Bella's Business Blog

It's difficult to picture how present day industrial processes would proceed without the use of sheet metal. Sheet metal consists of thin pieces of steel that are shaped into various sizes and thickness. The thickness of a piece of sheet metal is referred to as its gauge, where the smaller the gauge, the thicker the metal.

In addition, different types of metal can be formed into sheets, making the extent of their industrial applications almost limitless. Here are some of the most common uses of sheet metal in industrial applications.

Construction of aeroplanes and automobiles

The most common use of sheet metals arises during the construction of vehicle and aeroplane components. A large part of the outer frame of these machines is made out of sheet metal of varying length and width. Metals such as aluminium, copper and brass are commonly used to design vehicle frames.

Industrial processes also tend to turn a mixture of these metals into alloys that have high resistance to stress, corrosion, and bending. Sheet metals are therefore excellent starting products for making metal alloys that go into aeroplanes and cars.

Welding

Sheet metal is an important raw material used in welding. In fact, welding primarily consists of joining metal panels together by using a common weld pool. The thin nature of sheet metal makes them quite useful for several welding applications.

Construction of home appliances

Most of the appliances used in your home are composed, either in whole or in part, of sheet metal. These thin panels line the outer surfaces of fridges, microwave ovens, and toasters. They're also used inside Television sets and radios to conduct electricity or to transmit signals from one receptor to another. Sheet metals used in electronic devices need to be sturdy, durable and easily customisable.

Railways and railroad cars

Perhaps one of the most obvious applications of sheet metal, railways rely on these metallic pieces to form the path along which trains can pass. The sheet metal used for transportation purposes such as railways needs to be resilient even at high temperature and pressure conditions.

Fabrications

Most people who are familiar with basic industrial processes have probably heard of sheet metal fabrications. A sheet metal fabrication is the formation of a usable end product after starting with a piece of sheet metal. Fabrication allows for an industrial process to use metal panels to design useful objects that can add value to customers when they are finally sold.

Skip bins

Skip bins are another beneficiary of sheet metal. A skip bin is basically designed from multiple shapes and sizes of sheet metal, which are then fabricated into the final product. 

For more information on sheet metal bending, contact a local business.