Bending ALUM 6063-T52, 1.50" OD X .125" WT, 4" CLR possible?

[CoolDude003]

Hello all,

I am in a bit of a desperate situation. Our company has a potential huge order that requires bending aluminum tube.
Like my title says, I want to know if I can make a 90° bend on ALUM 6063-T52, 1.50" OD X .125" Wall Thickness with a 4" center line radius, no mandrel?
This seems to be the only material I can obtain that has the best bending capability. I really wish I could get a sample so we could test it out, but all of the vendors I talked to say they need us to order $500+ worth of tube. That's a lot of money to throw away for my small company. Would anyone know if this bend would be okay without any cracking or excessive oval-ing(slight oval-ing is okay)?

Thank you!!!!

 

[btrueblood]

Where are you located? McMaster-Carr has short lengths of .060" wall tubing available in that o.d., or 1-5/8 x .205 wall also.

But, I don't think you can bend to that CLR without a mandrel, and even then it may want to buckle and tear. A 50xx alloy might be more formable.

 

[CoolDude003]

Sherman, Tx. An hour north of Dallas. We really can't deviate from 1.50" od x .125" wall. The largest CLR bend die we have is 4". We actually just ordered 24 ft of 6063-t52 to test on. fingers crossed... I'll look into 50XX grade. thanks.

 

[Ron]

6063 will bend, but the T52 temper will give you some issues with a tight radius. You can heat and bend. Consider lower temper (T1) or dead soft (6063-O,fully annealed). T52 is a T1 temper with artificial ageing. Strength will be reduced with lower temper.

 

[tbuelna]

You did not mention what type of bending equipment you have. If you are using a rotary bender, what is the reason for not using a mandrel? A 90deg bend with a CLR greater than 2.5 times the tube OD should be possible using a typical rotary bender with a mandrel. There will likely be some wall thinning, but there shouldn't be any cracking with 6063-T52 alum.

If you use a rotary bender without a mandrel, you will likely have some appreciable amount of flattening in a 90deg bend. If you don't want to use a mandrel (for whatever reason) you might get better results using a process like press bending. There are also processes like empty bending that you might consider.

Good luck.
Terry

 

[CoolDude003]

We want to avoid spending money on a mandrel if we can. It's reassuring to hear you say no cracking should occur. We're gonna have our fingers crossed that this test piece works out. Thanks!