Cross Breaking Sheet Metal

Cross breaks are most commonly in an x shape forming a slight pyramid shape in the metal without overly distorting it.

Cross breaking sheet metal.

Cross braking is a technique performed using a press brake. Cross breaks in hvac or duct work design cross breaks are used to stiffen sheet metal. To form the operator marks the bend line on the sheet as a guide then lines it up with punch tip and performs a shallow bend. The functionality seems to be there in the solidworks cross break command on the sheet metal toolbar but upon inspection the cross break it inserts is merely cosmetic.

A second bend is made across this initial one leaving an x impression on the sheet. The cross break is not a geometric entity and does not alter the geometry of the part. In most applications this will be sufficient since the distortion on the actual component will be minimal. We used the following equipment to produce this video.

So on the same page they mention. A cross break in sheet metal is when multiple obtuse bend angles of approximately 170 are made across a flat section thin metal. Bar fold http amzn to 2ebbi4w samsung note 2 i show you how to get a cross break in sheet metal with. The reason is that there are too many tweaks in sheet metal that are tooling dependent and do not affect realizable parts.