Key Features and Applications of Sheet Metal Processing
As someone involved in manufacturing, I’ve seen how essential sheet metal processing is across various industries. In this article, I’ll highlight the key features of sheet metal processing, including its versatility, precision, and cost-effectiveness. I’ll also explore the wide range of applications, from automotive to construction, where this technology plays a critical role. Whether you’re new to metalworking or looking to optimize your processes, understanding these features and applications will help you maximize efficiency and product quality.
Sheet metal processing is a processing method for metal plates, profiles and tubes without changing their cross-sectional characteristics, under the condition of undercutting or cold or hot state forming, and then assembled by welding, riveting and bolting and other connection methods, and finally manufactured the required metal components, mainly involving a variety of professional trades such as clamping, undercutting, stamping, metal cutting, welding, heat treatment, surface treatment, riveting and assembly.
●Characteristics of sheet metal processing technology
As sheet metal processing is mostly a process of cold or hot state separation and forming of raw materials without changing the section characteristics of metal plates, profiles and pipes, the processed metal is plastic deformed below the recrystallization temperature, so no chips are produced.
Sheet metal processing can be used to make products of various shapes, sizes and properties, and the manufactured steel structure products have high strength and stiffness and can fully utilize their load-bearing capacity.
In the manufacturing process of sheet metal structure, each part of the structure can be combined and assembled into a component by welding, riveting, gluing or expansion and other connection methods according to certain position, size relationship and precision requirements, therefore, the design is flexible.
The above analysis shows that sheet metal processing mainly has the following characteristics.
⒈Compared with the production and processing of forging and casting, sheet metal components have the advantages of light weight, saving metal materials, simple processing technology, reducing production costs and saving production expenses.
⒉Most of the sheet metal parts processed by welding have low processing accuracy and large welding deformation, so the deformation and correction after welding are large.
⒊Since the welded parts are not removable connections, it is difficult to rework them, so reasonable assembly methods and assembly procedures should be adopted to reduce or avoid scrap, and on-site assembly is often required for large or extra-large products, so they should be test-assembled in the factory first, and it is advisable to temporarily replace the non-removable connections with removable connections in the test assembly.
⒋In the process of assembly, it is often necessary to match, adjust, measure and inspect several times to ensure product quality.
●Application of sheet metal processing
Since sheet metal processing has a series of advantages such as high production efficiency, stable quality, low cost and the ability to process complex-shaped workpieces, it is widely used in such industries as machinery, automobiles, aircraft, light industry, national defense, electrical appliances, household appliances and daily necessities, and occupies a very important position. According to statistics: sheet metal parts account for 60% to 70% of the whole automobile manufacturing parts; aircraft sheet metal parts account for more than 40% of the total number of parts of the whole machine; electromechanical and instrumentation and instruments in sheet metal parts account for 60% to 70% of the total number of production parts; electronic products in sheet metal parts account for more than 85% of the total number of parts; daily necessities in the market of sheet metal parts account for more than 90% of all metal products.
With the development of science and technology and the progress of processing technology, a large number of sheet metal computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided process design (CAE) and other new technologies and a large number of new equipment (such as: laser cutting, plasma cutting, water cutting, CNC rotary head presses and CNC bending, welding robot, welding robot, etc.) in various industries are widely used. At present, sheet metal processing technology is trying to develop in the direction of high speed, automatic, precision and safety, etc. Various high-speed presses and stamping flexible manufacturing system (FMS) with functions of automatic processing, automatic handling and material storage and various presses for CNC sheet metal processing have been developed and developed one after another, it can be foreseen that the level of sheet metal processing technology will be further improved and the application fields of sheet metal components will be more and more extensive and the number of applications will be more and more. The number of applications will be more and more.
