SHEET METAL
SHEET METAL
Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat
pieces.
It is one of the fundamental forms used in metal working,
and can be cut and bent into a variety of different shapes.
Thicknesses can vary significantly, although extremely
thin thicknesses 0.15 mm (0.0060in) are considered foil
or leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 in) are
considered plate.
The thickness of the sheet metal is called its gauge.
The higher the gauge, the thinner the metal is.
SHEET METAL
There are many different metals that can be made into
sheet metal, such as: Aluminium, Brass, Copper, Steel, Tin,
Nickel and Titanium.
For decorative uses, important sheet metals include
Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
Sheet metal has applications in car bodies, airplane
wings, medical tables, roofs for building and many other
things.
STANDARD SHEET METAL GAUGES
Gauge Steel[2] Galvanized steel Stainless steel Aluminium Zinc[2]
1 0.2391 (6.0731) - - - 0.006
2 0.2242 (5.6947) - - - 0.008
3 0.2092 (5.3137) - - - 0.010
4 0.1943 (4.9352) - - - 0.012
5 0.1793 (4.5542) - 0.1875 0.1443 0.014
6 0.1644 (4.1758) 0.1681 0.1719 0.1285 0.016
7 0.1495 (3.7973) 0.1532 0.1563 0.1144 0.018
8 0.1345 (3.4163) 0.1382 0.1406 0.1019 0.020
9 0.1196 (3.0378) 0.1233 0.1250 0.0907 0.024
10 0.1046 (2.6568) 0.1084 0.1094 0.0808 0.028
11 0.0897 (2.2784) 0.0934 0.094 0.072 0.032
12 0.0747 (1.8974) 0.0785 0.0781 0.0641 0.036
13 0.0673 (1.7094) 0.0710 0.07 0.057 0.040
14 0.0598 (1.5189) 0.0635 0.0625 0.0508 0.045
15 0.0538 (1.3665) 0.0575 0.056 0.045 0.050
16 0.0478 (1.2141) 0.0516 0.0500 0.0403 0.055
17 0.0418 (1.0617) 0.0456 0.044 0.036 0.060
18 0.0359 (0.9119) 0.0396 0.0375 0.0320 0.070
19 0.0329 (0.8357) 0.0366 0.034 0.028 0.080
20 0.0299 (0.7595) 0.0336 0.031 0.025 0.090
21 0.0269 (0.6833) 0.0306 0.028 0.023 0.100
22 0.0239 (0.6071) 0.0276 0.025 0.02 0.125
23 0.0209 (0.5309) 0.0247 0.022 0.018 -
24 0.0179 (0.4547) 0.0217 0.019 0.017 -
25 0.0164 (0.4166) 0.0202 0.017 0.014 -
26 0.0149 (0.3785) 0.0187 0.016 0.0126 -
27 0.0135 (0.3429) 0.0172 0.014 0.0113 -
28 0.0120 (0.3048) 0.0157 0.013 0.0100 -
29 0.0105 (0.2667) 0.0142 0.011 0.0089 -
30 0.0097 (0.2464) - - - -
31 0.0090 (0.2286) - - - -
32 0.0082 (0.2083) - - - -
33 0.0075 (0.1905) - - - -
34 0.0067 (0.1702) - - - -
35 0.0064 (0.1626) - - - -
36 0.0060 (0.1524) - - - -
Thickness is in inches except for values in parentheses which are in millimeters
WHY SHEETMETAL?
LOW COST
COMPLEX PARTS CAN BE MADE
HIGH STRENGTH-TO-WEIGHT FACTOR
GOOD FINISH (NO FINISHING
OPERATION REQUIERD)
UNIFORM CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE
UNIFORM DIMENSIONS
INTERCHANGABILTY OF PARTS
STAMPING
Stamping is used as a general term for all
sheet metal operations
Production rates are high and secondary
machining is not required for finishing
Stamping process may be described as the
use of force or pressure to cut or form a piece
of sheet metal to desired shape
Application of sheet metal
All most all items we use in our daily life
have a sheet metal part, like
1. Machine tools
2. House hold appliance
3. Automotives
4. Clothing
5. Office
6. Shops………. Etc.
Materials for SHEET METALS
Materials used for sheet metal is classified
into 3 Categories
1. Ferrous Metals
2. Non-Ferrous metals
3. Non-metallic materials
Ferrous metals
The group contains alloy in which the
principle element is iron.
This is always the first choice in sheet metals
its available in two forms cold-rolled and hot
rolled ,low carbon (.05-0.2%)
Some areas were strength is required, high
carbon steels are also used, but its very
difficult to get to the desired shape
Nonferrous Metals
Aluminum is the main metals which is used is
so widely .
Copper and its alloy beryllium copper ,
phosphor bronze, cupronickel & nickel silver
is also widely used.
Expensive metals like gold , titanium
molybdenum are also used for special
applications
Sheet Metal Operations
Sheet metal operation can be divided into
two categories
1) Cutting
2) Non cutting (Forming)
Cutting Operations
Cutting operations is classified according to the action
or shape it produces
Shearing ,cutoff ,parting & blanking is used to produce
blanks
Punching, slotting & perforating are used to produce
holes
Notching, parting & lancing are used for progressive
working
Trimming ,slitting and shaving is used for size control.
Fine blanking, high speed blanking are used to meet
special purpose
Forming Operations
Forming operation include bending, spinning,
drawing ,embossing, coining, dimpling etc.
Shearing
Shearing is the
cutting action along
straight line to
separate metals
Machine used for
shearing is called
Squaring Shears
Cutoff
Cutoff is the cutting action along a line, it may
involve one or more cuts where the line of cut
may be straight , angular , jogged or curved
Its versatile compared to shearing
Small qty of scrap will be produced at the
start and end of the strip
Parting
CUTT OF LINE
Parting is nothing
but a two cutoff
operation, using a
single punch to
produce blanks as
shown in the fig.
Blanking
Blanking is a shearing
process in which a
predetermined contour
is cutout from a stock
(strip of sheet)
Perforating
Perforating is also a
punching operation it is
user to punch many
holes with a specific
pattern for decorative
purpose
Punching (Piercing)
Punching is the operation
in which clean holes are
produced
Differences between
BLANKING AND PUNCHING
BLANKING Vs PUNCHING
In BLANKING THE CUT OUT PART IS THE
COMPONENT AND STOCK IS THE SLUG
While in PUNCHING THE CUT OUT PART
IS THE SLUG AND STOCK BECOMES THE
COMPONENT
Notching
Notching is a cutting
operation used for
removing piece of
metal from edge of
a strip to a required
blank, before its is
detached from the
strip
Lancing
Lancing is cutting along a
line without freeing the
scrap from the product
Shaving
Shaving involves cutting
off metal in a chip fashion
to obtain accurate
dimensions, it also
removes the shear edges
of sheet. Shaving is done
by keeping less clearance
Trimming
In trimming, the cutting is
done to obtain a clean
trim line, this is done to
cut off the flanges of
drawn cups.
Trimming is done by
pinching or pushing the
flange or lip of the cup to
a cutting die and punch
Bending
One of the most
important press tool
operations in which
sheet metal is
plastically deformed to
achive the shape
Shrink Flanging
In shrink flanging line
of bend is convex
curve. Flange length
should be limited to
prevent wrinkles
Straight Flanging
In this operation
bending is done along
straight line
Hole Flanging
Hole flanging involves
stretch flanging of hole in
the product. It requires a
small pre punched hole.
This is done to provide
threads to the hole
Shallow and Deep Drawing
Drawing is used for
shaping flat sheets into
cup shaped work pieces.
if the depth of the cup is
equal or more than the
radius of the cup its
called deep drawing else
shallow drawing
Embossing
Embossing is the process
that produce shallow
indentation or raised design
with no much change in
sheet thickness. Its
achieved by local stretching
of sheet metal into crisp
contours
Coining
Coining is used to achieve
specified design on sheet
metal by thickening and
thinning the work. Its done in
a closed die in which all
sheet metals are confined
and restricted which give rise
to a well defined imprint on
the work
Spinning
Spinning is a method of
forming sheet metal into
cylinders, cones,
hemispheres by combined
force of rotation and
pressure, there is no
change in thickness.
This operation is carried
out in lathe as shown in
the fig.
Curling & Wiring
During wiring the metal is
curled up over a length of
wire to strengthen the edge
of sheet metal, when wire is
not used the operation is
called curling, often these
are done in flat pieces or on
a round parts such as cans
or drums.
Hemming and Seaming
Hemming and
seaming are the
process of joining
two edges of sheet
metal by multiple
bending, it improves
Dimpling
Dimpling is producing a
small conical flange
around a hole in sheet
metal parts that are to
be assembled with
flush or flat headed
rivets
Summary
These are the most common sheet metal
operations involved in a press tool to get the
components these operations are done in
sequence in a same tool or in different tools
(stages) to obtain he components.
DESIGN CONSIDERATION FOR
SHEET METAL COMPONENTS
Design Considerations
Bend Allowances
Bend Deduction
K-Factor
Tolerances
Flatness
Grain Direction
Tolerances
Sheet Metal Tolerances should not be tighter
than necessary,which will increase the cost of
manufacturing.
Tolerance Value of +/- .010 should be
considered minimum.
Tolerance Value of +/- 0.020 is general.
Flatness
Flatness specifications are applied at perfect
form not reqd. at max. material condition.
Flatness tolerance of 0.005” is the best
Grain direction
A Grain is formed in the metal in the direction
in which the sheet is rolled at the mill.
Grain direction is necessary to maintain
minimum bend radius and to prevent spring
back on parts with large radius forms
