Top 10
Engineers Need to Know
Simplify your design process with these key fabrication terms!
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DFM: Design for Manufacturability
Design your parts for easy and cost-effective manufacturing! It minimizes costs, reduces lead times, and ensures smooth production. 💡 Pro Tip: Work closely with your fabricator to align your design with manufacturing processes early on!
Oil Canning
Oil canning is a wavy deformation in sheet metal that affects the part's appearance and functionality.
⚠️ Prevent it by:
Choosing thinner material
Adjusting flatness tolerance
Using spot or tack welds instead of full seams
Flange Length
Flange length is the distance from the bend to the part’s edge or feature.
🔑 Formula:
4x Material Thickness + Bend Radius = Minimum Flange Length Get it right to avoid bending issues during fabrication.
Bend Radius
The bend radius is the smallest inner curvature your sheet metal can bend without damage.
💡 Tip
A standard bend radius of 0.030” works for most metals up to 0.125" thick. Sawant Group ensures your part’s bends are precise, with the right radius for maximum durability!
Bend Relief
Bend relief is a small cut made near bends to avoid material tearing or damage during the process.
💡 Don’t worry if you miss it in your design
we’ll add a standard 0.030” bend relief to ensure perfect bends! At Sawant Group, we’ve got the details covered for smooth and clean bends.
Tolerance Stackup
Tolerance stackup refers to the accumulation of tolerances in a part or assembly.
📏 A small tolerance here and there can add up, affecting the final part accuracy.
🔑 Tip: Stick to standard tolerances, or consult with Sawant Group to avoid excessive stackups!
Forming Tabs
Forming tabs are temporary additions used to ensure accurate bends in tough designs.
💡 After production, these tabs are removed, and the part is cleaned for delivery.
Need tabs for your part? We’ll add them for prototypes and low-volume orders to avoid custom tooling costs.
Gain
Sawant Group uses precise calculations to ensure your part matches the original design, eliminating guesswork!
No need to adjust your flat pattern; we handle the gain calculations for you.
Kerf
Kerf is the material that is burned away during laser cutting.
🛠️ While laser cutters usually have a kerf of around 0.008", we can adjust it for more precise cuts, down to 0.001”!
At Sawant Group, we use advanced laser cutting to ensure your parts are exact and clean.
Crashing
Crashing occurs when a part's features collide while trying to flatten or bend it.
🚨 Design adjustments or special tools can prevent crashing.
Let Sawant Group ensure your designs fit smoothly into the fabrication process without any crashes!
These terms help simplify your design process and ensure your parts are fabricated with precision.
🔧 Ready to bring your next project to life? Let’s collaborate!