SHEET-METAL

PROCESSES
• What is sheet-metal?
Sheet metal is metal formed by an industrial process into thin,
flat pieces.
 Metals Used In Sheet Metal work

• Black iron sheets

• Galvanized iron
• Stainless steel
• Copper
• Aluminium
• Tin plates
• Lead
• How to differentiate a sheet and a plate ?

 If thickness is less than 5 mm (1/ 4

inches) then it is regarded as sheet.

 If thickness is greater than 5 mm (1/ 4

inches) then it is regarded as plate.
 Sheet Metal Characteristics
• Sheet metal is characterized by high ratio of surface area to
thickness.

Elongation:
high uniform elongation is desirable for good formability.

Necking : localized or diffuse, depending on strain rate sensitivity of

material.
Anisotropy :
Anisotropy is caused by thermo-mechanical processing of sheet metal

• crystallographic anisotropy :
Preferred orientation of the grains.

• mechanical fibering :
Alignment of impurities, inclusion, and voids throughout
the thickness of then sheet.

Residual stresses :
Residual stresses can develop in sheet metal forming due to non
uniform deformation that take place.
 Formability Of Sheet Metal
Formability is the ability of a material to undergo
the desired shape changes without necking
failures.
 Sheet Formability Tests

• Uniaxial Tensile Test

• Bending Test
• Draw Bend Test
• Olsen Cup Test & Erichen Cup Test
• Swift Cup Test
• Limiting Dome Height Test
• Viscous Pressure Bulge Test
• Fukui Conical Cup Test
• Conical Cup Wrinkling Test
• Yoshida Buckling Test
 Uniaxial Tensile Test
Tensile testing, is also known as tension testing, is a
fundamental materials science test in which a sample
is subjected to a controlled tension until failure.

The results from the test are commonly used to

 select a material for an application

 for quality control
 to predict how a material will react
under other types of forces.
 Bending Test
The three point bending flexural test provides
values for the 

 Modulus of elasticity in bending

 Flexural stress
 Flexural strain
 The flexural stress-strain response
 Cupping Test
The sheet metal specimen is clamped between two circular flat
dies and a steel or round punch is pushed hydraulically into the
sheet metal until a crack begins to appear on the stretched
specimen

A cupping test to determine the formability of sheet metals.

 SHEARING
Shearing is a process for cutting sheet metal to size out of a
larger stock such as roll stock.
• Material thickness ranges from 0.125 mm to 6.35 mm (0.005 to 0.250 in).
• The dimensional tolerance ranges from ±0.125 mm to ±1.5 mm (±0.005 to
±0.060 in).
• The shearing process produces a shear edge burr, which can be minimized
to less than 10% of the material thickness.
•
• The major variables that affect the shearing are punch force, speed of the
punch, lubrication, The hardness of punch and die materials, the corner
radii of the punch and the clearance between die and punch.
 Shearing Operations
 Die Cutting :
• Parting or shearing a sheet into two.
• Notching or removing pieces in edges.
• Lancing or leaving a tab with removing any material

Slitting :
• Shearing operation –using circular blades
• These blades follow straight line or circular path or curved path –
depending upon requirement.
 Nibbling :
• Suitable small runs, several intricate shapes can be
produced.

Piercing :
• Creates open hole in sheet metal by separating the interior
section.

 Blanking :
• It enlarges earlier pierced hole.
 BENDING
• Most commonly used metal forming process.

• Used – form parts such as flanges curls seams and corrugation

• To impart stiffness by increasing moment of inertia

• Here straight length is transformed into curved length

 Terminology used in bending

Bend allowance – length of neutral axis in bend area.

Used to determine blank length and bend part.
BA = α (R * kt)
Where = bend angle in radians
R = bend radius
k = constant
t= thickness of sheet
For ideal case k = 0.5
 Bend by Hand

1.Place forms in vise

2.Clamp sheet metal in vise

3.Support excess sheet metal

4.Bend the metal with your mallet

5.Verify the value for material thickness in your bend
allowance calculation

• Apply heat for difficult bends

 Bending and folding with machines
 Press Brakes

Sheet metal can be bent using simple fixtures, and presses.

Press brake is usually machine that is used.

This machines uses mechanical or hydraulic press, usually suitable

for short runs and can be automated.

Die materials can of wood, steels ,carbides .

 Press Brake bending machines
• Spring back (wiping die)

In Bending ,after deformation there is an elastic recovery this

recovery is called spring back.
 ROLL BENDING
• Here three rolls is used, adjusting distance between three
rolls produces various curvatures.

• Here short pieces can also be bent.

 BEADING
Here sheet is bent into cavity of the die, improve stiffness,
imparts moment of inertia of edges

 FLANGING
Here sheet edges are bent at 90 deg. This causes hoops
stress, if excessive bent then wrinkling chances are more –
leads to cracking
 Tube Bending
• Roll Bending

• Triple Hand bender

• CNC Tube bending machine

 STRETCH FORMING
• SHEETS ARE CLAMPED AROUND ITS EDGES AND STRECHTED OVER A
DIE.
• Can be moved upwards downwards sideways depending upon
requirement.
• Primarily used to make aircraft wing skin, automobile door panels and
window frames.
• Although used for low volume prod. It is versatile and economical.
 DEEP DRAWING
• Used to shaping flat sheets into cup shaped articles.

• This is done by placing blank of appropriate shaped die and

pressed into with punch.
 Rubber Forming
• In bending and embossing of sheet metal , the female die is
replaced with rubber pad
• As a result the friction at the punch-cup interface increases ,this
increase reduces the longitudinal tensile stresses in the cup and
delays fracture
 Metal Spinning
• Known as power spinning, flow turning, hydro-spinning, and spin forging
• Produces axisymmetric conical or curvilinear shape
• Single rollers and two rollers can be used
• It has less wastage of material
• Typical products are rocket-motor casing and missile nose cones.
 Super Plastic Forming
Superplastic forming (SPF) of sheet metal has been used to produce
very complex shapes and integrated structures that are often lighter and
stronger than the assemblies they 
 Explosive Forming
• Explosive energy used s metal forming
• Sheet-metal blank is clamped over a die
• Assembly is immersed in a tank with water
• Rapid conversion of explosive charge into gas generates a shock
wave . The pressure of this wave is sufficient to form sheet metals
 Magnetic Pulse Forming
• Forming by using tensile forces to stretch the material over a
tool or form block
Peen Forming
 Stiffening Sheets
 Beveling
A bevel is typically used to soften the edge of a piece for the
sake of safety, wear resistance, or aesthetics; or to facilitate 
mating with another piece.
 Corrugation
Corrugation is a process of roll-forming steel coils into
corrugated profiles. 
• Corrugation by Hand
• Corrugation with machines (swaging machine,
and Nibbling machine)
Application of corrugation sheets
• Packaging boxes

• Roofing

• Heat exchangers
Manufacturing of Metal Honeycomb Structures
• A honeycomb structure consists of a core of honeycomb bonded to
two thin outer skins
• Has a high stiffness-to-weight ratio and is used in packaging for
shipping consumer and industrial goods
• A honeycomb structure has light weight and high resistance to
bending forces, used for aircraft and aerospace components

• 2 methods of manufacturing honeycomb materials:

1. Expansion process
2. Corrugation process
Wired edges of sheet metals
• The wired edges used for a greater amount strength

• This is done by wrapping the sheet metal around a

piece of wire

1. Wiring by hand
2. Wiring with swaging machine
Sheet Metal Folded Joints
 Equipment for Sheet-metal Forming

1. Type of forming operation

2. Size and shape of work pieces
3. Number of slides
4. Maximum force required
5. Type of mechanical, hydraulic, and computer controls
6. Features for changing dies
7. Safety features
 Economics of Sheet-forming Operations
• Sheet-forming operations are versatile and can produce the same
part
• The costs involved depend on die and equipment costs and labor
• For small and simple sheet-metal parts, die costs and lead times to
make the dies are low
• Deep drawing requires
expensive dies and tooling
• Equipment costs depend
on the complexity of the
forming operation
THANK YOU