Fundamentals of Press brake

Fundamentals of Press brake

If you’re new to the art of metal fabrication or just want to brush up on the three basic kinds of bending, then this article is for you.

As professionals in the field, we recognise that metal manufacturing necessitates a high level of competence and precision. It can be tough to identify and understand the fundamentals among the vast amount of information available.

To help you solve this issue we have curated this article which talks about air bending, bottom bending, and coining.

Coining:?

The name 'coining' stems from the process of producing coins. Machines with extraordinarily high tonnage crushed a metal disc with enough force to make it conform to the image imprinted on the die set to put Lincoln's profile on a penny.?

Coining with a press brake, on the other hand, entails applying enough force to mould the sheet metal to the exact angle of the punch and die.

The metal is not only twisted during coining but is also thinned by the impact of the punch and die as it is pushed between them.?

The assumption is that if you have enough tonnage, your sheet metal will bend to the exact angle of your tooling, thus your tooling should be a perfect fit for the angle necessary.

Bottom Bending:

The punch and die are brought together in bottom bending, or 'bottoming,' so that the material comes into contact with the punch tip and the V-opening sidewalls. The punch and die don't entirely contact the metal, and there isn't enough tonnage employed to actually imprint or thin the metal, as opposed to coining.

The material does not completely adhere to the tooling's bend angle since bottom bending needs less tonnage than coining. In fact, after bending, the metal experiences "spring back," or a natural relaxation to a broader angle. To achieve a specific angle during bottom bending, you'll need tooling with a little more acute angle to accommodate for spring back once the sheet is released.?

Air Bending:

For a myriad of purposes, air bending is the most popular method of press brake shaping we see today. First, it requires significantly less tonnage to achieve, second, a simple 85° Die may achieve many angles, and third, less tooling is needed, resulting in lower long-term investment costs. There is also less touch with the material that is being created.

Air bending works by pushing the material into the die just far enough to obtain the desired angle plus a little extra to account for material spring back. Again, varied bend angles may be achieved with the same set of tools, which is a significant cost saving. The angle of the punch and die is determined by the thickness of the sheet metal, its elasticity, strength, and spring back. Because of its flexibility, this method provides for greater precision, but it necessitates precisely positioned equipment.

Contact our specialists for more information on the three types of press brake bending, or come see our machines in action at Imtex 2022 to see how they perform bending operations. You can now schedule a demo at+91 70693 00958.