Bending 125 Aluminum Sheet

Steel american iron and steel institute 1 see aisi s fabrication guidlines for cold bending thk 6061 t6.

Bending 125 aluminum sheet. From a bending perspective it s always best to bend these parts in an annealed state and then temper them to the correct condition. Make sure the bar is seated firmly inside the frame. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. Aluminum where necessary 5052 h32 may be bent to 1t and 6061 t6 to 1 1 2t.

To define the bend region and reduce the force required to bend a part out of sheet metal down to something you can handle without a brake press slots can be cut at the bending line to. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation. Create a long fracture line then progressively bend the sheet from one end to to the other. If bending along the grain you want closer to the bigger numbers and across you can bend to a smaller radius.

Flip the sheet over and repeat. After a few wiggles the sheet will fracture along the cut line leaving a clean break as shown in the above photos. 6061 t6 aluminum is tempered and notorious for not bending easily. Which aluminum alloy bends the best is a a common question customers want the answer to.

Then place the clamp bar back down on top of the aluminum crosswise. The bend radius you select may not be available if the geometry of the part will not allow us to bend with the specific tooling required to achieve that radius. Your 125 thickness will need a radius of 187 to 375 on the inside of the bend. We re having trouble bending 6061 t6 aluminum without cracking and i was wondering if you could give us a few pointers.

In high purity forms aluminum is soft and ductile. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. 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. This is done through the application of force on a workpiece.

Insert your aluminum sheet into the brake beneath the removable clamp bar. If you search for aluminium bend radius you will find that 6061 t6 should be bent with a minimum bend radius of 1 1 2 to 3 times the sheet thickness. With care and patience full size sheets of aluminium can be cut using this method. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape.

Lift the clamp bar away from the rear of the brake frame and slide the sheet in perpendicularly to the direction you want to bend it.