PIPE
AND TUBE BENDING PROCESSES
 |
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.
|
 |
| |
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. |
| 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.
|
|
| |
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.
|
 |
|
