Sheet metal processing

The sheet metalworking includes various Production processesfor manufacturing custom sheet metal products. The starting material of the sheet metal processing is a sheet metal sheet or coarse sheet metal, which is brought into the desired shape and the desired design by cutting, forming, joining and finishing in various processing steps.
Due to the multiplicity of different functions and applications, different methods for sheet metal processing are used in the metal processing industry. The most common methods include welding, cutting, bending, punching, shaping, rolling and joining.

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What do you mean sheet metal processing?

Sheets are made from various materials from steel, copper and aluminum to brass alloys. A prerequisite for sheet metal processing is a certain toughness and strength of the material in order to be able to deform the sheet metal. Sheet metal is usually characterized by a rectangular and flat shape, a small thickness and a high elasticity.

Sheet metal processing at Gebr. Blum GmbH

In the first step of sheet metal processing, the desired shape of the sheet parts is determined. Then, using 3D CAD systems, the unfoldings are calculated based on the final part geometry. After the design phase, various processes from the main groups are used in actual sheet metal processing:

Cutting
Forming
Joining
Finishing

The material properties of sheet metal parts can already be influenced in the course of metal processing by adding elements such as silicon, chromium, nickel, titanium, copper or molybdenum to the base material in the liquid state.

Due to the large number of manufacturing processes, industrial companies specializing in sheet metal processing usually have complete machine parks. Sheet metal parts are an integral part of assemblies in various industries. Typical products of sheet metalworking include:

White goods for household appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers or microwaves
Furniture or furniture frames made of sheet metal
Electronic components such as control cabinet housing, enclosures or housings of electrical appliances
Automotive body parts

Stamping sheet of Hohenloher Spezialmöbelwerk Schaffitzel GmbH + Co. KG

What procedures are there and when are they used?

The sheet metal processing comprises a whole series of manufacturing processes, which are usually assigned to the four areas of separation, forming, joining and finishing. The following list provides an overview of the most important processes of sheet metal processing:

Trace

Laser cutting:
Precise cutting of sheet metal parts by means of continuous or pulsed laser radiation
Scissors:
Splitting sheet metal parts by two scissors moving past one another
Saws:
Severing sheet metal by special sheet metal saws, either manually or on automated CNC machines
Punching:
Cutting geometrically defined molds from sheet metal parts using a punching tool.
In industry, CNC machines are usually used for punching
Drill:
Inserting holes with a certain diameter into the sheet.
The holes in the sheet metal part serve, for example, for the subsequent screw connection with other assemblies.
Frenches:
Cutting sheet metal parts using a milling cutter.
This technique is used especially when the laser and punching technology reaches its limits

Reforms:

Bending
Defined forming of sheet metal parts at a certain angle or radius.
between different sub-methods, such as edges or edges,
differentiated from swivel bending, die bending and round bending.

Assembling:

Welding:
The welding of sheets serves to produce welding assemblies.
Different methods such as MIG, MAG, WIG and spot welding are used.
Soldering:
Positive connection of sheet metal parts by melting a solder or by diffusion at the interfaces
Folding and creasing:
During folding, thin-walled sheets are optionally flanged by 90° to form a standing fold or by 180° to form a envelope. By means of the combination with the tilting, the positive connection of the components is possible.
Riveting:
Plastic deformation of the material on a connecting hole
Screwing
Force-locking connection of sheet metal parts via prefabricated holes

Reproduction:

Functional procedures
Production of corrosion and wear protection
Decorative procedures
Individual design of the gloss or the color of the sheet

Press from Thüringer Agrartechnik & Maschinenbau GmbH

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Laser part - cutting and bending

Inquiry sheet processing

Heat sink holder

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