What are the common sheet metal forming processes?

There are six common sheet metal forming processes. Sheet metal and flat metal play an important role in the construction and manufacturing industry. In the construction industry, it is used as a panel for buildings and houses. In manufacturing, sheet metal is used for automobile parts, heavy machinery, floor, etc. However, when manufacturing sheet metal parts, companies usually use one or more of the following forming processes.

1. Curl

The edge rolling is a sheet metal forming process. After initial production, the sheet metal usually has sharp edges with "burr". Crimping is a forming process, including removing the burr of the sheet metal to produce smooth edges.

2. Bending

Another common sheet metal forming process is bending. Sheet metal processing companies usually use brake presses or similar mechanical presses to achieve sheet metal bending. Bends do not actually create holes in sheet metal. Instead, it "bends" a die shaped sheet metal to achieve its product of the same name.

3. Ironing

The sheet metal can also be ironed to obtain a uniform thickness. For example, most aluminum cans are made of iron and aluminum. The aluminum plate is too thick to fit the original state of the beverage can, so it needs to be ironed to make it thinner and even.

4. Laser cutting

In recent years, laser cutting has become a more and more common sheet metal forming technology. This is a faster and more accurate cutting method, and can even be automatically executed by computer numerical control laser cutting machine.

5. Hydraulic forming

The sheet metal forming technology is rarely known to be hydraulic forming. Like deep stamping, hydroforming includes drawing blank on the die. So what is the difference between hydroforming and drawing? The main difference between the two processes is that drawing needs to be reduced several times, and hydraulic forming can be completed in one step.

6. Punch

Finally, stamping is a sheet metal forming process, including the use of press and die group to create holes in sheet metal. The specific operation is to place the metal plate between the punch and the die, and then press the punch down into the metal plate to form a hole.