Precision Small Angle Bending of Sheet Metals Using Shear Deformation

This paper deals with a new method to bend sheet metals at a small angle precisely, in which a sheet metal is slightly bent by shear deformation at negative punch-die clearance. Deformation behavior and key factors affecting on the bend angle were studied in detail with pure aluminum sheets. It was proved that the bend angle was changed in proportion to both punch penetration and negative punch-die clearance within a certain range. The same was true for high-strength steel and phosphor bronze, which are difficult to bend precisely by conventional methods due to large springback after unloading. By using this relationship as a control law, four kinds of sheet metals were precisely bent within a few degrees. This method was applied to correct the angular errors in U-bend products of high-strength steel and to bend leaf springs of phosphor bronze at an arbitrary small angle.