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In the modern manufacturing industry, metal sheet forming is favored for its flexibility and cost-effectiveness. This technique processes metal sheets into the required shapes and sizes through a variety of processes and equipment. Post-forming, the metal sheets undergo necessary finishing steps such as surface treatment, deburring, or welding. Metal sheet forming, also known as metal sheet fabrication, is popular because the sheets are both strong and malleable, making it easy to manufacture parts that are lightweight yet durable. Its applications extend beyond food and beverage cans to include appliances, furniture, structural components, and HVAC systems. In fact, if you look around right now, you're likely to find products that incorporate metal sheets into their design.
The cost of metal sheet forming is relatively low, especially for simple designs in standard sizes. The number of processing steps needed, the complexity of the design, and the type of metal used all affect the cost. For instance, laser cutting is a high-precision method that can create a variety of shapes, patterns, and holes. The laser cutting machine is controlled by a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) system to achieve highly accurate and clean cuts. This method requires minimal post-processing and produces almost no waste, making it common in the automotive, aerospace, and electronics industries.
Bending is a frequently used and cost-effective process in metal sheet forming. Specialized but simple bending tools like press brakes are used to quickly and accurately bend metal sheets. This process is often used for vehicle body parts, enclosures, and electrical components. It can be performed on most compatible sheet metal forming materials, such as stainless steel, brass, aluminum, and galvanized steel. However, it does have limitations; the metal must maintain the same thickness throughout, and thicker materials are understandably harder to bend.
The curling process adds a hollow circular roll to the edge of the sheet metal to smooth it out, improve safety when handling, and add strength. During curling, the sheets are fed into machines that slowly roll or bend the edges into smooth, rounded shapes. Most metals, depending on their thickness and ductility, can undergo the curling process, including steel, aluminum, and brass. This process is used in HVAC, appliance manufacturing, and architecture for edges on panels, trim, or housings.
Ironing is used to make sheet metal parts smoother and ensure they have an even thickness. This is done by pushing the part through one or more metal-shaping dies that press it, slowly making it thinner and longer without changing its shape too much.
Hydraulic forming uses high-pressure fluid to shape sheet metal and can handle more complex shapes. The blank sheet is held in place over a die, which is in the shape of the final product. The sheet and hydraulic chamber are sealed off, and fluid is pumped directly into the chamber at high speed. As the hydraulic pressure builds up, the fluid presses the metal against the die, forcing it to conform to the shape of the die. This process is suitable for aluminum, stainless steel, brass, and other ductile metals and is commonly used in automotive, medical, and aerospace industries.
Deep drawing is used for intricate and hollow cylindrical shapes like cooking pots, beverage cans, and car door panels. The process involves the sheet metal being placed over a die, then pressed with a punch into an open cavity, causing the material to undergo plastic deformation. This process allows for precisely made complex shapes and designs with deeper features.
Shearing is used to cut sheet metal along a straight line, which is helpful when either cutting the material into smaller pieces or trimming its edges. A shearing machine has two blades that slide past each other, like giant scissors, to cut the metal. This is one of the most widely used processes for sheet metal forming, mainly because it’s convenient, quick, produces minimal waste, and reduces costs when making high volumes.
Punching makes holes, slots, or specific shapes by punching the unwanted material out. The metal sheet is held in place against a die, which is in the shape of the final cut-out. A punch is driven down into the sheet metal, pushing it into the die, which shears off the material precisely along the edges of the die, producing the completed cut-out in the material. This automated process is quick, efficient, and ideal for high-volume production of enclosures, brackets, panels, and many other products.
There are six main sheet metal materials used in manufacturing and suitable for sheet metal forming. At Unofactory, we offer instant quoting on sheet metal forming for these materials and more.
Stainless Steel: This material is extremely strong, has good malleability, and is corrosion-resistant, making it very common in medical and food and beverage industries.
Aluminum: Another option with excellent corrosion resistance and malleability is aluminum. This lightweight metal also has thermal and electrical conductivity and an impressive strength-to-weight ratio. It’s used in everything from household and industrial appliances to aerospace components and power lines.
Hot-Rolled Steel: Used in construction and for things like automotive chassis and railroad tracks, hot-rolled steel is a cost-effective material that’s fairly easy to form, although it’s not designed for parts that need extreme precision.
Cold-Rolled Steel: There are a few more steps to forming this material than hot-rolled steel, but this just makes it stronger. It’s used in home appliances, structural components, and aerospace parts.
Galvanized Steel: This is a durable and affordable metal with good corrosion resistance. It’s often used in roofing, air conditioning, refrigeration, and industrial machinery.
Copper: This extremely malleable material has good electrical and thermal conductivity, which is why it’s so often found in electrical applications.
We often form sheet materials 0.6mm to 6.35mm thick, but depending on the design and the type of metal, we can support other gauges.
Despite the multitude of different processes available, many industries time and time again turn to sheet metal forming for their manufacturing needs. This versatile method is less expensive than some other manufacturing methods, like casting or forging. The process is flexible, allowing for many different designs and applications.
Since the metal sheets used are typically very thin, the parts are lightweight with a great strength-to-weight ratio. Sheet metal forming offers malleability, precision (both in the forming processes and parts created), and can be formed with lots of different metals, such as the ones we've outlined in the section above. The created parts are strong, durable, weather-resistant, high load-bearing, and long-lasting. Another reason companies love sheet metal forming is because they’re able to produce items in small batches—ideal for rapid prototyping.
"Sheet metal forming can be very cost-effective because you are using low-cost, flat sheet stock. Through a variety of tools like brakes, you can form it into robust 3-dimensional shapes."
Sheet metal forming might not be ideal in certain circumstances. For instance, it’s not the best for making parts with highly complex designs, and a more detailed product could end up taking much longer and costing a lot more. To start making products yourself using sheet metal forming, you’ll need to make a hefty initial investment for all the equipment and tools needed (unless you let Unofactory handle things for you). Also, the process often requires numerous manual steps, making it quite labor-intensive.
For certain less malleable materials, you’ll have to look for another manufacturing method, as sheet metal forming is not suitable for these types of metals. For example, tool steel is a hard and brittle material that’s not ductile or malleable. If you were to put it through metal forming, it would simply crack or break in a non-usable condition.
The disadvantages of sheet metal forming aren’t enough to dissuade countless industries from avidly using it—its pros far outweigh the cons. In aerospace, sheet metal forming is often used for fuselages and structural components in aircraft and spacecraft. The automotive industry also uses it for structural parts like body panels and chassis components.
Housings and enclosures for medical equipment and devices are often made via sheet metal forming, as this process meets the industry’s strict standards and regulations. The process is used a lot in construction for things like beams, columns, brackets, long-lasting and weather-resistant roofing sheets, and ductwork for HVAC systems. In household appliances, you’ll find many parts, like enclosures and frames, that are made via sheet metal forming. If you use a desktop computer with a tower, you're likely to find it's comprised of metal sheet cut and bent panels.