Design Procedure for Bent Tubular Products

  1. Research material available and bendability to determine design feasibility. Use bend radii of (2-D) 2 x O.D. of tube or greater when design permits. Always use existing tooling if possible to avoid expensive die costs.
     
  2. When possible, always avoid bends too close together or bends within bends. This type of design requires special tooling and will greatly increase piece part costs.
     
  3. Make all bend radii on tube being designed same radii to minimize production costs. Allow minimum of 2 X tube diameter between bends for clamping. Check with BOYCE for clamp length information.
     
  4. Avoid expanded and reduced ends too close to bend tangent. Allow 1" minimum on expanded or reduced ends and 4" for flare, bead or end finishing.
     
  5. Bend radii smaller than (2-D) 2 X tube diameter will result in specialized tooling and material. Always use the largest radius possible when designing bent parts to avoid premium bends. All rounds are designed on a centerline radius, squares and rectangles on an inside radius.
     
  6. Bend tolerances on single bend parts are +/- 1º. On multiple bend parts +/- 1-1/2º and +/- 3/32 c-c up to 2-1/2" and +/- 2º of bend +/- 3/16" above 2-1/2". Tube cutting tolerance +/- 3/32" unless otherwise specified on part print, our quotations are based on these tolerances. Try to avoid machine tolerances and true radius dimensions on bend drawing specifications.
Tubing