Bending machine tooling refers to the tools used in bending machines to shape and process sheet metal. Bending machine tooling includes upper and lower dies, which are used for stamping and separating the sheet metal during the bending process. The forming dies have cavities, while the separating dies have cutting edges. What are the materials used for bending machine tooling? What are the types of bending machine tooling? Let's explore them together below.
1. Materials used for bending machine tooling:
Common materials for bending machine tooling include T8, T8A, T10, T10A, 42CrMo, and Cr12MoV. When selecting the material for bending machine tooling, several characteristics need to be considered: hardness, heat resistance, and wear resistance. Generally, we use carbon steels such as T8-T12, with T10 being the most commonly used. It has moderate toughness, good wear resistance, and can achieve a hardness of over 60HRC after heat treatment. It also has relatively low production costs. However, T10 has poor through-hardening ability and heat resistance (up to 250°C). It is widely used for general bending machine tooling.
For better tooling materials, high-strength alloy structural steel 42CrMo is chosen. 42CrMo belongs to ultra-high-strength steel and has high strength and toughness. It has good hardenability and can work below 500°C after quenching and tempering. The suitable hardness after heat treatment is around 45-48HRC. Currently, most CNC bending machine tooling uses 42CrMo material.
For even better performance, cold work tool steel Cr12MoV is used. It contains a certain amount of chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and other alloying elements, improving the hardenability and through-hardening ability of the steel. After quenching, the material exhibits superior comprehensive mechanical properties compared to other types of steel. It is suitable for various cold stamping dies with larger cross-sections, complex shapes, and frequent use. Tools made from Cr12MoV have high precision and long service life, but the material cost is higher.
2. Types of bending machine tooling:
There are various types of bending machine tooling, including standard upper and lower dies for right-angle bending, punch upper dies, flattening knife dies, R-blade dies, offset upper dies, 1V lower dies, 2V lower dies, 3U and 4V lower dies, urethane lower dies, hard rubber lower dies, lower die guides, lower die seats, step bending dies, forming bending dies, combination bending dies, and non-standard tooling designed according to specific requirements.
1. Standard upper and lower dies: Used for bending angles from 90° to 180°. Advantages: Suitable for both thick and thin sheets, durable, and widely applicable.
2. Punch dies: Used for bending angles from 20° to 180°. Advantages: Can achieve smaller bending angles and dimensions, resulting in smaller R radii after bending, providing a visually appealing and sharp appearance.
3. Goose neck dies (also known as large bending dies): Used for bending angles from 30° to 180°. Advantages: Suitable for "U"-shaped products that cannot be achieved with standard or punch dies, with a wide range of applications.
4. Flattening dies: Used for flattening edges, used in conjunction with punch dies. First, the workpiece is bent to an angle less than 45° using the punch die, and then the flattening die is used to create a flat edge. It is mainly used for reinforcing edges of frames.
5. Step bending dies (also known as "Z" dies): Mainly used for one-time bending of small-sized "Z"-shaped workpieces. They can be divided into fixed and adjustable types.
6. Forming dies (including arc dies, one-step forming dies for door frames, U-shaped forming dies, lamp post dies, etc.): Typically used for bending more complex products, involving multiple bending angles and styles. These dies are designed for one-time bending and forming to improve precision and efficiency.
7. Concentric dies: Typically used as lower dies for CNC bending machines, consisting of die holders and segmented lower die sets. "Concentric" means that regardless of the slot being used, the die can be switched to the specified slot without the need to reposition the upper and lower dies. It is convenient for die changing and provides high machining accuracy.
1. Materials used for bending machine tooling:
Common materials for bending machine tooling include T8, T8A, T10, T10A, 42CrMo, and Cr12MoV. When selecting the material for bending machine tooling, several characteristics need to be considered: hardness, heat resistance, and wear resistance. Generally, we use carbon steels such as T8-T12, with T10 being the most commonly used. It has moderate toughness, good wear resistance, and can achieve a hardness of over 60HRC after heat treatment. It also has relatively low production costs. However, T10 has poor through-hardening ability and heat resistance (up to 250°C). It is widely used for general bending machine tooling.
For better tooling materials, high-strength alloy structural steel 42CrMo is chosen. 42CrMo belongs to ultra-high-strength steel and has high strength and toughness. It has good hardenability and can work below 500°C after quenching and tempering. The suitable hardness after heat treatment is around 45-48HRC. Currently, most CNC bending machine tooling uses 42CrMo material.
For even better performance, cold work tool steel Cr12MoV is used. It contains a certain amount of chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and other alloying elements, improving the hardenability and through-hardening ability of the steel. After quenching, the material exhibits superior comprehensive mechanical properties compared to other types of steel. It is suitable for various cold stamping dies with larger cross-sections, complex shapes, and frequent use. Tools made from Cr12MoV have high precision and long service life, but the material cost is higher.
2. Types of bending machine tooling:
There are various types of bending machine tooling, including standard upper and lower dies for right-angle bending, punch upper dies, flattening knife dies, R-blade dies, offset upper dies, 1V lower dies, 2V lower dies, 3U and 4V lower dies, urethane lower dies, hard rubber lower dies, lower die guides, lower die seats, step bending dies, forming bending dies, combination bending dies, and non-standard tooling designed according to specific requirements.
1. Standard upper and lower dies: Used for bending angles from 90° to 180°. Advantages: Suitable for both thick and thin sheets, durable, and widely applicable.
2. Punch dies: Used for bending angles from 20° to 180°. Advantages: Can achieve smaller bending angles and dimensions, resulting in smaller R radii after bending, providing a visually appealing and sharp appearance.
3. Goose neck dies (also known as large bending dies): Used for bending angles from 30° to 180°. Advantages: Suitable for "U"-shaped products that cannot be achieved with standard or punch dies, with a wide range of applications.
4. Flattening dies: Used for flattening edges, used in conjunction with punch dies. First, the workpiece is bent to an angle less than 45° using the punch die, and then the flattening die is used to create a flat edge. It is mainly used for reinforcing edges of frames.
5. Step bending dies (also known as "Z" dies): Mainly used for one-time bending of small-sized "Z"-shaped workpieces. They can be divided into fixed and adjustable types.
6. Forming dies (including arc dies, one-step forming dies for door frames, U-shaped forming dies, lamp post dies, etc.): Typically used for bending more complex products, involving multiple bending angles and styles. These dies are designed for one-time bending and forming to improve precision and efficiency.
7. Concentric dies: Typically used as lower dies for CNC bending machines, consisting of die holders and segmented lower die sets. "Concentric" means that regardless of the slot being used, the die can be switched to the specified slot without the need to reposition the upper and lower dies. It is convenient for die changing and provides high machining accuracy.
