Tube bending is the term used for all metal forming processes that is used to form tubes or pipes. The pipes that are bent are used either in water lines, for handles, petroleum pipe lines, in power plants, as freeway signs and more. Today there are different processes and busbar bending machine But this was not the case always.
The history of pipe and tube bending processes dates back to the ancient Chinese civilizations where they used reeds as tubes to pipe water. Even in United States hollowed out trees were used earlier in waterlines. Later in 1700’s, cast iron was used in England to form seamless pipes and all this was manually done as there were no specialized machines that could be used for the tubing process.
However all this changed in 1920’s when further innovations introduced the converter furnace process which allowed companies to produce malleable low carbon steel as well as roll them into hollow bars. Introduction of the electric arc welding technology also helped the tubing process. World War II also aided to the development of the tubing processes and industry as it was a great way to make products used in ships, automotives as well as aircraft. With introduction of newer technologies the tube bending industry received newer innovations which have helped in making tube bending processes efficient and simple. There are different machines available for different bending processes. Given below are some of the different types of machines used for tube bending today.
Press Bender
The press bender is one of the most basic types of tube bending machines available these days. It uses mechanical force by pressing the tube against the die to bend it. This force could be applied pneumatically or hydraulically. The machine works on cold pipes and only works for tubes with one size and radius.
Rotary draw bender
The rotary draw bender used die sets to bend tubes. These benders can be programmed to store multiple bending jobs each of which having a varying degree on bend. Rotary draw benders are usually used for bending pipe, tube and solids for applications such as lines, handles, frames and more.
Roll Benders:
Roll benders gradually changes the bend radius of the pipes as the pipes pass over the rollers. There are three sets of rollers in this machine usually in the pyramid form and they move in such a way so as to create force and bend the tube.