Bending Aluminum Sheet Grain

That said forming with the grain takes less pressure to make a bend.

Bending aluminum sheet grain.

In other words if you re bending 1 8 sheet use a tool with a 1 8 radius to form the inside of the bend. Bending 2024 t3 grain direction considered. Inside bend radius 0 19. When bending aluminum know that the smaller your inside bend radius the larger the chance that cracking will occur in the part.

Bending with the grain may result in cracking or. This is important to note especially with aerospace and aviation applications since bending with the grain or parallel to the grain direction can result in material failure. The trend is obvious. You must pay careful attention to grain or rolling direction when bending high strength metals especially when trying to achieve a small inside bend radius.

The harder and thicker the plate is the greater the minimum bend radius. A common way to prevent material failure or cracking is by bending the metal against the grain or perpendicular to the grain. This could be either problematic or catastrophic depending on the application of the end product. Also know that for the best results and fewer cracks on the outside of the bend the bend line should go across or diagonal to the material grain when and where possible.

For 0 5 in thick 7050 aluminum the minimum bend radius may be specified as much as 9 5 times material thickness. The bend is along the long dimension. Bending with the grain also limits how tight of an inside bend radius you can achieve without cracking the outside of the bend. General advice on aluminum.

Bending the sheet metal longitudinally with the grain allows those grains to separate at the grain boundaries. Bend angles also can be less consistent. The grain direction is established during the metal rolling process. Again the minimum inside bend radius is even larger when bending with the grain.

For most applications with stainless steel or aluminum you can get away with a zero radius bend on anything under 0 050 thick. Pieces 22 long by 1 75 wide by 0 63 thick.