K Factor For Rolling Sheet Metal

Our design engineers typically use a factor of 0 4 for our air formed press brake parts.

K factor for rolling sheet metal.

The k factor depends on many factors including the material the type of bending operation coining bottoming air bending etc the tools etc. Therefore using k factor there is no need to calculate sheet metal flat length manually. When metal is bent the top section is going to undergo compression and the bottom section will be stretched. The k factor in sheet metal working is the ratio of the neutral axis to the material thickness.

Finding y factor for sheet metal bending you ll need the k factor to find the y factor. The line where the transition from compression to stretching occurs is called the neutral axis. Y factor k factor x π 2. To calculate y factor you should multiply k factor by pi and divide the result by two.

While modern bend deduction charts now are reasonably accurate historically bend calculation charts both for bend allowances and bend deductions were notorious for their inaccuracies. In my previous post i talked about k factor bend allowance and bend deduction and what they mean in sheet metal design. So if the thickness of the sheet was a distance of t 1 mm and the location of the neutral axis was a distance of t 0 5 mm measured from the inside bend then you would have a k factor of t t 0 5 1 0 5. The second formula you gave will work with steel if you modify the the 0078xt in your formula this is the neutral line the point where the metal neither stretches nor shrinks.

When you bend sheet metal the neutral axis shifts toward the inside surface of the bend. And is typically between 0 3 and 0 5. It allows you to anticipate the bend deduction for a large variety of angles without having to rely on a chart. The k factor is the ratio of the neutral axis location t to the material thickness mt.

Sheet metal flat length can be calculated using cad softwares. For example if the value of k factor for given material thickness and bending machines is known. As i mentioned in my last post you need to do some tests to calculate these values for a specific sheet. K factor a constant determined by dividing the thickness of the sheet by the location of the neutral axis which is the part of sheet metal that does not change length.

The k factor is fundamental to designing precise sheet metal products. The location of the neutral axis varies and is based on the material s physical properties and its thickness. In sheet metal design the k factor is used to calculate how much sheet metal one needs to leave for the bend in order to achieve particular final dimensions especially for between the straight sides next the bend. K factor in sheet metal bending is a constant that is used to calculate sheet metal flat length.

I had a question on k factors for our 3 d modeling software.