Sheet Metal Suppliers
Sheet metal itself is rarely the final product; this means sheet metal suppliers have a very important role for many industries. Sheet metal can be made out of virtually any metal; the most common are stainless steel and aluminum. Other materials include titanium, copper, brass and steel. Suppliers manufacture sheet metal in long wide strips that are then cut to size in order to be shipped or transported to the next factory to be pressed into shape and worked further. Some metallurgy plants do everything under one roof, from sheet metal production to fabrication to finishing. Sheet metal usually does not require many custom specifications; customers choose the material and dimensions according to the desired tensile and compressive strength of the metal. Virtually every industry relies on sheet metal suppliers because they are a fundamental component of many
products and parts that are necessary for food processing and storage, communications, automotive, medical, electronic, aerospace, construction and other applications.
Sheet metal is made from slabs and rods of steel and alloys like nickel and chromium that have been melted and pressed into rectangular shapes. As with most metal working processes, either high temperatures or high pressures are necessary to change the characteristics or form of the metal. The raw materials are melted together to remove impurities and to melt the individual metals into one mass. It is then is heated and cooled through annealing, a process where the metal is slowly cooled, or quenching, where the metal is cooled very quickly. Tempered metals have been subjected to extreme heat to increase their strength. Once the metal has been heated, the slabs are
worked. For sheet metal they are fed between strong rollers that compress the aluminum, flattening it into thin sheets. Usually a series of rollers are used, each with decreasing clearances under them to gradually flatten the metal. It may also be clamped and stretched. Later fabrication processes include stretching, drawing, bending, flanging, punching, shearing and spinning. The metal may or may not be given a finish, depending on the final product. The sheets are strong, durable and have a high strength-to-weight ratio. Once ready, the sheets may undergo bending, where they are bent along a linear axis by a punch and die, cutting, where sharp tools remove the material to create precise patterns, or other forming processes before being finished.
