SHEET METAL WORKING

Bulk forming uses heavy machinery to apply three-dimensional stresses, and most of the processes
are considered to be primary operations. Sheet metal processes, on the other hand, generally
involve plane stress loadings and lower forces than bulk forming. Almost all sheet metal forming
is considered to be secondary processing.
Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces. If thickness is less than 6mm then it
is regarded as sheet. If thickness is greater than 6mm then it is regarded as plate.
Application of sheet metals include in Aircraft bodies, Automobile bodies, utensils used for
domestic purposes, Beverage cans.

SHEET METAL OPERATIONS

Sheet metal processes can be broken down into the following classifications
 Cutting processes -- processes which apply shearing forces to cut, fracture, or separate the
material.
 Forming processes -- processes which cause the metal to undergo desired shape changes without
failure, excessive thinning, or cracking. This includes bending and stretching.
 Finishing processes -- processes which are used to improve the final surface characteristics

CUTTING PROCESSES
The sheet metal cutting process involves cutting material by subjecting it to shear stress, usually
between a punch and die or between the blades of a shear. The punch and die may be any shape,
and the cutting contour may be open or closed. The theory of plastic deformation and fracture is
applicable to all of the operations in the sheet metal cutting processes.
Sheet metal cutting operations are classified by the following categories and terms:
1. Operations for producing blanks:
• shearing • cutoff • parting • blanking.
2. Operations for cutting holes:
• punching • slotting • perforating.
3. Operations for progressive working:
• notching • lancing.
4. Miscellaneous operations:
• trimming.

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Shearing is the mechanical cutting sheet metal to size out of a larger stock such as roll stock of
materials without the formation of chips or the use of burning or melting. To be classified as
shearing, the cutting action must be along a straight line. The cutting may be done by different
types of blades or cutters in special machines driven by mechanical, hydraulic, or pneumatic
power. Generally the operations consist of holding the stock rigidly while it is severed by the force
of an upper blade as it moves down past the stationary lower blade.
During shearing operations, three phases may be noted:

Figure 7: Schematic illustration of the phases of shearing.

Phase I —The upper blade begins to push into the work material. During this phase elastic
deformation because the applied stress on the material is lower than the yield stress. Force Fd is
applied to hold the material in place
Phase II—In this phase, the stress on the material is higher than the yield stress but lower than
the UTS. Hence there is plastic deformation on the material
Phase III —Fracture. As the blade continues to travel into the work material, fracture is initiated
in the material at the two cutting edges. The stress on the work material is equal to the shearing
stress. If the clearance between the blades is correct, the two fracture lines meet, resulting in a
separation of the work material into two parts.
Shearing would be the preferred way to cut blanks whenever the blank shape permits its use. In
most cases, however, the limitation of straight lines in a shape of bank eliminates the use of the
shears. Shearing is more economical because no expensive dies have to be made for cutting out
the blanks.

Shearing Forces
The force and power involved in shearing operations may be calculated according to the types of
blades. There are three types of blades:
1. Straight parallel blades
2. Straight inclined blades
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3. Rotary cutters.

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Shearing with straight parallel blades. The shearing force with straight parallel cutters can be
calculated approximately as

Shear strength can be estimated by

The cutting area is calculated as:

Where
b = length of the cutting material, mm
T =thickness of material, mm
This calculated shearing force needs to be increased by 20 to 40%. This is because of factors
such as
obtuseness of the cutter edge
enlarged clearance between cutters
variations in the thickness of the material
other unpredictable factors
The real force FM of the shearing machine is:

Shearing with straight inclined blades.

Shears with straight inclined blades are used for cutting material of relatively little thickness
compared with the length of cutting. Using inclined blades reduces the shearing force and
increases the range of movement necessary to disjoin the material. The penetration of the upper
blade into material is gradual and as a result, the shearing force is lower.

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The shearing force can be calculated as:

Where
n = 0.75 to 0.85 (for most materials)
k = 0.7 to 0.8 (ratio UTS/τ)

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 εot=the relative amount of penetration of the upper blade into material (Table 3.1)
ϕ=angle of inclination of the upper blade.

For shearing without a material holder, the angle of inclination of the cutter is γ =7o to 12 o. If the
angle is γ >12o, the shears must have a material holder. To make the shearing process efficient, the
cutters are made (see Fig. 3.3) with:
end relief angle γ = 3o to 12o
back angle α= 2oto 3o
lip angle β= 75o to 85o
The clearance between cutters is c = (0.02 to 0.05) mm
The real force of the shearing machine is approximated as :

Shearing with rotary cutters. The rotary shearing operation is much like shearing with straight
inclined blades because the straight blade may be thought of as a rotary cutter with an endless
radius. It is possible to make straight line cuts as well as to produce circular blanks and irregular
shapes by this method. In Fig. 9.2 is illustrated the conventional arrangement of the cutters in a
rotary shearing machine for the production of a perpendicular edge. Only the upper cutter is rotated
by the power drive system. The upper cutter pinches the material and causes it to rotate between
the two cutters.

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 Shearing force with rotary cutters can be calculated approximately as:

The real force of a shearing machine with rotary cutter is:

Rotary shearing machines are equipped with special holding fixtures that rotate the work material to
generate the desired circle. A straight edge fixture is used for straight line cutting. It should be noted
that the rotary shearing operation, if not performed properly, may cause various distortions of the
sheared part.

EXAMPLE 1
A quillotine with straight parallel blades is to sheer a metal 0.6m wide and 3mm thick.The
ultimate shear stress is 45 Mpa. Calculate the force required by the machine.

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.

a) Clearance
Clearance is defined as the space between the upper and lower blades. Without proper clearance
the cutting action no longer progresses. With too little clearance a defect known as “secondary
shear” is produced. If too much clearance is used, extreme plastic deformation will occur. Proper
clearance may be defined as that clearance which causes no secondary shear and a minimum of
plastic deformation. The clearance between straight blades (parallel and inclined) is: c = (0.02 to
0.05), mm.

Cutoff and Parting

Cutoff is a form of shearing operation in which the shearing action can occur a long line(s) or
curves. With each sequential step cutting occurs on one path. The pieces of sheet metal cutoff are
the blanks. Fig. 9 shows several types of cutoff operations. The line of cutting may be straight,
curved, or angular. The blanks need to be nested on the strip in such a way that scrap is avoided.
Some scrap may be produced at the start of a new strip or coil of sheet metal in certain cases. This
small amount is usually negligible.
The use of cutoff operations is limited by the shape of a blank. Only blanks that nest perfectly may

Figure 9: Types of cutoff.

be produced by this operation. Cutoff is performed in a die and therefore may be classified as a
stamping operation. With each cut a new part is produced. More blanks may be produced per stroke
of the press ram by adding more single-line cutting edges.

Parting is a cutting operation of a sheet metal strip by a die with cutting edges on two opposite
sides. During parting some amount of scrap is produced, as shown in Fig. 11. This might be
required when the blank outline is not a regular shape and cannot perfectly nest on the strip. Thus,
parting is not as efficient an operation as cutoff.

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 Figure 10: Types of parting.

Blanking and Punching

Blanking and punching are operations used to cut sheet metal along a closed outline in a single
step by the use of dies. The part that is cut out in the blanking operation is the workpiece and is
called the blank. Punching is very similar to blanking except that the piece that is cut out is scrap
and is called slag. The remaining stock is the workpiece.

Figure 11: a) blanking; b) punching.

The mechanics of shear in the operations of blanking or punching is shown in four phases in Fig.
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13.
Phase I. This illustration shows the cutting edges of a die and punch with clearance (C) applied.
The amount of this clearance is important, as will be shown. A strip is introduced between the
cutting edges. In phase I, during which the work material is compressed across and slightly
deformed between the punch and die, the stress and deformation in the material do not exceed the
elastic limit . This phase is known as the elastic phase.
Phase II. The punch begins its downward travel and the cutting edges of the punch penetrate the
material. The material between the cutting edges is compressed or squeezed together. Stretching
continues beyond the elastic limit of the material,

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when plastic deformation occurs. The same penetration and stretching are applied to both sides of
the strip. At the end of this phase, the stress in the work material close to the cutting edges reaches
a value corresponding to the material shear strength, but the material resists fracture.
Phase III. The strain in the work material reaches the fracture limit. Micro-cracks appear which turn
into macro-cracks. Continued descent of the upper cutting edge causes cracks to form in the material
The cracks in the material start at the cutting edge of the punch on the upper side of the work
material, also at the die edge on the lower side of the material;. Continued descent of the upper die
causes elongation until the cracks meet. This is why correct clearance is so important. If the cracks
fail to meet, a bad edge will be produced in the blank.
Phase IV. Further descent of the upper die causes the blank to separate from the strip. Separation
occurs when the punch has penetrated approximately 1/3 of the thickness of the strip. The
continued descent of the upper die causes the blank to be pushed into the die hole, where it clings
tightly because of the compressive stresses introduced prior to separation of the blank from the
strip. The blank, confined in the die hole, tends to swell, but it is prevented from doing so by the
confining walls of the die blocks the workpiece.

Figure 12: Phases in operations of blanking and punching.

Characteristic blanked or punched edges of the workpiece are shown in Fig. 13. Note that the
edges are neither smooth nor perpendicular to the plane of the sheet.

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0
 Figure 13: Characteristic blanked or punched edges of the workpiece

 Rollover – The plastically deformed zone bent as the cutting tools contact the edge of the sheet surface.
 Burnish – The zone where the cutting tools penetrate into the sheet metal, prior to any fracturing. The sheet metal stresses
are such that the surface compresses into the cutting tool, which gives it a flat, smooth, and shiny appearance. The shear
zone is another name for this region.
 Fracture – The zone where the cutting steels fracture the sheet metal, leading to separation from the remainder of the
sheet. The surface of this region is rougher than the burnish zone, and is at an angle from the cutting direction.
 Burr – The metal elongated and pushed out on the trailing edge of the cut.

The clearance c is the major factor determining the shape and quality of the blanked or punched edge.
If clearance increases, the edges become rougher, and the zone of deformation becomes larger. The
material is pulled into the clearance area, and the edges of the punched or blanked zone become more
and more rounded. In fact, if the clearance is too large, the sheet metal is bent and subjected to tensile
stresses instead of undergoing a shearing deformation.

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1
 a) Blanking and Punching Forces
Theoretically, punch force should be defined on the basis of both tangential and normal stresses
that exist in a shear plane. However, with these analyses, one obtains a very complicated formula
that is not convenient for use in engineering practice because, in this section, the force will be
calculated from a value for tangential stress alone. Punch and die with parallel-cut edges. The
cutting force for a punch and die with parallel cut edges can be calculated by the following formula:

Where
F =cutting force, N
L = the total length sheared (perimeter of hole being cut), mm
T =thickness of the material, mm
UTS= the ultimate tensile strength of the material, MPa
τm = shear strength of the material, MPa

Such variables as unequal thickness of the material, friction between the punch and work material,
or poorly sharpened edges can increase the necessary force by up to 30%, so the force requirement
of the press is

Punch and die with bevel-cut edges.

The cutting force can be reduced if the punch or die has bevel cut edges. The height of the shear
and the shear angle depend on the thickness of the material and they are

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2
Figure 14: Shear angles: a) on die; b) on punch.
The cutting force is estimated by

Where

b) Stripping Force
Since the sheet metal must be removed from around the punch, a force for this operation must be
calculated. The formula for finding the stripping force is derived from the same basic cutting force.
However, rather than using the shearing strength, the stripping force uses a constant k, which has
been verified by experiment. Values of the constant k for flat stripping are given in Table 9.2.

The force required to strip the material is as follows:

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3
where
Fs =stripping force, N
A = cutting area, mm2
k = constant (Table 9.2)

The cutting area is calculated as:

where
L =the total length sheared (perimeter of hole being cut), mm
T = thickness of the material, mm

c) Blanking and Punching Clearance

Clearance is the space (per side) between the punch and die opening (Fig .9.9) such that

Where
c =clearance, mm
dd = diameter of die opening, mm
dp = diameter of punch, mm

OTHER SHEET METAL CUTTING OPERATIONS

In addition to shearing, cutoff, parting, blanking, and punching, there are several other cutting operations
in sheet metal working. The cutting mechanism in each case involves the same shearing action discussed
previously.
a) Slotting and Perforating Slotting.
Punching and slotting are similar operations. The basic difference is that slotting refers to the

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4
cutting of elongated or rectangular holes in a blank or part, as shown in Fig. 15. Perforating.
Perforating consists of making a group of punched or slotted holes in a workpiece. The holes
may be cut simultaneously or in progressive dies. Perforated parts may have holes that are
equally or differently spaced. Fig. 16b shows a perforated part.

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5
Figure 15: Slotting and perforating: a) slotting; b) perforating
b) Notching and Lancing
Notching is a cutting operation during material(scrap) is removed from the edge of the
workpiece. Sometimes a notch may be taken on the edge of a blank. If the metal is cut
about a closed contour to free the sheet metal for drawing or forming, this operation is
called semi-notching. Semi-notching also may be used to cut out a complicated blank
progressively. In Fig. 16 are shown several commonly used notching and semi-notching
operation.

Figure 16: Examples of notching and semi-notching operations: a) notching b) semi-

notching.
c) Trimming
During the drawing operation, the blank of sheet metal must be held. This holding action retards
the flow of metal into the die and prevents wrinkling of the metal. After drawing, this excess metal
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must be removed. The cutting off of this excess metal is known as trimming. Drawn parts may be
trimmed all the way around or just partially trimmed. When trimming is performed in a horizontal
plane, the operation is called horizontal trimming. To obtain the horizontal trimming action, the
vertical motion of the press ram must be converted to a horizontal motion by the use of cams. Fig.
17 shows an example of trimming.

Figure 17: Example of trimming

d) Shaving
Of all the sheet metal cutting operations, shaving stands alone in the methods of cutting.
Shaving consists of removing a chip from around the edges of a previously blanked part. A
straight, smooth edge is provided. Punched holes may also be shaved. Shaving is accomplished
in a shaving die especially designed for the purpose. The clearance between cutting edges is
close to zero during shaving; therefore, the rigidity and alignment of the die are critical. Fig.
18 illustrates a shaving operation for improving the accuracy of a blanked workpiece.

Figure 18: Shaving a blanked workpiece.

9.3 BENDING PROCESSES
The bending operation is one of the most common sheet-metal forming operations; it is used not
only to manufacture pieces such as L, V, or U shapes, but also to improve the stiffness of a piece
by increasing its moment of inertia. Bending in a sheet metal workpiece is defined as the straining
of the metal around a straight axis, hence, the bending operation creates a straight bend line. The
bending process has its greatest number of applications in the automotive and aircraft industries
and in the production of other sheet metal products.
Mechanics of Bending
The terminology used in the bending process is

 Bend allowance. The bend allowance is the length of the arc through the bend area
at the neutral axis.
 Bend angle. The bend angle includes the angle of the arc formed by the bending operation.
 Bend lines. Bend lines, also called form tangents, are the straight lines on the inside and
outside surfaces of the material where the flange’s boundary meets the bend area.
 Inside bend radius. The inside bend radius is the radius of the arc on the inside
surface of the bend area.
 Mold lines. the mold lines are the straight lines where the surfaces of the two flanges
would meet if they were continued. This occurs on both the inside and outside of the
bend.
 Neutral axis. Since the sheet metal is stressed by tension on one surface and
compression on the other, a reversal of stress must occur. Near the center of the sheet
metal thickness, the tension diminishes and approaches zero. The same happens for the
compression. At a certain line, therefore, the stresses are zero. This plane of zero stress
is called the neutral plane. When a cross-section is made through the stressed area, the
line of zero stress is called the neutral axis.

The forces applied during bending (Fig. 9.16) are in opposite directions, just as in the cutting of
sheet metal. The bending forces, however, are spread further apart, resulting in a distortion of
the metal rather than failure. Bending has the distinct characteristic of stressing the metal at
localized areas only. This localized stress occurs only at the radius. The remaining metal is not
stressed during bending.

During the bending process, the metal on the outside of the bend radius has stretched,
indicating that a tensile stress has been applied. The metal on the inside of the bend radius has
been placed under a compressive stress. Therefore, if failure occurs during bending it will be at
the outside of the bend part. If wrinkling occurs, it will be inside of the bend part.

Theoretically, the strain on the outside and inside fibers is equal in absolute value and is given
by the following equation:
Where
Ri = inside bend radius,
mm T = material

thickness, mm

Bend Allowance
Before bending, a blank is of a certain length. The length of the neutral axis is exactly equal to
the original blank length. Because the neutral axis is a true representation of the original blank
length, it is used for blank development. Usually the desired contour of a workpiece is known.
The problem is then to find the proper length of blank for making this workpiece. The neutral
axis is used for these calculations. For a large inside bend radius (Ri), the neutral bending axis
position sits approximately at the mid-thickness of the material. For a smaller bend radius, the
neutral axis shifts toward the inside bend surface. The amount of the neutral bend axis shift
depends on the ratio of the inner bend radius to the material thickness. The general equation for
the length of arc at the neutral bending axis is given by

Where
Ln = neutral bend allowance,
mm ϕ = bend angle,

Rn = bend allowance radius, mm

The bend allowance radius Rn is the arc radius of the neutral bending axis between the bend lines,

Figure 20: Schematic illustration of pre-bend length.

According to the theory that the strain at the neutral axis is zero, then

Therefore, the bend allowance radius is

where
Ro = outside bend radius,
mm Ri = inside bend radius,
mm

The second method for defining (approximately) bend allowance radius is given by

where k= factor to estimated

stretching if
The final equations for calculating allowance are

Or

The length of the blank prior to bending is shown in

Bend Radius
One of the most important factors that influence the quality of a bent part is the bend radius R i, which must
be inside defined limits. The bend radius corresponds to the curvature of a bent workpiece, as measured at
the inside surface of the bend. The anisotropy of sheet metal is also an important factor in bend ability. As
a general rule, bending perpendicularly to the direction of rolling is easier than bending parallel to the
direction of rolling. Bending parallel to the rolling direction can often lead to fracture in hard materials.
Thus, bending parallel to the rolling direction is not recommended for cold-rolled steel whose hardness is
over Rb 70, and no bending is acceptable for cold-rolled steel whose hardness is over Rb 85. Hot-rolled steel
can be bent parallel to the rolling direction, however.
a) Minimum Bend Radius
The minimum bend radius is defined as the limit below which sheet metal cannot be bent without cracking
or splitting. The minimum radius to which a workpiece can be bent safely is normally expressed in terms
of the material’s thickness and is given by the following formula

where
c = coefficient
T = material thickness, mm
The coefficient c for a variety of materials has been determined experimentally, and some typical results
are given in Table 9.3.
b) Maximum Bend Radius
If it is considered that the bend allowance radius is Rn = Ri + T/2, the engineering strain rate is
Using a large bend radius (Ri>>T) means that the expression T/2 in the divisor will be of very
small magnitude with regard to Ri, and may be neglected, so

To achieve permanent plastic deformation in the outside fibers of the bent workpiece, the
maximum bend radius must be

where
E = modulus of elasticity, MPa
T = thickness of material, mm
 YS = yield strength, MPa
Therefore, the bend radius needs to be

If this relationship is not satisfied, then one of two results may ensue:
a) For Ri<Ri(min) cracks will develop on the outside of the bent workpiece; and
b) for Ri>Ri(max) permanent plastic deformation will not be achieved in the bent workpiece, and
after unloading the workpiece will experience elastic recovery.
Bending Force

The bending of sheet metal is similar to the stressing of a simple beam in mechanics. The basic
formula is converted for application to sheet metal bending as follows: The bending force is a
function of the strength of material, the sheet metal’s width at the bend, the thickness of the
workpiece, and the die opening.

where:
l is the length of the bend
t is the sheet thickness
K is the die geometry factor
W is the die opening width
UTS is the ultimate tensile strength.
where the factor K ranges from about 0.3 for a wiping die, to about 0.7 for a U-die,
to about 1.3 for a V-die .

a) Force for U-die

U bending profile is shown below.

Rd is the die radius

Ri is the internal bendradius
c= the clearance
b) Force for a Wiping Die
The bending force for a wiping die (Fig. 9.20), is half that for a U-die,

Rd is the die radius

Rp is the punchradius
c is the clearance
Force for V-die
Bending V-profiles may be considered as similar to air bending or coin bending. The profile of a
die for air bending V-profiles can have a right angle as shown in Fig. 23a, or an acute angle, as
shown in Fig. 23b. In this initial phase, the edges of the die with which the workpiece in contact
are rounded are at radius Rd. However, the sheet metal is supported to the tangent line with die
radius. Thus,

Figure 23: Air bending: a) right angle die profile; b) acute angle die profile
the die opening is measured to the centerline of the radius Rd. As the span is increased, the
bending force required decreases. The greater leverage permits bending with a lower force. The
radius of the punch is Rp will always be smaller than the bending radius. The constant derived for
calculating bending force in a V-die is twice that for a U-die.

c) Bottoming Force
If the bend area of the workpiece needs to be additionally placed under high compressive stress
to set the material, this operation is called bottoming. The force required for bottoming is derived
from the basic formula . Hence, the force for bottoming can be expressed by

Where
Fb = bottoming force, N
pc = compressive or setting pressure, MPa
w = width of part, mm
b = plan projected width of bead, mm2
Figure 24: Plan projection width of bead.
Example1
Two pieces of sheet metal that is bent 90 degrees for a welding operation needs to be prepared
as shown in figure below.The sheet thickness to be uswd is 1mm

Example 2

Springback
Every plastic deformation is followed be elastic recovery. During a bending operation, the fibers
of the metal nearest the neutral axis have been stressed to points below the elastic limit. When the
bending forces are removed, these fibers try to return to their original shape. Fibers strained
plastically have a certain amount of elastic recovery resulting in some degree of springback (Fig.
9.23). The forces causing springback are just the reverse of the stress placed on the metal during
bending.
While a workpiece is loaded, it will have the following characteristic dimensions as a consequence
of plastic deformation.
The final dimensions of the workpiece after being unloaded are:

To estimate springback, an approximate formula has been developed in terms of the radii Ri and
Rf ,

The final angle after springback is smaller and the final bend radius is larger

than before. Other characteristics of springback are that harder metals cause more degrees of
springback than softer metals, that a smaller bend radius causes more degrees of springback, that
more degrees of bend cause more degrees of springback, and that thicker metal causes more
degrees of springback.
Compensation for springback can be accomplished by several methods. These are
Overbending. Overbending may be accomplished by setting the punch and die at a smaller angle
than the specified angle on the final part so that the sheet metal springs back to the desired value.
Bottoming. Bottoming consists of squeezing the part at the end of the stroke. Under the high
compressive pressure, the work material is plastically deformed in the bend region of the
workpiece .

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