Class-24

Date: 5.10.20

Sheet metal operations..

 Sheet metal forming
• Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces.
• Sheet metal is generally produced in sheets by reducing the thickness of work piece by
compressive forces applied through a set of rolls.
• These sheets can be bent, cut and molded into any shape for use anywhere.

Sheet metal characteristics

• Sheet metal is characterized by high ratio of surface area to thickness.
• Forming is generally carried out in tensile forces
• Decrease thickness should be avoided as far as possible as they can lead to necking
and failure.
Sheet Metal Operations Applications of sheet metals
• Shearing • Aircraft Bodies
• Blanking • Automobiles bodies
• Bending • Utensils used for domestic purposes
• Stretch forming • Beverage cans
• Deep drawing
• Redrawing
SHEARING
Shearing is a process for cutting sheet metal to size out of a larger stock
Material thickness ranges from 0.125 mm to 6.35 mm. The dimensional tolerance ranges
from ±0.125 mm to ±1.5 mm.
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.
 CLEARANCE
Clearance (C)
– Distance between punch and die
– 4%-8% of sheet thickness
Small Clearance: double burnishing, large cutting force ,
good cut edges, forces required is more, tool withdrawal is
difficult.
Large Clearance: Sheet becomes pinched, excessive burr,
rough edges, formation of burr, material is pulled rather
being cut
CLEARANCE = C = d – d1

CLEARANCE PER SIDE = C/2 = 0.0032*t* √ τ (mm)

t=material thickness mm
τ= shear stress (MPa)
Generally clearance is of 5 to 10% of material thickness.
Punching force F = τ * t * L (N)
Here, τ - shear strength (MPa), t - thickness of sheet, L - length of cutting edge
(For round hole of diameter D, L = π * D)
Prob: Determine the die and punch size for blanking a circular disc of 20 mm diameter from a C20
steel sheet whose thickness is 1.5 mm. Shear strength of C20 steel is 294 MPa.

Piercing

Blanking
Class-25
Date: 6.10.20

Sheet metal operations..

Blanking/Piercing..
Bending..
Punch and Die arrangement

Piercing

Blanking
 Compound Die

Blanking
Progressive Die

Piercing

Blanking
 BENDING
Most commonly used metal forming process.
Here straight length is transformed into
curved length
Bend allowance – length of neutral axis in
bend area. Used to determine blank length
and bend part.
Bend allowance B= α (R + kt),
Where α = bend angle, radians
R = inside radius of bend, mm
t= thickness of sheet, mm
k = constant,
= 0.5 when R> 2t
= 0.33 when R<2t
Calculate the length of sheet required for making the component (as shown in Figure)
out of 3.5 mm C20 steel sheet
When R <2t, k=0.33
90
Bend allowance= 𝐵1 = ∗ 2 𝜋(6 + 0.33 ∗ 3.5)
360
=?
When R >2t, k=0.5
90
Bend allowance= 𝐵2 = ∗ 2 𝜋(10 + 0.5 ∗ 3.5)
360
=?
Total length L= 60- 2*(6+3.5)+B1+80- 2*(12+3.5)+B2+60

𝐵1 = 11.23 mm
𝐵2 = 18.44 mm
L= 179.6 mm
Different types of bending operations
Class-26
Date: 9.10.20

Other sheet metal operations..

 Rotary piercing or Tube piercing
• Thick-walled seamless tubing can be made by rotary
piercing,
• A heated billet is fed longitudinally into the gap
between two large, convex-tapered rolls.
• These rolls are powered to rotate in the same
direction, but axes of rolls are offset from axis of
billet by about 6°, one to right and the other to left.
• Clearance between rolls is preset at a value less
than diameter of billet.
• As billet is caught by rolls, it is simultaneously
rotated and driven forward.
• The reduced clearance between rolls forces billet to
deform into a rotating ellipse.
• Rotation of the elliptical section causes the metal
to shear about the major axis.
• A crack tends to form down the center axis of
billet, and cracked billet is then forced over a
pointed mandrel that enlarges and shapes the
opening to form a seamless tube.
• The result is a short length of thick-walled
seamless tubing, which can then be passed
through a reeler and sizing rolls to straighten it
and reduce the diameter and/or wall thickness.
• Seamless tubes can also be expanded in diameter
by passing them over a larger mandrel.
• As the diameter and circumference increase, the
walls correspondingly thin.
Other sheet metal operations

• SHAVING – for close tolerance , the blanking or

piercing process are followed by shaving, which
removes burrs left on the product.
• NIBBLING - Nibbler (tool) move straight up and
moves down rapidly; Sheet metal is fed in gap
between two cutting tools and produces
overlapping holes; Suitable for small runs; several
intricate shapes can be produced.
 Other sheet metal operation

• TRIMMING – In drop forging or die casting, small

amount of extra material spread out near the
parting plane, which termed as flash. The flash can
be removed by similar tool used for blanking
operation.
• NOTCHING – A method to cut a specific small
portion of metal towards the edge of the stock
Stretch forming
Spinning
Spinning operation steps