Anybody here have press brake experience? I was to start with 3x3x.375
6061-T6 aluminum Tee extrusion, 4 inches long, and bend up the top of the Tee on each side 30 degrees. So the part will then have a Y shape. Can 6061-T6 be bent that much without cracking? And how much tonnage should the press be to do this work? Thanks, Ericsnipped-for-privacy@whidbey.com fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Just guessing from the extrusions I've used, but it sounds like you should probably weld those up from straight members, instead of trying to brake form them.
Extrusions tend to have a 'grain' along the line of extrusion that can be a source of breakage when trying to bend such.
Lloyd
Anybody here have press brake experience? I was to start with 3x3x.375
6061-T6 aluminum Tee extrusion, 4 inches long, and bend up the top of the Tee on each side 30 degrees. So the part will then have a Y shape. Can 6061-T6 be bent that much without cracking? And how much tonnage should the press be to do this work? Thanks, Eric ==============================================================For flat sheet the minimum inside bend radius for 6061 is roughly equal to the thickness for a 90 deg bend, without annealing, but for .375" thick material I'd probably try to keep the inside radius at 0.5" or more, just for safety. Nothing worse than bending a radius that you knew was too tight, seeing some small surface cracking, telling yourself "it'll be fine, I can barely see that", and then coming back the next day and seeing the cracks go half way through :-). It also matters whether you are going with the grain or perpendicular to it; with the grain is better. You will be going with the grain and only going 30 deg so you might be able to get a bit tighter than 0.375" inside radius. I assume you will make a die with a deep slot to accommodate the bottom leg, and come down from the top on center with the punch to basically make both bends at once, just like it was a single bend in flat stock? I did a quick google search for bend force calculators, and
----- Regards, Carl Ijames
T6 is HARD, not gonna bend well (will crack unless you have a BIG radius of bend). Any extrusion in aluminum is straightened (in tension) and work-hardens somewhat. A custom extrusion (or semicustom) might be an easier route. I've seen Y=shapes for rail-riding glides.
See
If your .375 is the thickness of the flange than the bending radius is going to be pretty large.
3" - .357 = ~1.32 available width and the recommended bend radius will be in the neighborhood of 1 inch.But why not try annealing a trial piece then bend it. If it doesn't crack try a hard piece.
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