Tips for Designing a Custom Sheet Metal Part in SOLIDWORKS

Sheet metal design using SOLIDWORKS is art and science. Sheet metal design has to accommodate manufacturing limitations, material shape, and geometry tolerance to design a plain bracket or a complex enclosure. SOLIDWORKS provides a complete set of tools for sheet metal design to allow designers and engineers to design manufacturable parts with ease.

In this blog, we will focus on SOLIDWORKS' tips and best practices offered by the Precision Sheet Metal Components Manufacturers and inform you of real-world counsel on how to assist you in designing better fabrication and performance sheet metal parts in SOLIDWORKS.

1. Master Sheet Metal Design Basics

It is easier to learn sheet metal in the real world prior to needing to know SOLIDWORKS. Sheet metal is not cast or machined, but it's built from flat pieces of material being formed and sheared into shape. Some of the basic fabrications include:

• Bending

• Laser cutting

• Punching

• Stamping

• Forming

You can produce producible and in-tolerance parts once you're knowledgeable about bend allowance, minimum bend radius, and k-factor effect.

2. Launch the Sheet Metal Environment in SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS also includes a Sheet Metal tab where you start. It contains core tools that include:

• Base Flange/Tab

• Edge Flange

• Miter Flange

• Hem

• Run

• Sketched Bend

With Base Flange/Tab, you're starting your piece as a sheet metal part, thus qualified to benefit from equal material thickness and automatic bend allowance and relief calculations.

Pro Tip: Never begin with common extruded features. Design employing sheet metal features to offer design flexibility and manufacturability.

3. Set Material and Thickness Upfront

Sheet metal design is highly material-specific. The materials (steel, aluminum, copper, etc.) will respond differently to k-factors and bend radii. Establish material and sheet thickness early in the design so variation won't create problems later.

To do this:

• Right-click Material in the Feature Manager tree.

• Choose an existing pre-formatted one or define your own.

• Define thickness in Sheet Metal Parameters.

• Equal thickness saves manufacturing time and gives true flat patterns.

4. Apply the Correct Bend Allowance or k-Factor

Bending tensile and stretching material, changing final dimension. SOLIDWORKS supports many different methods.

• Bend Allowance

• Bend Deduction

• k-Factor

The k-Factor is most often employed, utilized to ascertain the location of the neutral axis when bending. Most manufacturers will need an average k-Factor material and bending process. 0.33 default can be employed if not certain for mild steel.

To conduct bend parameters:

• Go to Sheet Metal > Sheet Metal Parameters.

• Input your k-Factor or Bend Allowance and Bend Radius.

Tip: Consult with your fabricator so that your values get along with values compatible with their machines and equipment.

5. Design for Unfolding

Notice how your part unfolds into a flat form. SOLIDWORKS contains a Flatten feature tool in which you can see the unbent form of your part. It is useful in catching errors like overlapping bends or discontinuities.

Flat patterns are the manufacturing problem:

• Give good cut lines.

• Enable nesting optimization.

• Do not intersect or collide with curves.

Utilize Flatten as a standard visual aid in continuing with your design.

6. Relieve Cutting to Prevent Tearing

When bending a piece, material at the bend will buckle up or split unless relieved. Change can be configured to automatically include Tear Relief or Bend Relief on details.

When making sharp turns or corners on edges:

• Apply Tear Relief to not crack.

• Apply Bend Relief to not bend material.

• In order to set relief settings for change:

• From Sheet Metal > Sheet Metal Parameters.

• Under Relief Type, choose Rectangular, Obround, or Tear.

7. Account for Minimum Bend Radius and Clearance

All materials have a minimum bend radius — smaller than this will create springback or cracking. Typically:

• Aluminium: minimum radius = 1 × thickness

• Mild Steel: minimum radius = 1 × to 1.5 × thickness

• Stainless Steel: minimum radius = 1.5 × to 2 × thickness

Also, give adequate flange or surrounding feature clearance for tolerancing and tooling.

8. Apply Standard Tooling Guidelines

It is the standard procedure to utilize standard press brake tools for most fabricators. It will be part-saving and tool-saving if your part is bent to standard bend radii, flange lengths, and hole centres.

Tips:

• Use 45°, 90°, and 135° bend angles where applicable.

• Make hole-to-bend and bend-to-edge spacings.

• Use industry standard practices like DFM/A (Design for Manufacturability and Assembly).

There are numerous design tables and configurations available in SOLIDWORKS that assist in modelling your features to be best practice-compatible.

9. Don't Make It Too Complex

The more intricate your sheet metal component, the more difficult it is to manufacture. Avoid having close-up straight radii, little flanges, or intricate bends.

Best practices:

Make them symmetrical and make them simpler.

• Do not have non-essential internal acute corners.

• Minimize bend operations.

If you do have multiple bends or operations, label them on the drawing as bend sequence and comments.

10. Use Embosses and Louvers with Forming Tools

SOLIDWORKS also gives you access to Forming Tools to allow you to use tools like louvres, embosses, or lances. You can find them at Design Library > Folder Forming Tools. How to use:

• Drop the tool on your face of sheet metal.

• Put it wherever you would like.

• Use size, direction, and depth.

Simulation tools imitate the actual forming process and provide realistic representation in 3D and two-dimensional flat pattern presentation.

Final Thoughts

Designing your own sheet metal parts is really a matter of simplicity in SOLIDWORKS with total awareness of the science of metal forming and utilizing all the computer abilities in a proper manner.

Reserve these secrets — from starting in the correct environment to designing manufacturable parts with decent bend allowances and reliefs — and you will make parts that work, work well, and are shop floor compliant. Good sheet metal design is a matter of restraint vs. imagination. Let SOLIDWORKS do the technical heavy lifting and let you design cost-effective and high-performance parts.

Also Read: Different Ways to Fabricate Aluminum Parts