Sheet metal processing refers to the manufacturing of metal components from thin metal sheets. For example, it involves creating items like chimneys, iron barrels, fuel tanks, oil cans, ventilation ducts, elbows, reducers, transition pieces, and funnels. The primary processes include cutting, bending, folding, forming, welding, and riveting, which require a certain level of geometric knowledge. Sheet metal parts are thin metal components that can be processed through stamping, bending, and stretching. A general definition is that these are parts whose thickness remains unchanged during processing. In contrast, other types of metal components include castings, forgings, and machined parts.
Cold working typically refers to the cutting and shaping of metal, where a cutting tool removes excess metal from a workpiece or blank to achieve a specific shape, size, and surface finish. Common cold working processes include turning, drilling, milling, planing, grinding, and broaching. In the field of metalworking, cold working is defined as the process of causing plastic deformation in metal below its recrystallization temperature. This includes processes such as cold rolling, cold drawing, cold forging, stamping, and cold extrusion. Cold working involves higher deformation resistance and can increase the hardness and strength of the workpiece through work hardening. However, it also reduces the metal's ductility. Cold working is suitable for manufacturing metal parts with small cross-sectional dimensions and high requirements for dimensional accuracy and surface finish.
