Design aspects and detailed study of medium tonnage mechanical press brakes

Abstract

The fabricated stands, bed and ram of a medium tonnage mechanical press brake under load are studied. The machine analyzed is capable of handling a variety of bending operations on sheets of up to 6.5 mm thickness. FEM is used to study the static response of the stands when the machine is in operation, three-noded triangular plate elements being used for this purpose. The response is computed for the worst case of loading. Cholesky's method in conjunction with the constant bandwidth approach is used to study the behavior of the stand, the solution of which results in the computing of a large number of unknowns. The objective of the study is to evaluate the performance of the machine stands, the bed and the ram, when the machine is subjected to various loading conditions. Isostress lines are plotted to enable the stress pattern to be studied, based on which study various design and structural modifications to arrive at a satisfactory design have been suggested.