Sheet metal has not yet had a relatively complete definition. According to a definition in a foreign professional journal, it can be defined as: Sheet metal is a comprehensive cold working process for metal sheets (usually below 6mm), including shearing, punching/cutting/compounding, folding, welding, riveting, splicing , forming (such as car body) and so on. Its remarkable feature is that the thickness of the same part is the same.
To put it bluntly, sheet metal is a kind of car repair technology, that is, to repair the deformed part of the metal shell of the car, such as the car body shell is hit a pit, it can be restored to its original shape through sheet metal. Generally speaking, the basic equipment of sheet metal factory includes Shear Machine, CNC Punching Machine/Laser, Plasma, Waterjet Cutting Machine (Laser, Plasma, Waterjet Cutting Machine)/Combination Machine, Bending Machine and various auxiliary equipment such as: uncoiler, leveling machine, deburring machine, spot welding machine, etc.
Typically, the three most important steps in a sheet metal factory are shearing, punching/cutting, and folding. Sheet metal is sometimes also used as a puller. The word comes from the English platemetal, which is generally made by hand or die stamping to plastically deform some metal sheets to form the desired shape and size, which can be further welded or a small amount of machining. Forming more complex parts, such as chimneys commonly used in homes, tin stoves, and car shells are sheet metal parts. Sheet metal processing is called sheet metal processing. Specifically, for example, the use of plates to make chimneys, iron drums, fuel tanks and oil cans, ventilation pipes, elbows and heads, Tianyuan places, funnel shapes, etc., the main processes are cutting, bending, bending, bending, welding, riveting, etc. Some knowledge of geometry.
Sheet metal parts are thin-plate hardware parts, that is, parts that can be processed by means of stamping, bending, stretching, etc. A general definition is - parts with constant thickness during processing. Correspondingly, castings, forgings, machined parts, etc. For example, the outer iron shell of a car is a sheet metal part, and some kitchen utensils made of stainless steel are also sheet metal parts. Modern sheet metal processes include: filament power winding, laser cutting, heavy duty machining, metal bonding, metal drawing, plasma cutting, precision welding, roll forming, sheet metal bending, die forging, water jet cutting, precision welding, etc. .
In the current 3D software, SolidWorks, UG, Pro/E, SolidEdge, TopSolid, etc. all have sheet metal parts, mainly through the editing of 3D graphics to obtain the data required for sheet metal parts processing (such as unfolding drawings, bending Line, etc.) and provide data for CNC Punching Machine / Laser, Plasma, Waterjet Cutting Machine (Laser, Plasma, Waterjet Cutting Machine) / Combination Machine and CNC Bending Machine, etc.