Architectural and Structural Bending
Curved structural sections where the bend is visible and the finish is part of the design.
What architectural work brings to a bending shop
Curved canopies and entrance structures, handrail and balustrade, exposed structural members, curved trusses, and the bent sections inside stadium, airport and civic work.
Architectural bending is the one kind where the bend is meant to be looked at. A slight flat spot or a ripple that nobody would notice inside a pipe rack is a defect when it is nine feet from the public at an entrance. That changes the acceptance criteria from dimensional to visual, and it changes the tooling. This shop bends channel, angle, wide flange, and round and finned tube, not only round pipe.
Codes and standards: AISC for structural steel, with the architect’s drawings and the finish specification usually governing what is acceptable. Send your project specification with the enquiry and we will confirm in writing what we certify against before anything is cut.
Which axis, and which face
On a structural section it is not enough to give a radius. A channel or a wide flange behaves completely differently bent about its strong axis than about its weak axis, and one of the two may not be possible at the radius you want.
Say which axis, which way the section faces in the finished work, and which face is visible. Where the finish matters, say that too: it decides how the section is handled and supported through the bend.
What to send with a architectural enquiry
Five numbers describe a bend: outside diameter, wall thickness, centerline radius, bend angle and the tangent length on each end. Add the material and the quantity and the job can be priced. A drawing, a sketch or a photograph of a marked-up print all work, and the quote form takes an attachment up to 25 MB.
For architectural work, say which axis the section is bent about and which face is visible in the finished work. A channel or a wide flange behaves completely differently about its strong axis than about its weak one, and one of the two may not be possible at the radius you want. If the bend is judged visually rather than dimensionally, say so.
Put the documentation requirements in the enquiry rather than in a later email. Material test reports, non-destructive testing and heat treatment all cost money and time. Retrofitting a documentation package onto a bend that has already been made is slow, and sometimes it is impossible.
Materials we bend
If the grade you need is not listed, ask. This is what comes through most often, not a limit.
What we can bend for you
How we would make it
Wall thickness, radius, material and schedule decide the process. Send the drawing and we will tell you which one fits.
Heat Induction Bending
Cojafex induction bending up through 42″ O.D. and 4″ wall, in any radius, angle or plane.
Coiling
Helical, spiral wound and serpentine coils, cold, up through 10″ pipe.
Cold Bending
Rotary draw bending on fourteen machines, with mandrels and wiper shoes where the radius needs them.
Mandrel Bending
Ball mandrels and wiper shoes for tight radii and thin walls that would otherwise collapse.
Large Diameter Pipe Bending
The work most shops turn away: up to 42 inch outside diameter and 4 inch wall.
Stainless and Alloy Bending
Stainless, duplex, Hastelloy, titanium and nickel alloys, bent without wrecking the metallurgy.
Questions we get from architectural buyers
Can you bend structural shapes, not just pipe?
Yes. Channel, angle, wide flange, and round and finned tube. Tell us which axis you want bent about, because the strong axis and the weak axis behave very differently.
Will the bend be visible on a finished surface?
Tell us if it will. Architectural work is judged visually rather than only dimensionally, and that changes the tooling, the support arrangement and the handling.
Can you match an existing curve on site?
Usually. A template, a photograph with dimensions or a set of offsets measured along a chord all work. Send what you have rather than waiting for a drawing.
Have a drawing? Send it over.
Send a drawing or a sketch and our team will get back to you with a quote.