Best Aluminum For Sheet Metal Bending

The top 3 aluminum alloys for being are the 3003 which has medium strength and the best cold workability the 5052 which is the highest strength alloy of the more common non heat treatable grades and the 6061 which is one of the more versatile heat treatable alloys.

Best aluminum for sheet metal bending.

This is the highest strength alloy of the more non heat treatable grades. Bending is one of the most common sheet metal fabrication operations. That s the ideal anyway but the reality is that many parts arrive at the press brake in a less than ideal state. 6061 t6 aluminum is tempered and notorious for not bending easily.

6061 in o condition 18 to 20 percent. The force must exceed the material s yield strength to achieve a plastic deformation. This is a highly technical and potentially dangerous process best left to a professional metalworker. It can be easily drawn or formed into intricate shapes.

Alloy 5052 has a good resistance to marine atmosphere and salt water corrosion and excellent workability. Also known as press braking flanging die bending folding and edging this method is used to deform a material to an angular shape. The best aluminum alloys for bending come down to series 3xxx and series 5xxx and sometimes series 6xxx. Heavy gauge aluminum bars or rods must be heat bent using an acetylene torch and vice.

Spring steel or 6061 aluminum are some examples. 5052 h32 soft aluminum the inside radius is between 11 and 13 percent of the die opening. Use the minimum bend dimension values in the charts below for your minimum closeness of cutout to a bend. Hot rolled pickled and oiled 14 to 16 percent.

Series 7xxx are the aluminum zinc magnesium and aluminum zinc copper alloys. 304 stainless steel 20 to 22 percent. 60 ksi tensile cold rolled steel 15 to 17 percent. From a bending perspective it s always best to bend these parts in an annealed state and then temper them to the correct condition.

This is done through the application of force on a workpiece. A bending brake will be best suited for shaping flat square sheets of light gauge aluminum. The bend radius you select may not be available if the geometry of the part will not allow us to bend with the specific tooling required to achieve that radius. These heat treatable alloys exhibit great strength good corrosion resistance and ease of formability.

The are mainly used in architectural applications.