Everywhere you look these days you are likely to different types of bent steel from the door of your car to the spiral stairs that go into your basement family room. Most of these items started out as either straight sheet of steel or a beam of steel that was made as straight as a ruler. To create these different shapes there are four main methods of steel bending used, each of which is used to create very specific items that we use on a daily basis.
The most common and well known method of steel bending is rolling it, used not only for its efficiency, but also because it is considered the least expensive. This method of bending uses dies that are the same size and shape as the beam, pipe, channel, bar or angle beam. These dies turn in opposite directions and the same peripheral speed, as they turn the machine applies pressure to the beam and causes it to be bent to the appropriate radius. This method of bending is ideally suited to creating steel coils and spiral staircases and it can create bends up to 360°.
The second method of steel bending is to use a mandrel in which a mandrel or metal shaft is placed inside a metal tube or pipe, when the mandrel is moved the pipe it pressed around the proper size of die to create the needed radius.
This type of bending is commonly used to bend steel pipe and tubing with heavy walls because the mandrel helps to keep the metal pipe from rippling as it bends. While it only bends up to 180° it leaves a smooth uniform curve that is perfect for exhaust pipes on cars.
Another way of bending steel is the press to bend method and while less common than the rolling bend is used to bend beams used in construction as load bearing beams for things like stadiums, skyscrapers, bridges and many other buildings where large roofs must have the best type of support. Here the beam, pipe, bar or channel is fed trough a press that applies pressure every 6-8 inches bending it to the desired shape. This method is used to bend larger beams etc. usually 24 inches or more in thickness where smaller radii are required that the rolling bend creates.
Lastly there is table steel bending, the pipe, beam or tube is place straight on a table and the ends are pulled around the die creating the desired shape. This method is usually used to bend smaller heavier pipes and beams into tighter curves than could be achieved with any of the other methods. If you have a steel bending project you need taken care of for you let the professionals at Albina Pipe Bending take care of it for you. From the smallest pipe to the largest structural support beam they have the tools, equipment and knowledge to take care of the task for you and guarantee that the results will be exactly what you wanted.