Sheet Metal Bending Minimum Flange Length

Let s say i have a 2 mm thick sheet and i want to bend it.

Sheet metal bending minimum flange length.

The tool can calculate the required bending force for bending aluminum stainless steel mild steel and weldox or strenx high strength steels. Therefore for softer materials the recommended minimum hole diameter is equal to sheet thickness. If you have any questions or want to discuss your design contact us. A cutout or the edge of your flange to your bend.

Discover all our calculation tools in the calculators section of the top menu. Until the bend is completed the sheet metal must be supported on both sides of the v opening. If it s not supported on both sides the sheet slides into the v opening and the bend line will slide with it. Minimum sheet metal flange bend length 3 x sheet thickness bend radius minimum hole diameter guidelines small sized punch are more prone to failure during sheetmetal punching operation.

As a rule of thumb the distance from the outside of the material to the bottom of the cutout should be equal to the minimum flange length as prescribed by the air bend force chart. Minimum flange length b the minimum flange length is sometimes the most difficult limitation for new brake operators and engineers to understand. D 2 5t r. The required die width is 12 mm and tonnage per meter is 22.

When using a punch press or laser cutting holes should never be less than that of the material thickness. To keep it simple i also use a 2 mm inside radius. When fabricating with a punch press the minimum space between two notches should be at least 2 time material thickness and at least 125. The v die is usually selected to be 5x to 8x the workpiece thickness.

In the fab shop the v die width in the press brake limits the size of the flange that can be bent. During bending the sheet metal must bridge fully across the v die see figure 2. 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. 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.

Brittle materials may require v dies in the 8x to 12x range. The lowest common bench capacity is around 100 tonnes. Determine your minimum bend by measuring the distance from your closest feature i e. Avoid large sheet metal parts with small bent flanges.