Material Forming

Forming is the general term referring to the bending and stretching operations performed to shape components from plate, pipe, tube, or structural shapes through plastic deformation without the addition or removal of material. This chapter describes forming of plates as well as other products such as pipes and tubes. It covers both two dimensional bending, such as forming a plate into an angle or a cylinder, and three-dimensional forming, as in producing a head. Press brakes and forming rolls are typical tools used to induce the required bending moments. After a brief description of various issues applicable to all metal forming, the most commonly used forming tools are discussed, along with their advantages and disadvantages. In material forming, tolerances provide the permissible limits of physical dimensions. There is often a conflict between the dimensions needed and those that are readily produced.