test piece bender

[shott8283]

in class we have been welding up test peices and using a special bending machine to make the root and face bends to see if they fail. the machine we use is specially made for this purpose, but was wondering if anyone has built or has used something else to bend these pieces... id like to further my testing abilities and be able to weld and test myself at home.

[enlpck]

Originally Posted by shott8283

in class we have been welding up test peices and using a special bending machine to make the root and face bends to see if they fail. the machine we use is specially made for this purpose, but was wondering if anyone has built or has used something else to bend these pieces... id like to further my testing abilities and be able to weld and test myself at home.

There are many, many shop built bend rigs. They are easy to make IF you have a mill and a press in house, or have a lathe and a bender (hossfeld style) of sufficient capacity in house. Dimensions depend of the material and thickness, and details depend on what the bnd mandrel is mounted on.

If yo have a 10 ton press, with the ability to mount pres dies, you can set up a bend jig to AWS and ASME spec. The requirement for many materials (in particular P1--low carbon steel) is 20% elongation on th outside of the bend. The ID of the bend is 4X the matrial thickness for this, so for the common 3/8 thick coupon, the ID of the bend i 1-1/2"

Th rig in my shop mounts in one of the presses. The button on the ram is removed, and the mandrel is put in, and the die sits on the press frame. Bothwere made in hose from the scrap pile (does your scap pile have 1-1/2" thick plate? if not, small hunks can be found fairly easily, or thinner material can be welded up)

A friend works in a shop where the setup has a clamp that bolts to the table of his bender to hold a coupon, and uses a 1-1/2" flat bar mandrel and a roller follower in the arm

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My suggestion for home would be to get a hunk of rod or pipe of th appropriate diameter, clamp it in the vise with the coupon, and whale the coupon around it with a BFH. Doesn't meet code for a test, but good enough for practice, and cheap and easy.

[mark123]

at my school, they have a set-uop, that uses a car jack and a thing made from steel that looks like a 3/4 square. You put your welds pn the jack and jack it up untill the metal bends or breaks, then the teacher looks over your weld. I hope this helps.

[_CY_]

anyone have any test coupon bender plans?

[norite]

I think there is plans for a test jig In the Lincoln handbook of arc welding. If you have a hydraulic shop press and build the jig you can bend your own coupons.

[_CY_]

got a 20 ton press... any links to the plans?

Originally Posted by norite

I think there is plans for a test jig In the Lincoln handbook of arc welding. If you have a hydraulic shop press and build the jig you can bend your own coupons.