What is Sheet Metal Fabrication?

Introduction

In modern industry, in addition to the CNC machining technology we often mention, there is another metal processing technology that is widely used in the manufacturing industry. The two complement each other to a certain extent. This metal processing process is called sheet metal fabrication technology.

This processing technology has existed for many years, and with the progress of society, it is constantly developing, and its application areas involve all areas of our lives. In this guide, we will introduce this processing technology from the following directory content.

What is sheet metal fabrication?

Sheet metal fabrication refers to the process of processing metal sheets through specific sheet metal processes (cutting, stamping, folding assembly, etc.) to form sheet metal parts of customized shapes. The thickness of metal sheets for sheet metal manufacturing is usually controlled to be around 6mm or less.

During the entire sheet metal processing process, due to the diversity of sheet metal parts, different sheet metal machines are often used to complete the processing of the corresponding processes. For example, the most common thing we do is to use a bending machine to bend the metal sheet to form the required sheet metal angle.

What is the workflow of sheet metal manufacturing?

The entire manufacturing process of sheet metal processing is closely linked. Usually, if you want to get the final customized sheet metal parts product, you can't do without the following metal plate processing process. The general steps are as follows:

Read the design processing drawing

This link is very important. The sheet metal processing programmer needs to accurately read the customer's design processing drawing. The main information extracted is the processing materials, processing shapes, and processing tolerances required for sheet metal parts.

Use this information to write the corresponding cutting route. If the information extraction is inaccurate, there will be problems when writing the program code, resulting in the shape of the sheet metal parts cut out not being what the customer wants.

Cutting

In the sheet metal manufacturing industry, there are different cutting methods according to the different thickness and precision requirements of sheet metal parts. The most common cutting technologies are laser cutting, water jet cutting, plasma cutting, flame cutting, and wire cutting.

Bending

Bending is a very important processing step in sheet metal manufacturing, and its bending angle affects the final forming effect of sheet metal parts. This step is usually performed with the help of a bending machine or a rolling machine. The bending angle will present different bending angles according to different design drawings, such as the common 90° or T-shaped angle bending effects.

Metal stamping

In sheet metal manufacturing, metal stamping has a very wide range of applications, and its importance is comparable to that of sheet metal bending. It can be said that metal stamping is very suitable for customized high-performance or special-function sheet metal parts.

Forming

The forming process refers to bending or deforming sheet metal parts that have undergone a bending process or a metal stamping process into the required customized sheet metal part shape. At this point, the production process of sheet metal parts has been completed.

Sheet metal punching

Sheet metal punching is an efficient punching processing technology that can be processed according to the specific customized sheet metal part hole position. The punching process of the metal plate is achieved by using a combination of stamping tools and dies.

Metal welding

Not all sheet metal parts can be directly formed through the above steps. The emergence of sheet metal welding technology is precisely to solve the manufacturing problems of some special and complex sheet metal parts structures. This is a special process that closely links metal and sheet metal parts together through a heating process. The following are several common metal welding methods:

1. Arc welding

·Metal inert gas arc welding (MIG): A welding technology that uses a continuous wire as filler metal and is performed under inert gas protection.

·Gas shielded metal arc welding (GMAW): Similar to MIG welding, but uses carbon dioxide or mixed gas as a shielding gas.

·Tungsten inert gas arc welding (TIG): Uses a tungsten electrode as an arc and uses a separate filler metal strip.

·Plasma arc welding (PAW): Uses a plasma arc to melt the metal, providing high welding speed and accuracy.

2. Resistance welding

·Spot welding: Locally heat and pressurize a specific area on the superimposed metal plates to form a molten core.

·Seam welding: Similar to spot welding, but uses a continuous wheel to create longer welds.

3. Laser welding

·Fiber laser welding: Uses a fiber laser to melt the metal, providing extremely high precision and weld quality.

·CO2 laser welding: Uses a CO2 laser to melt the metal, suitable for high-power welding applications.

Sheet metal finishing

Sheet metal finishing is also known as surface treatment. At this point, the work of sheet metal manufacturing is really coming to an end. Through some special sheet metal finishing processes, sheet metal parts can have beautiful effects while improving the durability of the product.

Common sheet metal surface treatment processes include powder spraying, painting, spraying, anodizing (these colors can be selected at will), passivation, and laser engraving (using lasers to engrave some logos).

Assembly

At RT Manufacturing, we can provide you with a complete sheet metal manufacturing service process. That is, when all customized sheet metal parts have completed the manufacturing task, we will assemble the customized parts according to customer needs to ensure that the manufactured parts can meet customer needs.

What are the commonly used metal materials for sheet metal manufacturing?

In sheet metal manufacturing, in most cases, there are many choices of metal materials that can be processed by sheet metal processing, including but not limited to the following:

Stainless steel: Stainless steel is a frequent customer for manufacturing sheet metal parts. Because of its unique corrosion resistance, the products produced are widely used in kitchenware, medical, construction, and other industries.

Aluminum alloy: Due to its excellent low density and high strength, it is favored by customers. Therefore, in sheet metal manufacturing, this metal material occupies a position second only to stainless steel.

Copper alloy: Among the sheet metal materials we have manufactured, copper alloy also occupies a large share. Usually, customers choose copper plates or brass plates. However, due to their unique properties, in many cases, the manufacturing cost of copper plates is often higher than the previous two.

Steel plate material: The steel plate material here usually refers to cold-rolled steel plate and hot-rolled steel plate. Because of their high surface quality and easier-to-obtain dimensional accuracy characteristics, these two materials are the first choice when producing sheet metal parts with relatively high production requirements.

Rust-proof aluminum plate: Rust-proof aluminum plate is a high-performance alloy plate made of aluminum as the main component and a small amount of magnesium, copper, and other elements. It has excellent anti-rust and corrosion resistance. Rust-proof aluminum plates mainly include Al-Mn and Al-Mg alloys.

These alloys cannot be strengthened by heat treatment, and usually improve strength and hardness by work hardening. The advantages of rust-proof aluminum plates include high plasticity, low strength, excellent corrosion resistance, and welding performance.

They are particularly suitable for manufacturing deep-drawn parts, welded parts, and parts working in corrosive media that bear low loads, such as fuel tanks, pipelines, etc. It is suitable for manufacturing parts that are not subjected to much force working in corrosive environments.

What are the tools for sheet metal fabrication?

‌Common tools for sheet metal fabricating include cutting machines, bending machines, punching machines, blanking dies, push irons, clamps and prying tools, portable grinders, disc sanders, hand drills, marking tools, etc. ‌These tools have different uses and support various aspects of sheet metal processing.

Cutting machine: used to cut metal sheets to the required size;

Bending machine: used to bend metal sheets into the required shape;

Punching machine: used to punch holes in metal sheets;

Blanking die: used to accurately cut metal sheets.

Push irons, clamps and prying tools: mainly used for metal shaping and repair work. Push irons are used in conjunction with hammers to adjust the high and low points of metal; clamps and prying tools are used to fix and bend metal sheets.

Portable grinders and disc sanders: used for grinding and polishing metal surfaces respectively;

Hand drills: used to drill holes in metal sheets.

Marking tools include compasses, punches, and styluses, which are used to mark and mark metal sheets for easy processing.

In addition, sheet metal processing also requires some auxiliary tools, such as measuring tools (such as tape measures, rulers, angle rulers), electric drills, sandpaper, spray guns, heat source tools (such as baking guns, hot air guns) and welding equipment (such as electric welders, argon arc welders), etc.

These tools are used to measure dimensions, drill holes, grind surfaces, spray paint, heat metals, and weld metal parts, and are an indispensable part of sheet metal fabricating.

What are the advantages of sheet metal fabrications?

Sheet metal processing has many advantages, the more notable ones are the following:

1. Flexible material selection: Sheet metal processing can choose different metal materials according to different customer needs to meet the customized needs of different customers.

2. High-efficiency mass production capabilities: Whether it is prototype production or large-scale manufacturing, sheet metal processing can meet your needs through the control system of the intelligent production line, easily achieving mass production and rapid delivery.

3. Various surface treatment options: Some of the finishing options mentioned above not only provide appearance protection but also meet the needs of beautifying the product.

In what fields is sheet metal manufacturing used?

sheet metal fabrication has a wide range of applications, especially in the manufacture of automotive parts (body panels), household appliance housings (refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines), metal parts of electronic products (metal housings, keyboards), architectural decorative accessories (hardware door handles), etc., where stamped sheet metal parts can be seen.

Do you provide customized sheet metal processing services?

First of all, I am glad that you can see this. At RT Manufacturing, sheet metal fabrication is one of our core manufacturing projects. RT provides unparalleled sheet metal manufacturing services to all parts of the world, with excellent manufacturing capabilities, and great economic advantages.

Now, just upload your CAD design drawing files, and we have dedicated engineers to provide you with sheet metal processing quotation services. If you want to know more, you can communicate with our business team one-on-one, or interact in real-time through the online communication function.

What is the difference between metal manufacturing and precision sheet metal manufacturing?

The main difference between metal manufacturing and precision sheet metal manufacturing lies in the difference in processing accuracy and processing technology. The processing accuracy of metal manufacturing is generally between 0.2-1 mm, while the processing accuracy of precision sheet metal manufacturing is usually less than 0.2 mm.

Metal manufacturing mainly includes various processing of metal materials, such as cutting, stamping, casting, etc. Metal materials include ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals, which are widely used in industry, construction, transportation, and other fields.

Hardware processing is also part of metal manufacturing, involving shearing, punching, welding, and other processes of metal materials.

Precision sheet metal manufacturing focuses on high-precision processing of uniform thickness plates, and common processes include shearing, punching, folding, welding, etc.

Sheet metal parts are usually thin metal parts, and complex parts are formed by processes such as stamping, bending, and stretching. Precision sheet metal manufacturing requires high-precision equipment and strict quality control and is often used in product manufacturing that requires high precision and high reliability.

What process does sheet metal manufacturing belong to?

Sheet metal processing is essentially a subtractive manufacturing process because, during the cutting process, the excess material has been cut/removed, so it is a subtractive manufacturing process.