What is Sheet Metal Working?
- Sheet metal working is generally associated with press machines and press working.
- Press working is a chipless manufacturing process by which various components are produced form sheet metal.
- The thickness of metal varies from 0.1 mm to 10 mm.
- Press machine consists of a frame which supports a ram and bed and a mechanism for operating the ram.
- The ram is equipped with punch whereas die block is attached to the bed.
- The punch and die block assembly is called as die or die-set.
- Die block is a stationary part which contains die cavity and punch is a moving part which enters in the die cavity.
- During the operation, the metal sheet is kept on the die block and punch moves downward. The punch forces the metal sheet into the die cavity, hence metal sheet will form the shape of the die cavity.
- There is always some clearance between the punch and die block.
- On the press machine, various operations can be performed and all the operations are done at the room temperature.
Advantages of Sheet Metal Working
- Sheet metal working is associated with press machine, on which number of operations can be performed.
- Metal sheets of less thickness can be formed into various shapes.
- The components produced by sheet metal working are of low cost.
- Production rate of press machine is very high.
- The process does not require skilled labour.
Disadvantages of Sheet Metal Working
- Sheet metalworking is only used for mass production.
- The cost of die is very high.
- Initial cost of press machine is also high.
- Metals of thickness more than 10 mm are difficult to form.
- The operation produces more noise and vibrations.
Applications of Sheet Metal Working
The components produced by sheet metal working are as follows:
- Press parts are widely used in automobile (bikes, cars, trucks, buses, etc.) industry. Vehicle parts like doors, roofs, fuel tanks, front guards, etc. can be produced.
- Aircraft industry, radio and telephone industry, electrical parts, etc.