Factors Affecting Sheet Metal Parts And Joint Design

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.

Factors affecting sheet metal parts and joint design. Required joint type. Bending of sheet metal is a common and vital process in manufacturing industry. Sheet metal bending methods design tips k factor bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. Following factors affect the selection of sheet metal joining process.

Sheet metal thickness is an important aspect of deep drawing process design. For noncircular sheet metal parts the maximum diameter is sometimes used. Thickness is represented by t and d b is the diameter of the blank. Several factors affect the final shape and accuracy of the components including the effect of the punch and die radii the punch to die clearance the heat treatment of tooling the lubricant the press speed the press force and the blank holding pressure.

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. Distortion can be a major factor in sheet metal welding. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. Thickness to diameter ratio is a main factor used to quantify the geometry of a blank and can be calculated by t d b.

Proper joint design and correct welding procedures limit distortion. Sheet metal bending is the plastic deformation of the work over an axis creating a change in the part s geometry. See figure 8 for typical distortion in a t and butt joint. Permanent or temporary joint.

In general distortion can be controlled to varying degrees by clamping or fixturing use of heat sinks see figure 2 and special welding techniques. Selection of the type of sheet metal joint affects product design cost assembly process and its performance. Whenever sheet metal is heated some distortion will occur. The manufacturer s srm often indicates what material can be used as a substitution and how much thicker the material needs to be.

Varied metals and metal alloys can be formed into sheets and used to fabricate sheet metal parts. The choice of materials depends on the requirements of the application and factors in material selection include formability weldability corrosion resistance strength weight and cost.