Tube Bending
Tube bending consists of a process that bends tubes and pipes using computer-controlled machines. A precise process, tube bending ensures the quality and efficiency of the finished product.
Tube bending, or shaping, of a tube can be done using both cold and hot working processes. Often the mechanical properties of the original material are altered by the process.
A tube fabricator can offer several standard shapes for tube bending, such as squares or circles, in addition to a wide range of custom tubing shapes. Tube bending is a widely available specialized service. It is either done by automated machines or manually. While some machines use mandrels, which bend the tubing while it is being formed, others take pre-made tubing and bend the tubing through a series of triangulated rollers in order to achieve the right bend radius. The particular method used to bend the tube often varies according to the industry.
Bend tooling can be expensive, so choosing the bend radius from an already available standard size can provide a lower cost. Additional set-up costs can be avoided by using the same radius for multiple bends. Tube bending is used in the agricultural, construction, aerospace, automotive, electrical and medical industries, all of which depend upon several lengths and strengths of tubing in operations on a daily basis.