Sheet metal work
Sheet metal working involves the fabrication of articles from the
sheet with by cutting, forming and joining. The examples of sheet
metal work are hoppers, covers, pipes, funnels, boxes, roofs, air
conditioning systems, ducts ,cabinets and in manufacturing of
automobiles and house hold equipments.
Product has light weight and versatile shape as compared to
forging/casting. Most commonly used – low carbon steel sheet
(cost, strength, formability). Aluminium and titanium for aircraft
and aerospace.
Sheet metal has become a significant material for,
1) automotive bodies and frames, 2) office furniture, 3) frames for
home appliances
Sheet metal materials
The commonly used sheet metal materials are
(1) Black Iron:-
It is very cheap iron metal which is rolled to desired thickness.
The main drawback of this material is that it is un coated and it
corrodes easily. So painting is required to increase the life of
products made by black iron. It is used for making tanks, pans
stove pipes etc.
(2) Galvanized Iron:-
In this the soft steel is coated with zinc to resist the corrosion. The
zinc coating is usually applied using hot dip coating process. The
appearance of the article is also improved. The zinc coating helps
to prevent oxidation. With this, soldering also becomes easier but
the welding becomes difficult due to vaporization of zinc during
welding. The articles made by GI sheet are furnaces, air
conditioners, tanks, guards, buckets etc.
(3) Tin Plate
The iron sheet is coated with tin to prevent rusting. Soldering can
be applied easily to tin plates. The coating of tin on iron sheet
may be light, medium and heavy. The articles made from tin
plates are food containers, dairy equipments, cans and pans etc.
(4) Stainless steel:-
It contains high nickel, chromium and other metals with steel. So it
becomes corrosion resistant. The strength of this steel is also high. This
is used for making utensils, sinks, chemical plants, surgical and dairy
equipments.
(5) Copper:-
The cost of the copper sheet is high but it is used for making ducts,
roofing that demand resistance to corrosion. The metal is easily
fabricated as its malleability is large. It also has a good appearance.
(6) Aluminum:-
It is rust proof metal, light in weight and long wearing qualities. It is
used for making utensils, boats, house doors and windows, aero plane
bodies etc.
Sheet metal Tools
The commonly used sheet metal tools are
(1) Stakes (2) Hammers (3) Hand Snips (4) Punches (5) Chisels (6)
Groovers and Rivet sets
Stakes:- A stake is a sort of anvil which supports the sheet for sheet metal
work. Many operations like bending, seaming or forming can be done on a
stake. These are made from forged steel, cast steel or cast iron. It consists of
a shank and a head or a horn. The shank is designed so that it can be fitted in
to a bench socket.
Hammers:-
Hammers are used in sheet metal work for forming shapes by raising,
stretching or by throwing off. Various types of hammers are:-
Mallet : These are made of soft metal
like rubber, brass, copper or wood. It is
used to strike a soft and light blow on
the metal. A mallet strikes a blow with
the minimum damage to the surface.
Scriber:-The scriber is a piece of hardened steel about
150-300 mm in length and 3-5 mm in diameter pointed
one or both ends like a needle. It is used like a pencil to
scratch or scribe lines on metal
Punch:- A punch is used
in bench work for marking
out work, locations for drilling.
Two types of the punches
are used
Snips or shears:-
These are like a pair of scissors to cut soft metal sheets. These can be
used only to cut 20 gauge or thin sheets. These are used for straight
and circular cuts.
(a) Straight Snip: These have straight blades for straight line cutting.
These are used for general purpose cutting and trimming surplus
metal.
(b) Bent snips: These are used for cutting circular or irregular curved
shapes.
Try Square:- It is made of good quality steel and consists
of two blades which are riveted at right angle to each
other. It is used to obtain an edge or surface exactly at
right angle to an already flat surface and also check
trueness of the surface
Scale :- A steel rule is the simplest length measuring
instrument marked in inches, centimeters or
millimeters. These are also made of wood or brass
Caliper :- These are used to measure or compare
distances and sizes
a) Outside Caliper :- This is used to measure the outside
dimensions of the job
b) Inside Caliper :-This is used to measure the inside
dimensions of the job
Cutting tools:-
Files:- A file is a tool having cutting teeth on the surface
and it is used to remove the material from the work to
make it smooth or the desired shape. Files are made of
hardened steel. A file consists of three parts (1) Body
(2) Tang (3) Heel (4) Handle
Chisels:-These are used for cutting and chipping away
the pieces of metal and are made of carbon steel
usually having rectangular, hexagonal or octagonal cross
section. These are mad by forging and after that the
hardening and tempering is done
Sheet metal Operations
Sheet Metal Operations
Various sheet metal operations are:-
(1) Shearing
(2) Punching
(3) Blanking
(4) Bending
(5) Drawing
(6) Stretch forming
(7) Spinning
(8) Coining
(9) Embossing
(1) Shearing:-
Shearing process is the cutting of sheet metal. Shearing
action has three stages: plastic deformation, fracture and
shear. In this process when the work piece is pressed
between the upper and lower blades of a shearing machine
and pressure is applied then plastic deformation takes place
This deformation extends in to the depth of the work piece and
fracture starts at the cutting edge of the blade. As the blade
descends further, the small fracture meet and the metal is sheared
off
(2) Blanking:-
It is the operation of cutting out flat shapes from sheet metal strip.
The removed portion is called blank which is the required product
of the operation and metal left with holes behind is discarded as
waste.
It is similar to the punching except that in blanking the removed
part is the desired product where as in punching sheet with the
hole is the desired product.
Clearance is provided on punch i.e punch is made smaller than die
size
(3) Punching
It is the process of making various shaped holes in the sheet
metal by a punch and die. The punched out material is
removed as waste.
Clearance is provided on die i.e die is made larger than
punch size, because punch provide hole size in main sheet
(4) Bending:-
Bending is a non cutting operation
performed on a press. It is the plastic
deformation of metal about a linear axis.
It requires a press tool to deform a part
to the required shape.
It is used in making of trays, boxes,
brackets, clips etc. Some important type
of bendings are angle bending, roll
bending and roll forming. In bending
usually the work is bent by placing it on
the die and then forcing the punch on it
so as to take the shape between the die
and the punch. In bending there is some
elastic recovery after the punch is
removed. This is known as spring back.
Thus if a metal is to be bent at specific
angle, the metal must be slightly over
bent to compensate for the unbending
action of spring back.
(5) Sheet metal drawing:-
It is defined as the process of making cup shaped articles from flat
sheet. The product made by this process is trays, dishes and brake
drums, cylindrical containers. The set up is similar to the blanking
except that the punch and die are given some radius so allow
smooth flow of material. The sheet is placed on the die and it is
gripped by the blank holder. After this the punch moves downward
and forces the work to take the shape of the die.
The depth of draw in this process may be shallow, medium or deep.
If the depth of the cup formed is less than its half diameter, the
process is called shallow drawing. If the depth of the formed cup is
less than its diameter then it is called medium drawing. If the depth
of the formed cup is more than its diameter then it is called deep
drawing
a) Shallow drawing:- Shape is obtained in single stage i.e. in single
step because draw depth is less than its half of the diameter.
b) Deep drawing:- Shape is obtained in multi-stages i.e. in multiple
steps because draw depth is more than its diameter.
But if you make direct deep draw from blank, then wrinkles or
cracks will be formed
(6) Spinning:-
Spinning is a cold forming process of shaping metal by
forcing it against a former while it is rotating. It is used to
produce axisymmetric parts such as lamp reflectors, cooking
utensils, bowls and bells of musical instruments from a single
piece of metal which is usually circular form.
In this the sheet blank is attached to the tail stock spindle
while the former is attached to the main spindle of the lathe.
As the spinning tool is gradually pressed against the rotating
blank, it starts taking the desired shape. Hand spinning uses
hand tools
Fig (a)
Fig (b)
(7) Embossing:-
Embossing is the operation in which projected or raised
figures are made on sheet metals on both sides. It basically
involves drawing and bending operation. There may be
negligible change in the thickness of the metal.
(8) Coining:-
Coining is essentially a cold‐forging operation except for
the fact that the flow of the metal occurs only at the top layers
and not the entire volume. This process is used to produce
coins, medals etc. where exact size and fine details are
required. A blank is squeezed between punch and die.
