Multi-Radius Bending

Steel bending to create multi-radius curves

Multi-radius steel bending for a walkway in California: Dos Lagos

Curved steel for Potowatami Casino, Milwaukee

Multi-Radius steel bending can be accomplished within the same part, saving customers splices and material wasted at the ends of the bending. Ellipses, parabolas, and special cambers would fall under this category. Flat, "pancake" coils or true spirals can also be produced. (Note: "Helical spiral bending" is a misnomer-spirals are curved in one plane, helixes in two.) Applications of this type of curved steel include ornamental iron work, elliptical structures, and multi-radius structural supports.

Multi-Radius Bending Capacities

Chicago Metal has the capacity to perform steel bending of complex multi-radius shapes including working with the smallest steel sections of curved steel to massive beams, tube and pipe. For example, W44 x 290 beams can be cambered to multiple specified points not conforming to a constant radius.

The company can create ellipses, parabolas, spirals, and other non-standard curved steel in almost all the sections that it curves to a constant radius -- from the smallest to the largest sizes of plate (3" x 60"), channel (C18 x 54.7), tube (18" x 6"), pipe (24"), or beam (W30 x 99).

Both 3-roll bending and mandrel tube bending can be used to create multi-radius bending.

Multi-Radius Bending Value-Added Services

Depending on the application, additional operations like punching, drilling, welding and cutting can be performed either after or before the multi-radius steel bending.

Multi-Radius Bending Applications

Impressive applications of our multiple-radius steel bending include the world's largest McDonald's arches formed into parabolas of 20 x 12 tubes; the bending of beams for the Dos Lagos development in California; the steel bending of half ellipses for the train tube above the IIT Student Center, and the Barton Mallow headquarters in Michigan.

Artwork can also call for multi-radius steel bending as in "Amazon Rising."