Calculating K Factor For Sheet Metal

K factor plays a key role in understanding the limits a material can handle during sheet metal bending.

Calculating k factor for sheet metal.

To calculate the neutral axis distance from the inner face t we can subtract inside bend radius from r. Types of metal bends and forming methods bending and bend formation are important factors when it comes to calculating bend deduction which is the total elongation for a particular type of bend. Calculate k factor bend allowance and y factor for sheet metal bending. And by having t and the sheet thickness t we can calculate the k factor as follow.

The k factor is defined as the ratio between the material thickness t and the neutral fibre axis t i e. The k factor is the most important and elusive variable of bending because it varies both as a function of the material and according to parameters such as angle and tooling. In order to find the k factor you will need to bend a sample piece and deduce the bend allowance. Then input leg length a and b to get the flat size of the sheet.

The part of the material that bends. When sheet metal is bend the inside bending surface is compressed. The k factor is defined as a constant that is greater than 0 and less than 1. As a result overall sheet length increases.

This change in sheet length depends on the position of neutral axis or k factor. The k factor is fundamental to designing precise sheet metal products. K factor in sheet metal bending is a constant that is used to calculate sheet metal flat length. Like previous scenarios let s start by calculating leg length 1.

Input material thickness and and inner radius to get the data of k factor y factor neutral layer. For example if the value of k factor for given material thickness and bending machines is known. Whereas the outer surface is stretched. The k factor is the ratio between the distance from the neutral layer to the bent inner surface and the thickness of the sheet metal.

Bending angles greater than 90 degrees. Typically the k factor is going to be between 0 and 5. While modern bend deduction charts now are reasonably accurate historically bend calculation charts both for bend allowances and bend deductions were notorious. As shown in figure 1 below k t t.

Best way to calculate k factor in sheet metal is by reverse engineering. Since the k factor is based on the property of the metal and its thickness there is no simple way to calculate it ahead of the first bend. Therefore using k factor there is no need to calculate sheet metal flat length manually.