TUBE
AND PIPE BENDING PROCESSES
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Rotary
Draw Bending
This is the most widely used method of bending pipe & tube today,
particularly for tight radii and for thin wall material. Advantages
include maximum control of wall thinning and ovality. |
Ram
Bending
Ram bending is one of the oldest and simplest methods
of mechanical bending. Ram action forces the pipe against two fixed
rollers or pivot blocks to bend around the die. Large sweeping curves
can be bent in small increments, moving the pipe for each bend.
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Compression
Bending
Process whereby pipe or tube is bent to reasonably tight radii, usually
without the use of mandrel or precision tooling. It is accomplished
by clamping the workpiece behind the rear tangent point and then by
means of a rotary arm rolling or compressing the material around and
onto a die. |
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Roll
Bending & Coiling
Making coils is an art. Tight radius coils are often made on draw
bending equipment or, for small diameter pipe and tube, by winding
the material onto a suitable cylinder to form the coil on a drum.
Usually coils are made by machinery designed for coiling. The pipe
is fed between three rollers - the center drive roller and two powered
or idler side rollers.
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Stretch
Forming
Stretch forming is a metal forming technique for creating complex
and severe bends in sheet and extrusion stock without localized buckling
and wrinkling. Very importantly, it reduces or eliminates compressive
loads in the part during forming. Eliminating compression lets more
severe and complex bends be obtained economically. |
Heat
Induction / Hot Slab Bending
Both process require the heating of pipe, tube or structural shapes.
Heat Induction bending is typically a higher cost bending process
and is primarily used in large diameter material.
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