Sheet Metal Bend Relief

Sheet metal bend relief modify a bend relief the small cut made where the bend end meets a free edge and by specifying a shape and either a depth and relief width scale or specific bend relief depth.

Sheet metal bend relief.

Preventing tearing and part deformation during the bending process. Lack of proper bend reliefs may cause tearing of the material due to localized stresses. One benefit of a bend relief is that it makes the part easier to produce. You are also able to select to extend the bend relief in the opposite direction in the case of a flange for example illustrations below.

For example if you make a partial flange as above using all the defaults the software makes relief cuts at the end of the bends as shown to the right. The bigger the bend relief the easier it is to align over the end of the tooling. In sheet metal a bend relief is an incision cut along the sides of a planned bend. Click the create relief tool button on the sheet metal ribbon tab.

Type smreliefcreate in the command bar. Select a hard edge bend face flange face or 3d solid entire model. Improper bending of sheet metal can cause material flow problems in soft material and fracturing in hard materials. Choose create relief in the sheet metal menu.

Though bend relief lengths and widths vary between projects they all share a common goal. During the bending of sheet metal material around the bend tends to stretch and deform. This article looks at two different tips associated with ensuring you have high quality sheet metal in finished products. Select an item see the note below.

In general a minimum bend relief is equal to the material thickness plus the inside bend radius.