Sheet Metal Box Design Guide

Sheet metal boxes are two part enclosures made by cutting metal sheets and then bending the resulting parts using a press brake to form a box.

Sheet metal box design guide.

If you can t visualize how the flat pattern for a box should look with sheet metal find an old shoe box or cereal box and unfold it. Sheet metal design guidelines are followed to design quality sheet metal enclosures. Selection principle of sheet metal materials. In the improved design the sheet metal only needs one bending process to complete the bending of the two sides at the same time.

Sheet metal fabrication is the process of forming parts from a metal sheet by punching cutting stamping and bending. Understanding the comprehensive performance of materials and the correct material selection have an important impact on product cost product performance product quality and processability. Bends in the same plane should be designed in the same direction. Sheet metal fabrication our basic guidelines for sheet metal fabrication include important design considerations to help improve part manufacturability enhance cosmetic appearance and reduce overall production time.

The v die is usually selected to be 5x to 8x the workpiece thickness. The patterns for a cardboard box will look very similar to what you need to plan out for the sheet metal box. 3d cad files are converted into machine code which controls a machine to precisely cut and form the sheets into the final part. Enter the desired parameters and click ok.

The most common sheet metal form is a bend. Consider material and finishing options along with design elements like bends reliefs holes and slots when developing sheet metal components before diving into the details of sheet metal fabrication recognize a basic fact of all sheet metal parts. This helps in delivering the product at low cost and faster timelines. Sheet metal materials are the most commonly used materials in the structural design of communication products.

Following all sheet metal design guidelines is very difficult in the complex part. During bending the sheet metal must bridge fully across the v die see figure 2. From the list select sheet metal box. Therefore exceptions can be there for complex features design.

Since sheet metal cannot be bent to a 90 degree position without breaking at sharp corners all bends will have an acceptable bend radius. Similarly the more complicated the sheet metal bending process the more material waste may be caused. Focus on the flange depth in the fab shop the v die width in the press brake limits the size of the flange that can be bent. Bends can give strength and shape to a part and are formed in a machine using bend brakes.

They start out flat.