Bending Aluminium Alloy Sheet

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.

Bending aluminium alloy sheet.

Some alloys lose more strength than. Generally speaking any time aluminum is heated it loses strength. 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.

Temper is as important as the alloys. 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. Different alloys react differently to being heated.

Miserable to bend cracking is very common and cold bending will always weaken the metal. Which aluminum alloy bends the best is a a common question customers want the answer to. Radius of the bend. Thickness of stock or wall thickness and diameter if tubing.

The best aluminum alloys for bending come down to series 3xxx and series 5xxx and sometimes series 6xxx. Purchase a metal bending brake online or at your local hardware store. In high purity forms aluminum is soft and ductile. In this post we ll explain it to you.

Load or stress placed on finished piece. How to bend sheet metal without a brake. Look at tempers when it comes to optimizing the bending ability of the aluminium alloy. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line.

Sheet flat bar round or square tubing etc. It is therefore not possible to give strict rules to the bend radii for all instances. For non heat treatable 3xxx and 5xxx alloys o temper is the easiest temper to bend in. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards.

Minimum allowable bend radii are functions of the alloy temper cross sectional dimensions mandrel use and the required surface finish. To avoid cracking when bending aluminium the bend radius must be considered. With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.