Knowing Sheet Metal Fabrication: Process & Advantages

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Sheet metal fabrication is the process of forming metal sheets to the desired shape using different manufacturing methods. The completion of sheet metal part usually composed of cutting, forming, joining to surface treatment and assembling. Material used for sheet metal fabrication include brass, steel, copper, tin, titanium, aluminum, etc.,

Components formed from sheet metal fabrication can be used in variety industries, such as construction, automotive, aircraft, consumer products, furniture, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC).

Sheet Metal Fabrication: Cutting

This technique involves manual and power tools or handheld plasma torches from Computer Numerical Control (CNC) cutters. There are two categories of cutting: cutting with and without shear forces.

Cutting with Shear

Shear cutting can be distinguished as basic cutting, shearing, and blanking that are mostly used for non-industrial end products due to the lower precision compare to the process without shears.

Cutting without Shear

Cutting without shears is particularly useful in the precision industrial products. The processes used in fabrication include laser beam cutting, waterjet cutting, plasma cutting and machining.

• Laser-beam cutting uses an intensely focused, coherent stream of light called lasers to cut through the material. When the laser hits work piece, the material heats up to the extent that is melt or vaporize. The laser power is concentrated on one point in this process, if more heat is put into this area than can dissipate through thermal conduction, the laser beam will penetrate the material. The laser beam accomplished cutting techniques without any contact which avoid the wear of tool and work piece. Laser Cutting is suited for thin or medium sheet metal.
• Waterjet Cutting is simply an accelerated erosion process that utilizes a high-pressure stream of water and mixed with an abrasive substance to erode the material during cutting. Waterjet cutting is especially suited for metal with lower melting point due to it does not generate heat which could potentially incur distort material.
• Plasma Cutting (plasma arc cutting) utilized an ionised, focused jet of gas at temperature above 20,000°C to slice through sheet metal. Plasma can be safely used with most-ferrous metals. The process gives better precision on material under 12mm thick and can be a low-cost alternative to laser cutting.
• Machining cuts off pieces of material using tools such as drill or lathe blades which extend to the processes such as milling and turning.

Sheet Metal Fabrication: Forming

This technique reshapes and reconfigures the material to the desired profiles. Forming processes included bending, stamping, roll forming, stretching and spinning.

• Bending uses CNC bending equipment, e.g., press brake to bend sheet metal by lowering a punch onto a sheet metal that has been positioned on top of a die into U-shapes, V-shapes. The angles can be from 0-120 degrees.
• Stamping also called pressing which is a complex process that can included a number of metal forming techniques e.g., punching, bending, coining, embossing and flanging. It involves placing flat sheet into a mechanical or hydraulic stamping press with a tool and a die.
• Roll Forming utilizes a roll forming line to progressively shape sheet metal through a series of bending operations. Typical roll form parts include panels, tracks, shelving, etc. and are commonly applied in industrial and commercial buildings for roofing, lighting and storage units.
• Stretching is a metal forming process a sheet metal is stretched and bent simultaneously over a die in order to form large contoured parts. Spinning consists of a sheet metal that is placed onto a mandrel on a lathe and the tool shapes the sheet to the mandrel shape which is mostly used to produce round metal part.

Sheet Metal Fabrication: Assembly

Once created, there are various way to joining sheet metal parts for different application. Various techniques in assembly including welding, riveting, brazing, and adhesive use.

• Welding involves fusing parts together by using heat to melt a section of the metal where it will intersect with another component while adding a filler. Different types of welding e.g., arc, MIG, TIG which offer different welding ability to different material.
• Riveting utilizes the small metal parts (rivet) embed through metal sheet by either drilled in, punched, or making a hole to join them. Afterwards, deform the rivet tails by smashing or pounding and hold the rivet in position.
• Brazing is similar to welding, however, it melts filler metal without melting the sheet parts. The joint is created while molten filler metal solidifies to make the joint between similar or dissimilar metal parts.
• Adhesive is capable of holding metal sheets together by surface attachment while resists separation. Contemporary adhesive technologies help increasing the strength of the joints and the structure integrity without using welding or mechanical fasteners. Furthermore, flexible adhesive are able to absorb stresses caused by flexing, impact, and vibration. Typical adhesive application includes office furniture, cabinets and foodservice equipment, etc.

Various finishing processes e.g., deburring, coating and sandblasting can be performed on fabricated parts.

Advantages of Sheet Metal

• Economical: Sheet metal is light, high-quality and efficient, moreover, it is affordable.
• Variety: There are several sheet metals such as thin aluminum, stainless steel, magnesium, brass, copper etc., are common types that you can easily applied in sheet metal projects.
• Precision: Sheet metal projects can be accomplished using modern computerized technology which makes the measurements particularly accurate.
• Strength and Durability: Sheet metal parts are often able to endure greater pressure and heat than plastic that used in plastic fabrication.
• Flexible Design: Sheet metal projects leave room for many different solutions when clients demand for certain functionality.
• Single Prototypes to Mass Production: Sheet metal fabrication processes are suitable for a gradual transition from prototyping to large-scale productions for larger quantities.

CDG with integrated engineering techniques, years of experience, professional execution, quick prototyping, our specialists create parts that comply with your unique specifications using sheet metal fabrication.