Bend Relief Sheet Metal

Bend relief and collars near pierced areas strengthen sheet metal parts.

Bend relief sheet metal.

Synchronous sheet metal is pretty cool even cooler than just normal synchronous modeling if you ll excuse that word. A bend relief creates space between the bent and unbent surfaces so that the edge of the sheet metal is perpendicular to the bend itself. Click the create relief tool button on the sheet metal ribbon tab. If it is ok for the metal to rip the minimum bend relief is zero.

Type smreliefcreate in the command bar. Geometry of tooling imposes a minimum bend dimension. Sheet metal bend relief modify a bend relief the small cut made where the bend end meets a free edge and by specifying a shape and either a depth and relief width scale or specific bend relief depth. Grain structure in the metal sheet is critical for avoiding cracks in sheet metal parts with lugs or tabs that are cut on.

This article looks at two different tips associated with ensuring you have high quality sheet metal in finished products. Use the minimum bend dimension values in the charts below for your minimum closeness of cutout to a bend. The diagram shows one such mechanism. As per sheet metal design thumb rules the depth of bend relief should be greater than or equal to the inside bend radius of the bend and the width of the bend relief should be the same as the sheet metal thickness or more.

Select a hard edge bend face flange face or 3d solid entire model. The gap between the bend and surrounding material allows us to shape the sheet in the press brake cleanly eliminating cracking and tearing. Lack of proper bend reliefs may cause tearing of the material due to localized stresses. Parent topic using sheet metal tools search corner reliefs and bend transitions in the solidworks knowledge base.

One benefit of a bend relief is that it makes the part easier to produce. Select an item see the note below. For example if you make a partial flange as above using all the defaults the software makes relief cuts at the end of the bends as shown to the right. Enter relief size by bend radius ratio or force bend reliefs auto.

You are also able to select to extend the bend relief in the opposite direction in the case of a flange for example illustrations below. The flange which does not have relief will result in a greater amount of distortion or tearing of the adjacent material. In general a minimum bend relief is equal to the material thickness plus the inside bend radius. To eliminate this a bend relief is added so the edge of the sheet metal is perpendicular to the bend.

Refer to the chart for values for folder as well as various press brake tooling combinations.