8 Important DFM Tips for Sheet Metal Fabrication

Each metal has its characteristics—its quirks, strengths, and idiosyncrasies. These characteristics, like grain direction, inherent material properties, material thickness, and thickness, dictate how a metal responds during fabrication.

By understanding these, engineers can preemptively address potential issues. For instance, while aluminum might offer lightweight strength, its behavior during bending varies from steel. The material’s thickness significantly affects the bending behavior of different metals, with thicker materials requiring larger bending radii to avoid deformation or fractures.

Always consult material data sheets and incorporate their insights into your designs. Our expert team at MakerVerse is happy to consult you. Use our chat support function or specify what you want when requesting a quote.

Think of nesting as the Tetris of fabrication: the goal is to fit disparate parts within a single sheet with maximum efficiency.

Beyond saving material, optimal nesting reduces processing time and energy. Today’s CAD software offers robust nesting solutions, but the intuition and foresight of a skilled designer remain invaluable. When nesting, consider potential assembly and the sequence of operations to minimize movement and handling.

While a design may be a masterpiece in the digital realm, its manufacturability in the real world is paramount.

Envision the physical process: the drills, punches, and milling tools. How accessible is every part of your design to these tools? Avoiding intricate recesses or challenging undercuts can simplify fabrication and reduce costs. It’s essential to liaise with the fabrication team and gather insights about tool capabilities.

A detail as small as a corner can significantly impact the durability and aesthetic of a sheet metal component.

Sharp corners can inadvertently introduce stress points, making the part susceptible to cracks or wear. Incorporating bend relief can prevent material tearing and enhance the integrity of corners and edges. Opting for rounded corners or leveraging specific design interventions like corner reliefs can mitigate these concerns, ensuring the final product is durable and visually appealing.

The metal’s innate properties, such as its modulus of elasticity and yield strength, and the bend radius play crucial roles in determining bend outcomes. Maintaining a specific inside bend radius is essential to prevent material deformation, especially in aluminum sheet metal fabrication.

Uniformity is key. Ensuring consistent bend directions can reduce potential part deformations, and being conscious of bend proximity can influence tooling and resultant part quality.

MakerVerse’s fully vetted supply chain of experienced producers ensures that your part is created to exact specifications and of the highest quality.

Welding, while effective, isn’t always the optimal solution.

Methods such as riveting, self-clinching fasteners, or a tab-and-slot design offer varied benefits. The choice depends on anticipated load, material compatibility, and final product aesthetics. Each method has its merits; the trick lies in selecting the right one for the job.

Sheet metal fabrication, like all fields, is in perpetual evolution. New machines, smarter software tools, and innovative materials are always on the horizon. All these new developments affect manufacturability.

Want access to the latest sheet metal fabrication technologies? Work with Makerverse to leverage the developments in the industry.