank initial flat length from the finished part measurements.
When bending aluminum know that the smaller your inside bend radius the larger the chance that cracking will occur in the part.
