title = "Bending, Roll Forming, and Press Brake Operations"

content = """
Bending is one of the most common sheet metal operations at Ridgecrest Metalworks, used to produce angles, channels, enclosures, and structural components. The key challenge in all bending is springback—the elastic recovery of the metal after the bending force is removed—which must be compensated to achieve the desired final angle.

Press brake bending uses a punch (upper tool) and a V-die (lower tool) to bend sheet or plate to a specified angle. Three bending modes are used: air bending (the punch pushes the sheet into the die but does not contact the die bottom; most versatile but most prone to springback), bottoming (the punch presses the sheet firmly against the die, reducing springback by plastic-setting the bend), and coining (the punch forces the metal to flow plastically at very high pressure, nearly eliminating springback but requiring much higher press force). Bend allowance—the amount of material consumed by the bend—must be calculated from the bend radius and material thickness to lay out flat patterns correctly. The neutral axis shifts inward for tight radii; bend deduction tables or software account for this.

Minimum bend radius is a critical parameter: bending too tightly for a given material and thickness causes cracking at the outer radius. Minimum bend radius is typically expressed as a multiple of material thickness and varies with alloy and temper. Bending perpendicular to the rolling direction of the sheet allows tighter radii than bending parallel to the rolling direction.

Roll forming is a continuous bending process in which sheet stock is fed through a series of progressively shaped roll stations that incrementally bend the sheet into a constant cross-section profile (angles, channels, hat sections, tubing). Roll forming is highly productive for long runs of consistent profiles. Entry guide alignment, station roll gap, and material yield strength uniformity all affect dimensional consistency.

Three-roll bending uses three rolls to form cylinders, cones, or curved sections from flat plate. The upper roll presses the plate between two driven lower rolls; the plate is repeatedly passed through with the upper roll adjusted downward to achieve the desired radius. Operator skill in setting roll pressure and maintaining even curvature is important.
"""

version = "0.0.1"
