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Alloy
A substance that has metallic properties and is composed of two or more chemical elements of which at least one is an elemental metal. A metal that contains one or more other elements usually
added to increase strength or give the base metal important properties
Alloy steels
A steel to which one or more alloying elements other than carbon and the commonly accepted amounts of manganese, silicon, sulfur, and phosphorus have been deliberately added (e.g. chromium,
nickel, molybdenum) to achieve a particular physical property.
Angle iron
An iron or steel structural member that has been cast, rolled, bent (folded) so that its cross section is changed to and “L” shape.
Angle plate
A precision holding fixture made out of cast iron, steel, or granite. The two principal faces meet at right angles and they may be slotted to accommodate holding the workpiece or for clamping to a
table.
Automatic press
A press with built-in electrical and pneumatic control in which the work is fed mechanically through the press in synchronism with the press action.
Automatic press stop
A machine-generated signal for stopping the action of a press, usually after a complete cycle, by disengaging the clutch mechanism and engaging the brake mechanism.
Band sawing
A multi point cutting process during which a workpiece is advanced into a moving continuous band that has cutting teeth along one edge. Using band sawing, parts may be severed from a
workpiece. Band sawing can also produce irregular or curved saw cuts. The band sawing process produces a narrow cut or kerf and fine feed marks and a uniform cutting action.
Bend relief
The clearance notch at an end of a flange to allow bending without distorting or tearing adjacent material.
Bend ability
It is defined as the minimum bending radius attainable by a given material.
Bending
A term typically applied to a metal forming process. It is the creation of a formed feature by angular displacement of a sheet metal workpiece. The straining of material, usually flat sheet or strip
metal, by moving it around a straight axis lying in the neutral plane. Metal flow takes place within the plastic range of the metal, so that the bent part retains a permanent set after removal of the
applied stress. The cross section of the bend inward from the neutral plane is in compression; the rest of the bend is in tension. See forming.
Bending brake or press brake
A form of open-frame single-action press that is comparatively wide between the housings, with a bed designed for holding long, narrow forming edges or dies. Used for bending and forming strip,
plate, and sheet (into boxes, panels, roof decks, and so on).
Brake forming
Press braking is a metal forming process that uses an open-frame single-action press used to bend, blank, corrugate, curl, notch, perforate, pierce, or punch sheet metal or plate using a U-shaped, V-
shaped, or channel-shape punch or die set.
Brake press bending
An operation that produces various degree bends when fabricating parts from steel.
Burr
A thin ridge, raised sharp edge, or roughness left on forgings or sheet metal blanks by cutting operations such as slitting, shearing, trimming, punching, blanking, or sawing.
Burring
A common term for debarring or smoothing the rough cut edges of metal.
CNC punch press
Machine supplying compression force for reshaping materials and being controlled by a computer numerical control device.
Corrugated sheet curving
A metal fabricating process used to transform a flat sheet of corrugated steel into a curved sheet. This process is accomplished by placing a flat sheet of corrugated steel into a mechanical curving
mandrel that consists of a series of interlocked steel rollers. The corrugated sheet is repeatedly fed into the rollers and then slowly bent in small increments until the desired radius bend in the
corrugated sheet is achieved. The sheet is bent in small increments to prevent it from forming kinks and to control the degree of bend achieved.
Fabrication
A number of metalworking techniques that allow a part to be assembled from smaller components. Welding, adhesive bonding and fastening by the use of bolts and rivets are the most widely used
examples.
Ferrous metal
A metal which are iron-based.
Finishes
The texture of the steel surface which is determined by the grit on the rolls or by the grind on the rolls in the case of bright finish.
Fixture
Tooling designed to locate and hold components in position.
Form
A bend, or the process of bending a metal formed part.
Forming
The plastic deformation of a billet or a blanked sheet between tools (dies) to obtain the final configuration. Metal forming processes are typically classified as bulk forming and sheet forming. Also
referred to as metalworking. Making any change in the shape of a metal piece which does not intentionally reduce the metal thickness and which produces a useful shape.
Gage or Gauge
The thickness of sheet or the diameter of wire. The various standards are arbitrary and differ with regard to ferrous and non-ferrous products as well as sheet and wire. An aid for visual inspection
that enables an inspector to determine more reliably whether the size or contour of a formed part meets dimensional requirements. The ability of a material to under go plastic deformation without
fracture. A device used to position work in a die accurately. Another name for a checking fixture which is used to check parts.
Hydraulic press
A machine that exerts working pressure by hydraulic means.
Hydraulic press brake
A press brake in which the ram is actuated directly by hydraulic cylinder.
Machining
This is the group of processes in which a shape is generated by removing unwanted material. Machining can be used to make a component from stock material but more often it is used as a
secondary process to impart a shape or a level of precision to a manufactured component that cannot be achieved otherwise. Shape restrictions exist for some machining processes.
Mechanical press
A forging press with an inertia flywheel, a crank and clutch, or other mechanical device to operate the ram.
Mechanical press brake
A press brake using a mechanical drive consisting of a motor, flywheel, crankshaft, clutch, and eccentric to generate vertical motion.
Metal
The material subjected to an operation of a forming class type. An elemental metal or alloy of metal mixture in a self-shape-sustaining state (this excludes molten, gaseous, or powdered).
Milling
A metal fabricating reduction process of cutting away material by feeding a workpiece past a rotating multiple tooth cutter. The cutting action of the many teeth around the milling cutter provides
a fast method of machining. The machined surface may be flat, angular, or curved. The surface may also be milled to any combination of shapes. See Drilling, Grooving, Tapping, and Turning.
Non-ferrous metal
Elements and their alloys without iron as a major constituent.
Notching
A metalworking operation in which the punch removes material from the edge or corner of a strip or blank or part.
Plate
A flat-rolled metal product of some minimum thickness and width argitrarily dependent on the type of metal. Sheet steel thicker than 7 gauge 0.179 in. (4.55 mm) or sheet aluminum thicker than
3/16 in (4.76 mm).
Plate bending
Plate roll bending is a cold forming process. Plate or steel metal is formed into cylindrical shapes by using a combination of three rolls arranged in a pyramid formation. Two of the rolls are power
driven, in a fixed position, while the third roll is adjustable to meet the required bend radius and workpiece thickness.
Press
A mechanically powered machine that shears, punches, forms or assembles metal or other material by means of cutting, shaping, or combination dies attached to slides. A press consists of a
stationary bed or anvil, and a slide (or slides) having a controlled reciprocating motion toward and way from the bed surface, the slide being guided in a definite fixed path by the frame of the press.
Press brake
An open-frame single-action press used to bend, blank, corrugate, curl, notch, perforate, pierce, or punch sheet metal or plate.
Punch
The male part of a die-as distinguished from the female part, which is called the die. The punch is usually the upper member of the complete die assembly and is mounted on the slide or in a die set
for alignment (except in the inverted die). In double-action draw dies, the punch is the inner portion of the upper die, which is mounted on the plunger (inner slide) and does the drawing. The act of
piercing or punching a hole. Also referred to as punching. The punch is the movable part that forces the metal into the die in equipment for sheet drawing, blanking, coining, embossing and the
like.
Roll form
A metal shape that has been processed using roll forming.
Shear
A type of cutting operation in which the metal object is cut by means of a moving blade and fixed edge or by a pair of moving blades that may be either flat or curved. The type of force that causes, or
tends to cause, two contiguous parts of the same body to slide relative to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact.
Shearing
Cutting force applied perpendicular to material causing the material to yield and break.
Sheet
Any material or piece of uniform thickness and of considerable length and width as compared to its thickness. With regard to metal, such pieces under 6.5 mm (1/4 in.) thick are called sheets, and
those 6.5 MM (1/4”) thick and over are called plates. Occasionally, the limiting thickness for steel to be designated as sheet steel is No. IO Manufacturer's Standard Gage for sheet steel, which is 3.42
mm (0.1345”) thick.
U-bend die
A die, commonly used in press-brake forming, that is machined horizontally with a square or rectangular cross-sectional opening that provides two edges over which metal is drawn into a channel
shape.
Fabrication Glossary for Custom Metal Fabrication
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