How to Choose the Right Material Thickness for Your Custom Metal Fabrication?

Custom metal forming is a fundamental process in any firm, from the aerospace and automotive industries to construction and consumer goods. Whether you are producing structural pieces, enclosures, or trim, one of the most important choices you will ever have to make is an accurate material thickness. The choice thus impacts not just the functionality of the part but also its manufacturability, price, and longevity.

Here in this post, with the help of a Sheet Metal Fabrication Company, we are going to take you through the components that make up the proper material thickness for your custom metal fabrication job if you're working with steel, aluminum, stainless steel, or another metal.

Metal Thickness Reading

Thickness is typically measured or gauged in inches/millimetres based on market and material. Sheet metal thickness: the lower the gauge number, the thicker/heavier the sheet (a 10-gauge sheet will be heavier than a 20-gauge sheet). Straight measure is typically the way that plate metal is measured in inches or millimetres.

It is not a form issue to decide on the optimal thickness for your application—it's a matter of achieving performance, manufacturing, weight, and cost goals. You're too thin; your product will be too weak or buckle under load. You're too thick; you'll be slitting, bending, or welding misery, not to mention expensive material loss.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing Material Thickness

1. Application requirements

The simplest and most fundamental of these to deal with is its function. Is it a covering or load-bearing? Is it in order to withstand mechanical stress, impact, or vibration? Is it in order to make it look nice?

Structural members will normally have to be of greater thickness such that they will not yield when under load.

Non-load-bearing or cosmetic elements can have thinner gauges.

Parts that are going to be experiencing stress or wear will require strength and precision specifications, and so this will also be a factor in your thickness selection.

Understanding what your component must be doing is key. Engineers will do finite element analysis (FEA) in most cases to analyze stress and strain on parts in most situations in order to determine what minimum thickness is required.

2. Material Type

Various metals have various mechanical properties. Steel, for instance, is more powerful than aluminum, and a thinner steel sheet would be about as structurally sound as more amounts of aluminum.

Some fine examples are:

• Mild steel is not expensive and is sturdy and can be employed in structural parts.
• Stainless steel is anti-corrosive and employed in food, health, and marine usage.
• Aluminium is light and corrosion-resistant and most commonly utilized in transit and aerospace.

When comparing material to material, don't compare thickness only—compare the characteristics of performance, including tensile strength, yield strength, and ductility.

3. Weight Concerns

Where weight reduction is crucial, e.g., in the automobile or aviation industries, thicker material is heavier, and this will be affecting fuel efficiency, performance, or usability.

If you are manufacturing a component for a use where every single initial gram matters, use material with low density like aluminium or strength alloys. Material substitution would then allow downgrading to a lighter gauge without compromising performance.

4. Manufacturing Method

Manufacturing method also determines the ideal thickness of material. Every process like bending, punching, laser cutting, and welding has thickness tolerances and limitations.

For example:

The laser cutting will have the least likelihood of being able to cut very heavy metals, and it will be costlier and more time-consuming.

• Warpage in a heavier metal is more pressure-prone and tool-dependent.
• It is slower to weld heavier material and can require more filler.

If your shop manufactures under the operations of press brakes, laser-cut equipment, or punch CNC, then ensure that you know the capacity and limitation of the equipment. Selectingness that is hard to process will cause delay or additional cost.

5. Cost Implications.

It's heavier, and more costly pieces are more expensive—unfortunately, not just raw material, but processing, shipping, and labour. You'll end up with an overpriced piece if you over-design your piece with too much material.

Genius engineering is to plan with exactly the right amount of material to provide the intended performance without blowing the budget into smithereens. It's particularly vital with mass production, where any marginally higher use of material can snowball to astronomical levels.

6. Industry Standards and Codes

Some industries specify standards or codes that must have minimum thicknesses to utilize. Structural steel, for example, utilized in the construction of buildings must be ASTM or the building code.

If your component is to be used on regulated equipment—pressure vessels, HVAC ducts, or food-grade enclosures—you would do well to cite standards relevant to your application so as to minimize scope for issues with compliance.

7. Environmental Conditions

Will it be on the outside or inside? Will it need to be subjected to corrosive chemicals, heat, or continuous moisture?

If you were employing it in a hostile environment, you would require thicker material to permit corrosion after some time. Or make use of resistant material such as stainless steel or plated metal. Thin material would be the one to deteriorate if the environmental aspect wasn't being considered.

8. Precision and Tolerances

More tolerances in your design may mean you need to add a bit of thickness. i.e., parts that must fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle (enclosures, mechanical components, etc.) must be the same thickness of material so things fit.

If you must be dimensionally precise, discuss with your fabricator what thickness will offer the best balance between strength and fabrication precision. Instruction: Guidance on Making a Final Decision

Consult your fabricator beforehand: They can give you a reasonable thickness estimate from their machine and from experience.

• Prototype initially: Testing multiple revisions with varying thicknesses will cost you money and time in the long term.
• Use simulation software: For complicated parts, computer simulations will tell you at which point the part will break.
• Don't over-engineer: Simple to make it thicker "just in case," difficult to make and costly.

The Gist

Determining the optimal thickness of a piece is art and science. It's trying to strike a balance between weight, strength, cost, manufacturability, and codes and regulations. Though there are general-use codes and standards, best practice is to study each job separately, considering the character of the material, application, and manufacturing method.

Spending only a couple of minutes to choose the right one, the optimal thickness of material for your use, you're not only setting the stage for the success and long life of your finished product but also reasoning to make it simpler to produce and avoiding the expense of scrap. Hire a competent metal fabricator or engineer if in doubt. Their professional skills can transform your idea into a reality that works the way you want.

Also Read: Material Handling Equipment: Types, Benefits, and More