Introduction to Sheet Metal Stamping
Metal that is formed into flat thin pieces is known as sheet metal. It is one of the essential items used when doing metal working and has the ability to be bent into a number of different shapes. All kinds of objects are created from this type of material. There can be significant variations in the thickness. Typically the extremely thin pieces are referred to as leaf or foil and any piece that is thicker than six millimeters is referred to as plate.
The process of Sheet metal stamping is one in which metal sheets are used to make final products. Anytime a metal sheet is placed in a press or die, it is made into the necessary size and shape. These sheets can only be of a particular thickness to be able to be used in the stamping machines. The maximum thickness of most of these machines is a quarter of an inch. Nevertheless the machines can be manufactured to handle sheets that are thicker as well. Specific types of metals sheets also have to be used for metal stamping. The options are titanium, galvanized steel, aluminum, zinc, brass, copper, cold and hot rolled steel and stainless steel.
Before the sheet metal stamping process can begin, the customer has to provide a diagram or prototype of the design. If the customer does not have any idea of what they really want a lot of the companies that provide this service also offer designing services as well. Some other services like plating and deburring are also offered after the process is complete.
There are three main processes involved in sheet metal stamping; it is the die, the punch and the blank holder/binder. The sheet is held between the blank holder and the die and punch is pushed into the die where the sheet is spread over the die as a result of the stretching and drawing. The blank holder is basically the restrainer that controls the flow of the sheet into the die. This force enables the prevention of tearing and wrinkling. In processes which the force of the blank holder is too high then draw beads are utilized to provide the necessary force of restraint.
Sheet metal stamping is also known as thin stamping. This process is typically used in the process of case building. With this custom metal stampings it is also a very important part as each panel has to be stamped piece by piece. The motherboard tray is the first thing to be stamped then the side panels left and right as well as top and bottom and the back.
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