Air Bending Sheet Metal

Air bending is the most common type of 3 types of bending used in sheet metal shops today.

Air bending sheet metal.

What is air bending with air bending a press brake is equipped with a punching tool and commonly a v opening bottom die. Since the stroke depth is adjustable. If you bend to a sharp inside corner with sheet metal you ll be adding a ton of internal stresses. The punch is then forced past the top of the die into the v opening without coming into contact with the bottom of the v.

In this process the workpiece comes in contact with the outside edges of the die as well as the punch tip. The metal forms to a natural radius based on the size of the die v opening. Geometry of tooling imposes a minimum bend dimension. The formed bend radius is dependent upon the dies used the material properties and the material thickness.

Use the minimum bend dimension values in the charts below for your minimum closeness of cutout to a bend. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. The punch tip radius usually has little influence. The profile of the punch defines the bend radius while the stroke depth defines the bend angle.

When sheet metal is bent it stretches in length. Punch tip radius air bending when we air bend sheet metal the size of the die v opening determines the inside radius of the bend. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece. Being able to read a bend force chart is crucial for any brake press operator and sheet metal engineer.

Refer to the chart for values for folder as well as various press brake tooling combinations. The bend radius refers to the inside radius. The solution is to have a radius on the tool that you ll be using to bend the metal. Air bending and bottom bending are two of the most common ways to create a bend during sheet metal fabrication.

An air bend force chart or force chart breaks down a number of key components of sheet metal bending in an easy to reference format. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. Both can be achieved using a manual or cnc controlled press brake. The diagram shows one such mechanism.