Sheet metal design

[EngJW]

Being a designer of mechanical parts, my knowledge of sheet metal design is very limited and I don't get to use it much other than an occasional bracket. Do you professional sheet metal designers have a favorite book, handbook, or manual that you could recommend? The SW part I can learn when needed. Thank you.

 

[ctopher]

Do a search here for "sheetmetal".

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 05
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[Nella95]

I like a lot of info on this site:

http://www.sheetmetaldesign.com/

 

[MadMango]

I was lucky in that the company I work for had 2-3 crusty sheetmetal artisans, and I was able to pick their brains over the years. We only have one now, but he's moved into weld fixture design. We do about 80% sheetmetal components in our products, so all of our design centers around our capabilities and tooling.

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[Heckler]

check this thread thread559-144477

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
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[yanceman]

Always discover the limitations and capabilities of your fabricators. I use the same bend radius in my sheet metal models that matches the radius of the brake press bend tool (about .015"). We use a .5 K-factor. We have no specific sheet metal hand book, but there's plenty of info out there. Do a Google search also.

Yanceman

 

[smcadman]

Press Brake Technology: A Guide to Precision Sheet Metal Bending, by Steve D. Benson is a book that I have used and recommend.

Flores
SW06 SP3.0

 

[berkshire]

engJW
Here is a forum that deals specifically with sheet metal issues. you can lurk over there or you can log in and join the discussion.

http://www.metalforming.com/forum/default.cfm

Have fun .
B.E.

 

[EngJW]

Thanks for the tips. Most of the threads are about using SW for sheet metal design, but people must have learned about the practice of sheet metal design long before SW was invented. I think there are some books in the HVAC about making ductwork. They might cover things like bends and joints.

 

[drawoh]

yanceman,

The sheet metal guys I deal with tell me that the next bigger bend tool they have creates a .125" radius. This matters if you are specifying aluminium. You cannot get the exact radius the aluminium catalogues tell you to specify.

JHG

 

[yanceman]

Drawoh,

.125" is a pretty big radius for a press brake, particularly if you are needing a sharp bend. In the past during my old AutoCAD days, I used 1/2 material thickness for my bend radius as a general rule.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

If it's just HVAC sheet metal try the HVAC/R engineering Forum forum403.

If it's sheet metal forming in general there are quite a few different disciplines involved. Roll forming, Press Braking, Deep Drawing, Vacuum & Hydroforming, Punching & Stamping, Spinning and probably others. Prior to the forming aspect there is "blanking" of the material which could involve Shearing, Turret Press, Laser, Plasma or Water Jet processes.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you will need several or many books to cover all the processes involved. Or shortlist which processes you think you will need. Learning the capabilities of the sheet metal manufacturers your company uses, would be most beneficial. Then you can design the product to suit their capabilities & limitations.


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