LOW COST AUTOMATED PIPE BENDING MACHINE

Project Reference Number: 42S_BE_2140

College : ATME College of Engineering, Mysuru

Branch : Department of Mechanical Engineering

Guide : Dr. Rathnakar G

Students : Mr. Adarsh Gowda C M

Mr. Harsha Vardhana T K

Mr. Mahesh N

Mr. Nithesh H K

Abstract :

Automated pipe bending machine is used to bend a metal sheet, plate and pipe. The

aim of this project is to develop a portable automated pipe bending machine. This machine is

used to bend pipes into circular shapes. The size of machine is very small (portable) as

compared to other machines, and it is convenient for portable work. It is fully made by Mild

Steel. The controlling mechanism is incorporated through the use of micro controllers. It is

easy to carry and use at any time and any place. It eases human effort and no requirement of

skilled workers to operate the machine. It is proposed to develop a manually operated metal

bending machine with use of metal shaft, stepper motor, pedestal bearing and support (frame).

This machine works on simple kinematic system instead of complicated design. This machine

can bend up-to 16 mm outer diameter and 14mm inner diameter pipes. Due to its light weight

and is portable so it can be used by small workshop, fabrication shop, small scale industry etc.

Bending machine is a common machine in machine shop that is used to bend a metal pipe.

There is no proper small scale bending machine for bending a pipe. A pipe bending machine

uses roller to bend metal. There are 3 roller used in bending machine. The common product of

metal bending machine are pipe (circular) bending if separate attachment of die is provided,

pipe bending. During the bending process the pipe is passed through consecutive pulleys that

gradually apply pressure on pipe. Because of this pressure the change in radius of pipe occurs.

Keywords:

Automated pipe bending, Metal frames, Profile bending machine, Motor, Roller,

Power screw,Electronic controllingdevices(microcontrollers, Bluetooth enabled

smartphones).

Introduction :

The bending machine is one of the most flexible machines on the market, allowing the

fabricator or iron worker to shear, punch, bend, scroll, and press thousands of different parts.

When considering industrial machinery, the bending machine is the perfect machineshop tool

for the metal fabricator. The metal bending machine fits any small to medium-sized industry

when machinery for large-scale production must necessarily make way for machinery with

distinctly lower production costs. The operating procedure of pipe bending machine is simple

when compared to other bending machine. Biggest improvements were placing the three

roller manual system into automation system. The pipe bending machine is most bend

accuracy due to less deflection in the table. The die holder is used to hold the die in the

proper position. We have to change the die to produce different shape of pipe such as „O‟

type, „U‟ type etc.

At present the development of science and technology are quick, in industrial

machinery bender type also have a variety of bending machine into the remedial alternative

industrial processing equipment, and bending performance of the pipe with the needs of

industry will continue to improve. Designed in this project is about the automatic pipe

bending machine fittings device design and design of its control circuit is simple and has the

advantages of reasonable structure, the operation is convenient, affordable, easy to

installation and disassemble, but also can used for other operations, and many other

advantages, is widely in the domestic application of electric pipe bending machine.

Automatic pipe bending machine is generally composed of the motor, the frame, the gear

reducer, electrical control equipment, and so on. The main realization of the pipe bending,

shaping and other functions. Bending is the uniform straining of material, Metal flow takes

place within the plastic range of the metal, so that the bend retains a permanent set after

removal of the applied stress. The inner surface of a bend is in compression; the outer surface

is in tension.

The project is designed on the basis of principle of automation bending process. Here

the use of principle of automation system is to increase the productivity. Now a days it is very

essential to use this system in order have a higher reliability. As pipe bending is extensively

in the construction of buildings and fabrication. Same bending machine can be manufactured

by using a pneumatic system and hydraulic system. The reason behind using automation

system instead of pneumatic system and hydraulic system is that automation system has

many more advantages over pneumatic system.

It has been seen that the 3-roller bending machines are widely using in many

industries for many different applications.

The motor used here to generate a required torque consists of 0.25 HP with 1440 rpm

of speed. We know that this speed cannot be used directly as a output speed and the torque

obtain from this motor is also very less, so to manipulate the value of torque and to reduce the

input speed on to the roller A&B a proper gear train is necessary. This gear train is properly

designed and used in this 3-roller pipe bending machine.

Due to increasing globalization, it is very much essential for the manufacturer to produce

agoods having highest reliability. Pipe Bending and Rolling is generally used in fabrication as

analternative method for casting or forging operations. Since it is related to human being

hence it isnecessary to design the joint with prior attention to safely of its user. Generally

Bending is aprocess that produces U-shape, V-shape, or channel shapes in ductile materialsas

per requirement on different types of bending machines.

As we have studied bending is also called as flexure which characterizes the behavior

of structural element when subjected to external load applied perpendicularly to a

longitudinal axis of the element. There are two different machines available in market for

bending of sheet and bending of pipe. The process can be performed using many materials

such as carbon and alloy steels, aluminium alloys and titanium alloys. Rolling machines with

both three rollers are used to produce of various curvatures. The rolling process is generally

performed by a three roller bender often called as pyramid type, because of these types of

arrangement of the three rollers. The process mainly consist 3 steps:

1. Positioning of the pipe.

2. Lowering of central roller.

3. Repeating feed of pipe.

In first step, a flat hallow pipe is fed into the machine by two rotating side rollers until

the pipe is properly positioned. In the 2nd step, center roller is displaced downward causes

bending of the pipe. In the final step, two side rollers rotate again, so that the pipe is bending

continuously the rolling process always starts with the crucial operation of pre-bending both

ends of pipe. The success of 3 roller bending process is depends on the experience and skill

of the operator.

Objective :

To reduce the human effort.

Cost of the machine is very less compared to other machine.

The machine is power operated to achieve maximum accuracy.

To increase the productivity in small scale industries.

Cycle time is reduced in bending process.

To optimize the material utilization.

To provide required curvature shape to pipe.

Machine is convenient to portable work.

To ease the operation in small scale industries.

To operate the system automatically.

Methodology :

To automate the pipe bending in pyramidal rolling machine, the movement of the

upper pulley is controlled by power screw.

Rolling load on the upper pulley is gradually increased to get the desired bend

radius.

The power screw and motors are controlled by digital Controllers (microcontroller,

Atmega 328P)

Vertical movement of the pulley and Rotation of the lower pulley are well

synchronized with the help of programmed controllers.

Standard programs for different bend radius for variety of metals are preloaded into

the memory so that user can select the desired programs according to the bend radius

and metal type.

Automated bending machine tends to minimize wrinkles and can reduce spring back.

The total cost of the pyramidal bending machine developed is less cost when

compared to the other bending machines which are presently available in the market.

The pipe bending machine developed minimizes the manufacturing cost and provide

maximum performance when bending pipes.

The bending machine developed is conceived only for bending different shapes and

forms, but its applications are endless: furniture, tables, chairs, traffic signs etc..,

In the less time process can accomplish the curved section.

The machine capacity can be increased according to the need such type of roller

bender more important for small scale works as well as industrial work in less cost

and more precision.“Reduces the work handling time”.

Flow Chart:

Study on related research paper

Analysis of research paper

Industry survey

Planning for future work

Componenets Of Machine :

Basic components: The basic construction and main components of portable automated pipe

bending machine is given below

1. Basic Frame:

Frame structures are the structures having the combination of beam, column to resist the

lateral and gravity loads.These structures are usually used to overcome the large moments

developing due to the applied loading.

2. Shafts:

Rotary shafts are commonly known as drive shafts, rotary shafts are used with gears,

sprockets, rotary bearings and other power transmission components. Most often, these

shafts are not hardened, so they‟re easier to machine than hardened shafts.

3. Rollers:

Design and drafting of model

Manufacturing

Assembly

Testing

Submission

In this project the roller is used to bend a pipe in angular shape. There are 3 rollers are used to

bend a pipe in curvature shape Roller is a cylinder that rotates about a central axis and is used

in various machines and devices to move, flatten or spread something. A roller always

consists a bearing.

4. Bearings:

Ball bearings operate with less friction than plain bearings, so they can run at higher

speeds.All bearings are designed to handle radial loads, thrust loads, moment loads, or a

combination of the three. Radial loads are perpendicular to the shaft. Thrust loads are parallel

to the shaft. Moment loads are twisting forces that result from offset loads.

Bearings are self-aligning to compensate for shaft misalignment. Seals block out dust and

contaminants.Bearings with nickel-plated cast iron housing are corrosion resistant and

durable than bearings with a cast iron housing.

5. Sprocket:

Roller chain links engage with matched sprocket teeth to transmit power between rotating

shafts. Since there‟s no slippage and little stretch, chain drives can handle heavy loads and

high torque.

6. Chain:

Metric roller chain and sprockets have a standard ISO number. Only use chain and sprockets

with the same number together. ISO number of the chain can be determined by measuring

pitch. Pitch is the distance between the pin centers of a chain link.

Modifying the Chain Length - Reduce chain length with a chain breaker. Join and extend

chain with individual links.

Connecting links are also known as master links. They are used to join the ends of a chain

length. The side plate is easy to remove for attaching to a chain. Adding links are also known

as roller links. They require two connecting links to join chain.

7. Motors:

Convert speed to torque to get the power need – gear motors are a motor and speed reducer

in one. One can wire for clockwise or counterclockwise rotation;

A good solution for tight spaces, these gearmotors transmit motion at a 90 degreeangle from

the motor, so they‟re positioned alongside your application whenmounted.Gearmotors

combine a motor and speed reducer to lower speed and increase torque.

8. Lead Screw and Nuts:

Travel distance per turn, also known as screw lead, is the distance a nut moves with one

revolution of the lead screw.

9. Shaft Couplings:

Couplings connect two shafts and transfer motion from one to the other. There are two types

of couplings: rigid and flexible. Rigid couplings connect two shafts that are aligned. They are

also good for handling high- torque applications. Couplings are rated by maximum torque

and maximum rpm. Using this formula to determine the maximum torque needed.

10. Power Supply:

A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electrical power to an electrical load. The

primary function of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct

voltage, current, and frequency to power the load. Other functions that power supplies may

perform include limiting the current drawn by the load to safe levels, shutting off the current

in the event of an electrical fault, power conditioning to prevent electronic noise or voltage

surges on the input from reaching the load, power-factor correction and storing energy so it

can continue to power the load in the event of a temporary interruption in the source power.

11. Microcontroller:

The ATmega328 is a single - chip microcontroller created by Atmel in the megaAVR family.

It has a modified Harvard architecture 8-bit RISC processor core. The Atmel 8-bit AVR

RISC- based microcontroller combines 32kB ISP flash memory with read-while-write

capabilities, 1kB EEPROM, 2kB SRAM, 23 general purpose I/O lines, 32 general purpose

working registers, three flexible timer/ counters with compare modes, internal and external

interrupts, serial programmable USART, a byte-oriented 2-wire serial interface, SPI serial

port, 6- channel 10-bit A/D converter, programmable watchdog timer with internal oscillator.

The device operates between 1.8-5.5 volts. The device achieves throughput approaching

1MIPS per MHz

12. Crystal:

A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses the mechanicalresonance of a

vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a precise

frequency. This frequency is often used to keep track of time, as in quartz wristwatches, to

provide a stable clock signal for digital integrated circuits. The most common type of

piezoelectric resonator used is the quartz crystal, so oscillator circuits incorporating them

became known as crystal oscillators.

A crystal oscillators, particularly one using a quartz crystal, works by distorting the crystal

with an electric field, when voltage is applied to an electrode near or on the crystal. This is

known as electrostriction.

13. Resistor:

A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical

resistance as circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow.

14. Bluetooth Module:

HC-05 module is an easy to use Bluetooth SPP (Serial Port Protocol) module,designed for

transparent wireless serial connection setup. The HC-05 Bluetooth Module can be used in a

Master or Slave configuration, making it a great solution for wireless communication.This

serial port bluetooth module is fully qualified Bluetooth V2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)

3Mbps Modulation with complete 2.4GHz radio transceiver and baseband. It uses CSR Blue

core 04-External single chip Bluetooth system with CMOS technology and with AFH

(Adaptive Frequency Hopping Feature).

15. Smartphone or tablet (Bluetooth enabled) :

Mobile phone having a Bluetooth connectivity is used in this project.

16. Voltage Regulator:

A voltage regulator IC maintains the output voltage at a constant value.7805 IC provides +5

volts regulated power supply with provisions to add a heat sink.There is a significant

difference between the input voltage & the output voltage of the voltage regulator. This

difference between the input and output voltage is released as heat. The greater the difference

between the input and output voltage, more the heat generated.

17. Perfboard:

Perfboard are widely used to embed circuits randomly for running of hardware. Its layer is

coated with copper and allows proper soldering without any short circuit.Perfboard is a

material for prototyping electronic circuits (also called DOT PCB). It is a thin, rigid sheet

with holes pre-drilled at standard intervals across a grid, usually a square grid of 0.1inches

spacing. These holes are ringed by round or square copper pads. Since each pad is electrically

isolated, the builder makes all connections with either wire wrap or miniature point to point

wiring techniques. The substrate is typically made of paper laminated with phenolic resin or

fiberglass-reinforced epoxy laminate.

Fabrication :

Fabrication of Roller Bender is carried out in the different steps which are mentioned below:

Cutting of basic frame (girder) according to required dimension with the help of cutter

or

gas welding.

Grinding of the edges of the girder.

Drilling of holes in the basic frame for the movement of bearing.

Welding of the girders according to design (arc welding).

Then fixing bearing in the frame with help of nut & bolt.

Then passing silver steel rods from bearing to check the alignment of the bearing.

Making arrangement for jack in base of girder on moveable side to lift the edge for

bending purpose.

Colouring of the project.

Operations Performed In The Project:

CUTTING

In this project we have performed cutting operation on the girders. First of all the girders are

cut

with help of abrasive cutter and dimensions varies for every frame.

ARC WELDING

After cutting all girders next operation is welding operation.

Arc welding is a process that is used to join metal to metal by using electricity to create

enoughheat to melt metal, and the melted metals when cool result in a binding of the metals.

It is a typeof welding that uses a welding power supply to create an electric arc between an

electrode andthe base material to melt the metals at the welding point. We can use either

direct (DC) oralternating (AC) current, and consumable or non-consumable electrodes. The

welding region isusually protected by some type of shielding gas, vapour or slag.

In this we have welded together all the cut pieces of girder with arc welding. This process

leadsto the formation of 3 frames i.e. 1) base frame 2) horizontal frame 3) vertical frame.

DRILLING

Drilling is a cutting process that uses a drill bit to cut a hole of circular cross-section in

solidmaterials. The drill bit is usually a rotary cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit is

pressedagainst the work-piece, cutting off chips from the hole as it is drilled.A drill is a tool

fitted with cutting tool attachment or driving tool attachment, usually a drill bit ordriver bit,

used for boring holes in various materials or fastening various materials together.Drilling

operation is used to drill holes in the girders of horizontal and vertical frame. Holes aredrilled

to fasten nut and bolt in order to attach pedestal bearing with both the frames. Drilling

isperformed on the vertical column machine.

DRAWING

3D MODEL

CAD MODEL

WORKING PRINCIPLE:

The principle of technology: tube is holded between rollers, two on the bottom and one on the

top. Top roller could be adjusted according to the vertical position and this means the

connection with the formed radius. Several or all rollers are driven to make the tube passing

through the rollers. So this method has no additional force for deformation except the rollers

position and it helps to make better bends.

Radius of bending is connected with the machine possibilities, sizes and rollers positions but

usually is big and could be obtained if more than five diameters of the tube.

How Automation Works?

A simple pipe bending machine automation project using Microcontroller, Bluetooth module

and a smartphone. The aim of this project is to control the pipe bending machine using a

smartphone. The working of the project is explained here.

When the power is turned on, the connection LED on the Bluetooth module starts blinking.

We need to start the “Bluetooth Controller” app in our smartphone and get connected to the

Bluetooth module. If the pairing is successful, the LED becomes stable.

Now, in the app, we need to set different keys for different loads and their corresponding

value that must be transmitted when that key is pressed. The following image shows a set of

keys to control loads and movements of the pulleys in clock wise and anticlockwise

directions an additional emergency key to turn off all the loads

.

Overview:

The HC-05 module is a Bluetooth SPP (Serial Port Protocol) module, which means it

communicates with the microcontroller via the Serial Communication.

Circuit Schematics:

It is needed to connect the bluetooth module and other components to the microcontroller.

Image showing the Circuit diagram.

The particular module have been powered from 3.6 to 6 volts, because it comes on breakout

board which contains a voltage regulator.However, the logic voltage level of the data pins is

3.3V. The line between the Bluetooth module TX pin and the Microcontroller RX pin can be

connected directly because the 3.3V signal from the Bluetooth module is enough to be

accepted as a high logic at the microcontroller Board.

Microcontroller Bluetooth Communication Source Code:

After the completion of building the circuit, it is ready to make the Microcontroller code for

enabling the communication between the Microcontroller board and the smartphone.

#include<SoftwareSerial.h>

SoftwareSerial Bluetooth(10, 11);

char command;

const int m1_a = 5;

const int m1_b = 6;

const int m2_a = 7;

const int m2_b = 8;

void setup()

{

Serial.begin(9600);

pinMode(m1_a, OUTPUT);

pinMode(m1_b, OUTPUT);

pinMode(m2_a, OUTPUT);

pinMode(m2_b, OUTPUT);

digitalWrite(m1_a, LOW);

digitalWrite(m1_b, LOW);

digitalWrite(m2_a, LOW);

digitalWrite(m2_b, LOW);

Bluetooth.begin(9600);

}

void loop()

{

while (Bluetooth.available() == 0)

{

digitalWrite(m1_a, LOW);

digitalWrite(m1_b, LOW);

digitalWrite(m2_a, LOW);

digitalWrite(m2_b, LOW);

}

command = Bluetooth.read();

if (command == '1')

{

digitalWrite(m1_a, LOW);

digitalWrite(m1_b, HIGH);

Serial.println(command);

delay(100);

}

if (command == '2')

{

digitalWrite(m1_a, HIGH);

digitalWrite(m1_b, LOW);

Serial.println(command);

delay(100);

}

if (command == '3')

{

digitalWrite(m2_a, LOW);

digitalWrite(m2_b, HIGH);

Serial.println(command);

delay(100);

}

if (command == '4')

{

digitalWrite(m2_a, HIGH);

digitalWrite(m2_b, LOW);

Serial.println(command);

delay(100);

}

if (command == '0')

{

digitalWrite(m1_a, LOW);

digitalWrite(m1_b, LOW);

digitalWrite(m2_a, LOW);

digitalWrite(m2_b, LOW);

Serial.println(command);

delay(100);

}

delay(10);

ASCII TABLE

SYMBOL ASCII VALUE

0 48

1 49

2 50

3 51

4 52

FLOWCHARTOF THE CONTROLLER:

Circuit Design

The circuit design of Automation based on microcontroller and Bluetooth is very simple and

is explained below.

The Bluetooth module has 4 – pins: VCC, TX, RX and GND. VCC and GND are connected

to 5V and ground from Arduino UNO. The Bluetooth module works on 3.3V and it has an on

board 5V to 3.3V regulator.

The TX and RX pins of the Bluetooth module must be connected to RX and TX pins of the

Arduino. In Arduino UNO, we are defining pins 2 and 4 as RX and TX using software.

Hence, TX of Bluetooth is connected to pin 4 of Arduino.

But when connecting RX of Bluetooth to TX of Arduino (or any microcontroller as a matter

of fact), we need to be careful as the pin can tolerate only 3.3V. But the voltage from TX or

Arduino will be 5V.

So, a voltage divider network consisting of 10K and 20K resistors are used to reduce the

voltage to 3.3V approximately.

PIN DIAGRAM

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Result:

R= (C

2+4d

2) / 8d

Table 1: Data for 16 & 20mm pipe bending test

Pipe Diameter

(mm)

Deflection

(mm)

Bending Diameter

(mm)

Remarks

16 31.75

38.10

457.20

412.75

There was a small

damage for 16mm

pipe initially But

no damage for

20mm pipe. 20

31.75

38.10

495.30

444.50

Table 2: Comparison between theoretical and experimental values of bending radius:

Pipe

Diameter in

mm

Deflection in

mm

Bending diameter in mm Deviation

Experimental

DE

Theoretical

DT

(DE-DT) in

mm

%(DE-

DT)/DT

16 31.75 475.20 539.75 82.55 15.30

38.10 412.75 461.52 48.77 10.56

20 31.75 495.30 539.75 44.75 8.24

38.10 444.50 461.52 17.02 3.69

Discussion:

In three-roller bending machine there are two methods for changing the bending angle and

radius one is changing the distance between two fixed rollers and another is changing the

vertical displacement in the middle roller. To reduce the complexity in the design, in this

project, the latter is considered. Thus, the bending radius is only dependent on the bending

force exerted by the middle roller. As the distance between the two rollers is fixed, the only

changeable variable in this case the distance„d‟. From Table 2, it can be envisioned that the

experimental result of bending radius for various displacement in middle roller in two pipes.

There is a little deviation in the results. By a slow and smooth operation this deviation could

be reduced. Also, it is seen that for higher displacement of middle roller the deviation is

reduced. one can see that the theoretical value is slightly higher than the experimental value.

For 16 mm pipe the curves go in parallel. But for 20 mm pipe the two curves tend to intersect

for higher deflection.

From the result it can be said that there is little deviation between theoretical and

experimental value. By maintaining proper bending process and smooth operation the

deviation could be reduced.

CONCLUSION AND SCOPE OF FUTURE WORK

Conclusion

The project design and fabrication work completed successfully. After experimentation on

the machine we conclude that we can perform pipe bending operation on this Machine uses

single power source i.e. DC geared motor which reduced the capital cost of the machine. The

setup change required for performing operations which is quite easy. The machine is capable

of bending off 10mm to 20mm diameter pipe but in this project 16mm diameter pipe is used.

However, the pipe used during test is of aluminum, therefore, the pipes of a softer material

than aluminum can also be bend using this machine.

Pipe bending is processes are used to make component for automobile, aerospace,

households, power plant industries etc. The pipe bending machine is automatic,

Microcontroller based, less expensive light-in-weight in compare to other automatic pipe

bending machines so, it can be preferable for small industry holders, small workshop holders,

in college institutes etc.

SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK

In order to define the scope of a project, it is necessary to first establish the project objectives.

The objective of a project may be to produce a new product, create a new service to provide

within the organization. Automatic pipe bending machine is less costly comparing to

hydraulic and pneumatic pipe bending machines and more accurate than manual pipe bending

machine so Small industries as well as big manufacturer of various pipes.

The scope of the study are encompasses investigation of the difficulties in portable metal

pipebending machine. The investigation is starting with stating with the problem statements.

The idea

of designing a bending machine can be seen clearly through the problem statements, which is

asolution of designing a bending machine can be generated to encounter those problems.

Fromthis investigation, a literature review can be conducted. In the literature review, it will

discussabout the reason to design a bending machine for pipe bending, the comparison of

existingbending machine, classification of bending machine, working principle of bending

machine, etc.

In nowadays, this type of automatic pipe bending machine is used in many different

industries like automobile, aerospace, power plants and all manufacturing industries

etc,

Bent pipe used as a structural member in vehicles and also used as a passageways in

condenser, evaporator, water & gas line, drainage lines etc.