Factors Affecting Sheet Metal Parts And Joint Design

Selection of the type of sheet metal joint affects product design cost assembly process and its performance.

Factors affecting sheet metal parts and joint design.

Thickness is represented by t and d b is the diameter of the blank. Proper joint design and correct welding procedures limit distortion. Required joint type. Also the buckling and torsional strength of many sheet metal and tubular parts depends primarily on the thickness of the material rather than its allowable compressive and shear strengths.

Thickness to diameter ratio is a main factor used to quantify the geometry of a blank and can be calculated by t d b. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. In general distortion can be controlled to varying degrees by clamping or fixturing use of heat sinks see figure 2 and special welding techniques. The manufacturer s srm often indicates what material can be used as a substitution and how much thicker the material needs to be.

Following factors affect the selection of sheet metal joining process. Similar to other metal forming processes bending changes the shape of the work piece while the volume of material will remain the same. Sheet metal bending is the plastic deformation of the work over an axis creating a change in the part s geometry. Sheet metal bending methods design tips k factor bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations.

Permanent or temporary joint. Distortion can be a major factor in sheet metal welding. See figure 8 for typical distortion in a t and butt joint. Sheet metal thickness is an important aspect of deep drawing process design.

Bending of sheet metal is a common and vital process in manufacturing industry. Your manufacturer may not be able to match dimensions when creating the actual sheet metal part due to tooling and equipment limitations. Varied metals and metal alloys can be formed into sheets and used to fabricate sheet metal parts. Cutting and forming thin sheets of metal usually performed as cold working sheet metal 0 4 1 64 to 6 mm 1 4in thick plate stock 6 mm thick advantage high strength good dimensional accuracy good surface finish economical mass production low cost.

Whenever sheet metal is heated some distortion will occur. Since each metal fabricator has its own tooling bend factors and equipment to develop the flat blank it is better to fully dimension to formed views for that manufacturer.