TPT January 2012

B ENDING MACHINERY AND TOOLS

References to “the tube bending industry” are not unknown in the literature. Whether the text accompaniment, with its guidelines to dimensioning, bend radii, and material elongation limits, quite defines a distinct industry would be a judgement call. But it may be asserted that, if a length of tubing could not be reliably and repeatably bent – that is to say, if sheet metal cannot be made to form and hold an obtuse angle and an acute angle, separated by air – industrial practice as we know it would not exist. Sectors including aerospace, automotive, construction, defence, energy, mining and transportation would be without a key component in their development. If tube bending is not quite an industry in itself, it is certainly a mega- speciality. The products and services of many of its ablest suppliers will be found in the pages of this section.

AddisonMcKee has introduced innovative new technology to help make its machines leaner, greener and more efficient