Neutral Axis In Sheet Metal

The line where the transition from compression to stretching occurs is called the neutral axis.

Neutral axis in sheet metal.

But add a little stress and force the metal to bend and watch what happens. K factor is a ratio that represents the location of the neutral axis with respect to the thickness of the sheet metal part and depends on material thickness and bend radius. The bend allowance describes the length of the neutral axis between the bend lines or in other words the arc length of the bend. When metal is bent the top section is going to undergo compression and the bottom section will be stretched.

The k factor in sheet metal working is the ratio of the neutral axis to the material thickness. So if the thickness of the sheet was a distance of t 1 mm and the location of the neutral axis was a distance of t 0 5 mm measured from the inside bend then you would have a k factor of t t 0 5 1 0 5. The line where the transition from compression to stretching occurs is called the neutral axis. The k factor in sheet metal working is the ratio of the neutral axis to the material thickness.

K factor k can be defined as follows. The bend allowance and bend deduction are two measures that relate the bent length of a piece of sheet metal to the flat length. Mathematically k factor value is equal to the ratio of position of neutral axis and sheet thickness. K factor a constant determined by dividing the thickness of the sheet by the location of the neutral axis which is the part of sheet metal that does not change length.

The location of the neutral axis for a specific sheet is defined by a factor called k factor. When a piece of metal is being formed the inner portion of the bend compresses while the outer portion expands see figure 1. Where t is the distance. When metal is bent the top section is going to undergo compression and the bottom section will be stretched.

K factor in sheet metal bending is a constant used to calculate sheet metal flat length or flat pattern.