Not many people give much thought to the fact that almost every object you touch as you go about your day had to be manufactured by someone. When you stop to consider the impact that the processing and manufacturing industry has had on the modern world, it can blow your mind. My mind was blown when my son arrived home from his new job at a local processing and manufacturing plant and told me about the industry he was now working in. Since then, I have learnt all kinds of cool things which I would love to be able to share with the rest of the world.
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Steel is one of the world's most popular materials for use in fabrication projects. Steel fabrication is conducted for anything from street lighting columns to sets of railings and much more besides. All types of fabrication projects, including steel fabrication, will make use of several different forming processes. What are the most common ones in steel fabrication?
Bending
Among the most usual forming processes you will see in a steel fabrication centre is the bending of metal. Both tubular steel and sheet steel are bent, but different techniques are used for each. With tubular steel, a roller will be utilised to ensure that the metal is bent evenly and to the right degree when hydraulic pressure is applied at one end. On the other hand, sheet metal tends to be bent over a die. This means that it can even be bent back on itself with a neat creasing point, otherwise known as metal folding.
Welding
By far the most common way for steel fabricators to join two or more sections of metal together is to weld them. There are several different types of welds that fabricators can use but the most likely one you will see is spot welding. Not only is this type of weld more than enough for most kinds of fabrication jobs, but spot welds are also some of the easiest and most efficient to carry out. Unless the welding joint is likely to come under stress or be placed in a harsh environment, spot welds are likely to be more than adequate.
Punching
This is a way to form steel that involves pressing it over a die. Usually, hydraulic rams will force the metal down over a precisely shaped die so that the corresponding shape is punched out when sufficient force is applied. Although this forming process is sometimes used to create decorative effects in sheet metal, it is more common for it to be utilised simply to create holes into which screws or rivets can be later inserted.
Stamping
Stamping is similar to punching insofar as it also involves the use of a die. However, in stamping, an embossed effect is desirable rather than pushing through the metal to form holes.
Cutting
In manufacturing settings, laser cutters are often used to cut out shapes within sections of steel because of the high degree of accuracy these machines can provide. In steel fabrication, laser cutters tend to be outsourced rather than used in-house. In the main, cutting will come down to sawing, shearing or, in some cases, the use of plasma torches.
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