Why Choose Sheet Metal Processing?

Sheet metal processing is one of the most widely used processing methods. It is made of steel, aluminum, brass, copper, tin, nickel, titanium, or precious metals. The thickness of sheet metal parts ranges from small leaf to light foil to thick plate, which takes many forms: flat plate, embossing, etching, thread, ripple and perforation. The use of sheet metal has been extended to many different industries, including transportation, aerospace, home appliance manufacturing, consumer electronics, industrial furniture, machinery and so on.

Ⅰ. Reasons for choosing sheet metal processing

According to different applications, sheet metal processing not only has the advantage of surpassing non-metallic substitutes but also has the advantage of surpassing other types of metal manufacturing. Compared with machining, it has a significantly lower material cost. Like many modern manufacturing technologies, sheet metal processing and manufacturing can be automated, and parts can be produced directly from CAD models. This technology uses a variety of materials and a series of processes to shape parts and products. Perhaps most importantly, in the world of mass production, sheet metal processing and manufacturing has a high degree of scalability. Although the price of a single piece may be high, the price of each piece will decrease with the increase of mass production. Of course, this is true in many processes, but the single-piece cost of sheet metal usually decreases faster than subtraction processes such as machining.

Ⅱ. What factors should be considered in sheet metal processing design?

The design of sheet metal processing has a specific standard, which is different from other production processes. At the beginning of the design stage, the more people understand the characteristics and functions of parts, the easier it is to complete the design for manufacturability. However, if there are problems with the function of the design, the supplier shall point out these problems and propose solutions.

1. When using "general" tools instead of the configuration of special tools for parts, sheet metal processing is the most economical. If individual parts become too complex, consider using general tools to weld or rivet parts together.

2. Since bends stretch the metal, the feature must be away from the bend to avoid deformation. The useful width is 4T, which is four times the thickness of the material.

3. The bending machine produces bending by pressing the sheet metal part into the die with a linear punch, so the design does not allow the creation of closed geometry.

4. Sheet metal processing tolerances are much broader than mechanical or 3D printing tolerances. Factors that affect tolerances include material thickness, the machine used, and the number of steps in part production. Suppliers usually provide details about tolerances.5. A uniform bending radius, such as 0.030 inch (industry standard), should be used on a single part to reduce the number of machine settings and speed up production.