The aluminum flat bar is an incredibly versatile material and can be used for a wide range of applications. One of its most popular uses is in metal fabrication, where it can be bent and curved into a variety of shapes.
Ideally, part designers should know that when it comes to aluminum flat bar grades, 3003 and 5052 will bend, and 6061 will not. This is generalizing, of course, as there are ways to form 6061. The aluminum flat bar series’ ability to bend tends to decrease as you move down the list of tempers, from annealed to T4 and T6. Bending these tempered alloys is not impossible, but it is very difficult and will most likely require large bend radii to avoid cracking on the outside of the bend. If you’re not careful, you can completely fracture the bend line.
General Advice on Aluminum
When bending aluminum, know that the smaller your inside bend radius, the larger the chance that cracking will occur in the part. Also know that, for the best results and fewer cracks on the outside of the bend, the bend line should go across or diagonal to the material grain when and where possible.
Two methods to bent the aluminum flat bars
There are two main types of bending aluminum flat bars — cold bending and hot bending. Cold bending involves using pressure to bend the bending aluminum flat bars without heat, while hot bending involves heating the bending aluminum flat bars until it is malleable enough to be reshaped. Read More: Cold Bending And Hot Bending
You can use BIT’s PBH profile bending machine or PBA aluminum profile bending machine to cold bend the aluminum flat bars. Here are some videos of them:
Use the Machine to Bending the Aluminum Flat Bar
BIT series aluminum bending machine can cold bend aluminum bars, aluminum structural shapes, aluminum pipe, and aluminum tubing to match your exact specifications.
Aluminum flat bar can be tricky to bend, especially to tight radii, but we has the skills and experience to deliver precision bent aluminum profiles of all shapes and sizes.
How to Bend Aluminum Flat Bar of 6061-T6?
The 6061-T6 aluminum flat bar is tempered and is notoriously not easy to bend, but it can still be bent under proper technology. From a bending perspective, it’s always best to bend these aluminum flat bars in an annealed state and then temper them to the correct condition. That’s the ideal, anyway, but the reality is that many parts arrive at the press brake in a less-than-ideal state.
Works Cited: Bending aluminum 101: How to bend 6061-T6 aluminum