Stainless steel bending

Stainless steel bending

Stainless steel is among the most widely used materials in numerous sectors such as food, electromedical, electromechanical, and household appliances. In addition to its corrosion resistance, it has great aesthetic value, so it is essential that the sheet metal has no surface scratches and that it is bent and worked in the correct way without damaging it. Minifaber has specialized in cold metalworking since 1960, and offers, among others, a stainless steel bending service: find all the details on this page.

See:

• The bending services offered by Minifaber

• Minifaber's pros

• Factors affecting steel bending.

Stainless steel bending in Minifaber

There are different types of stainless steel bending. At Minifaber, we know how to choose the most suitable technique to suit your specific needs. 

Air bending

Air bending of stainless steel, in which the sheet metal is placed on a die and deformed by a blade, offers different bending angles by adjusting the punch stroke while the die remains fixed.

This technique requires a very low bending force and can bend even of very thick sheet metal.

Coining

This is a type of sheet metal bending in which the blade and die close completely. This results in sheet metal bending with good repeatability, even with very small bend radii. Compared to air bending, it requires four to five times more force, which can be achieved with high-tonnage machines and tools.

Hemming

Used to avoid sharp edges in the bent sheet metal, hemming is a type of steel bending that consists of two stages: a pre-bend of about 26°–35° by air bending, followed by a stage in which the sheet metal is flattened fully to form a rounded edge free of sharp edges.

Technology and the Engineering Department, Minifaber’s pros

We have been cold metalworking since 1960. We have implemented it over time, constantly investing in technology, high-precision machinery and personnel training. 

Nowadays, for example, we have as many as seven CNC brake presses and a state-of-the-art paneling machine for bending stainless steel.

But that is not all. Before starting the stainless steel sheet bending process, our Engineering Department carries out a detailed technical analysis with the customer to analyze the project thoroughly. In this way we can: get mutual feedback, precisely analyze project feasibility, and identify the best strategy to implement the finished or semi-finished product.

Factors affecting stainless steel bending

Counting on reliable professionals for sheet stainless steel bending is essential because numerous factors affect its deformation and aesthetic appearance.

These include:

• The material properties 

• The aesthetic requirements, we must not leave marks 

• The part length in the bending direction

• The bend orientation relative to the rolling direction

• The minimum bend radius. 

Beware of springback

As with all metals, sheet metal springback must necessarily be considered in the stainless steel bending process. In fact, the operation creates some tension within the sheet metal, which is released after bending, causing the newly made bend to reopen. 

The solution is to calculate over-bending, i.e. bend more than necessary to compensate, so that the springback creates the required bend angle as specified on the customer's drawing.