Glossary
Press braking — definition
Bending sheet along straight lines in a press brake, giving a flat cut part a three-dimensional shape.
Press braking turns a laser-cut blank into a bracket. The cost is low, the lead time short and the tooling standard.
There are three limits: the bend radius cannot be tighter than the material allows, the wall thickness is the same everywhere, and every bend needs clearance for the tool to reach. The part therefore cannot have closed volumes or internal stiffening.
A bent bracket also carries a stress concentration in the bend itself. A cast bracket has a generous radius with metal where the stress is.