Solve your challenges with Axenics’ tube bending radius chart

Tube bending is the ideal solution for many jobs where accuracy and repeatability are essential. Axenics’ in-house computer numeric controlled (CNC) tube bending machine has vast capabilities, though we highlight a tube bending radius chart below to illustrate our standard or most-requested bends for drop-in replacement tubing for production delivery systems, custom tooling can be made available, upon request. 

We rely on our in-house Horn CNC50-TBRE for customers’ large diameter metal tube bending needs. The primary metal tubing bent on the CNC tube bender is 300-series stainless steel, known for its ease of bending and not cracking, breaking or causing wrinkling within the tube – resulting in virtually no change to the internal finish of the tubing.

The CNC50-TBRE also bends aluminum, copper, Inconel and other metal alloys. 

Axenics’ CNC50TBRE Hybrid CNC Tube Bending Radius Chart

Again, the tube bending radius chart above details Axenics’ standard or most-requested tube sizes and radii. The machine is capable of a much wider variety of sizes, though some bends may require the addition of tooling for the machine, which adds cost to a job if a custom tool is required for your application.

Axenics’ in-house bending specialists work with designers and engineers to examine and possibly update drawings / designs  to find a solution to complete your job on budget.

Here are some of the most-frequently asked questions about tube bending we receive from engineers and project designers – and how we respond to meet the challenge:

Frequently asked questions

Question: What is a tube bending radius chart?

Answer: A tube bending radius chart, in this example, shows the outside diameter of a piece of tubing, the material the tubing is made from, and the radii in which Axenics’ CNC tube bending machine can bend the tube. 

Question: If the OD of the tube we plan to use is not a standard size, what are your flexibilities with the design?

Answer: Axenics’ experts will look at your design requirements to see if there’s a solution to bend a standard size tube into a shape or angles that will fit into your space requirements, with minimal fittings to ensure consistent performance without degradation.

Question: If the radii requested is not standard, what are your flexibilities with the design?

Answer: Our team will look at your design plan to see if the radius of the tube bends can be adjusted and still achieve your goals. One possibility is that we can perform the job utilizing both tube bends and high-purity orbital welding to achieve your goal.

Back-to-back bends are sometimes requested, as designers look to fit tubing into a small space. Our CNC tube bender is capable of some tight bends, as illustrated in the chart above. However, back-to-back bends typically require custom tooling, which adds cost to the bottom line of a project. If the size of the project justifies the cost of the tooling, that may be your best solution.

Question: Can we use tempered or heat-treated tubing in this project?

Answer: Does your research show the bending properties of these materials? Are you open to changes on material selection? Some tempered or heat-treated tubes are more likely to rupture, crack or damage internally when bent by a machine. Our team can demonstrate the attributes of different metals to qualify them for your project.

We understand that many project designs are untested on actual machinery, and at early stages are proven out first by computer aided design programs. That’s why we will perform a sample test of a piece of tube for you to demonstrate why or why not it’s the best solution for your project.

One other thing to keep in mind for CNC tube bending, when machining tolerances are applied to bending jobs, we ask for a tolerance alleviation of ± .030” to ± .060” depending on the application, due to the metal’s spring-back characteristics.

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