Bending Aluminium Alloy Sheet

Purchase a metal bending brake online or at your local hardware store.

Bending aluminium alloy sheet.

To avoid cracking when bending aluminium the bend radius must be considered. Which aluminum alloy bends the best is a a common question customers want the answer to. The best aluminum alloys for bending come down to series 3xxx and series 5xxx and sometimes series 6xxx. For non heat treatable 3xxx and 5xxx alloys o temper is the easiest temper to bend in.

How to bend sheet metal without a brake. With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. Consider tempers in optimizing an aluminium alloy s bending ability.

Some alloys lose more strength than. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal. A bending brake is a specialized metalworking tool used to create precise linear bends and folds in light gauge sheet metals like the kind used to make flashing for doors windows and roofs. Minimum allowable bend radii are functions of the alloy temper cross sectional dimensions mandrel use and the required surface finish.

Load or stress placed on finished piece. Sheet flat bar round or square tubing etc. Thickness of stock or wall thickness and diameter if tubing. Bending is a delicate and demanding process most of the time and common fabricating processes require a degree of formability that make your choice of proper alloy critical.

Highly formable and one of the best kinds of aluminum to bend. Proper bending can be done with annealing the aluminum first although it s not an ideal candidate for formed parts. In high purity forms aluminum is soft and ductile. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line.

Different alloys react differently to being heated. Miserable to bend cracking is very common and cold bending will always weaken the metal. Look at tempers when it comes to optimizing the bending ability of the aluminium alloy. Generally speaking any time aluminum is heated it loses strength.

Temper is as important as the alloys. It is therefore not possible to give strict rules to the bend radii for all instances. Radius of the bend.