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Perhaps you have bent metal paper clips or your parents' cutlery in childhood. You might have liked making pipe-cleaner clowns. One thing is for certain, the metal you were bending as a child was not steel beams or tubes, and it never had to be strong enough to hold up a stadium roof or a roller coaster.

As adults, we rely on curved metal beams, pipes, tubes, and angles in everything from a simple park bench to spiral staircases to some parts of modern skyscrapers. Visit any airport or museum built in the past couple of decades and count the number of curved metal structures you find.

Ever wonder how they do it? I mean, how can you bend a steel beam and still keep the strength to support an airport roof? Well, there are ways.

Rolling to bend metal

Rolling is perhaps the most well-known method to bend metal. A CNC tube bending & rolling service uses a suitable size die to adjust to the length of the steel tube, angle or pipe, channel, bar, or beam. It revolves at the same speed and turns in opposite directions. The machine uses pressure to bend the tube or beam according to the required radius as the metal passes through the rolling.

Rolling can be used when the material, whether it is metal, plastic, or glass, must be bent. It can bend up to 360 degrees. This is a great method to produce steel coils, spiral staircases, and other similar products.

There are many types of rolling processes. Sheet metal is most commonly produced by hot rolling, which takes place above the recrystallization temperature. While most non-ferrous metals are rolled cold and steel is rolled hot, it's not common for them to be made of iron.

Rolling is cheaper than other methods of bending and forging steel. This is why companies choose it when they have the right specifications.

Mandrel to bend metal

Mandrel-bending is also well-known. A metal shaft, also known as a mandrel, is used to bend the metal pipe or tube. The mandrel bends the metal around the die of the right size to create the radius.

A mandrel is most effective when the steel pipe or tube has a thick wall and/or a tight radius. This prevents material from rippling. The mandrel is able to bend steel tubing only up to 180 degrees.

However, it creates a uniform bend all the way up and downstream of the tube or pipe. This process is not used to bend metal sheets or beams. However, it can be used to bend exhaust pipes and molten glass, as well as jewelry in very small cases.

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