Cyclone and dust separator
Casing, steep cone, dip tube and a tangential inlet whose slot is twice as wide in the curve.
How true is the flat pattern?
The surface is developable and the flat pattern is solved in closed form. Cut the part to the drawing and it fits — the whole uncertainty sits in the K-factor, which belongs to the material and the machine, not to the geometry.
Dimensions are entered as: Inside dimensions. The flat pattern itself is always computed on the neutral fibre — at Ø800 in 3 mm sheet the difference between the inside and the outside dimension is 18.8 mm of developed width, and then the seam does not meet.
The vocabulary of bending
The words and formulas the trade uses for a flat pattern. The symbols are the same throughout Discebo: α is the bend angle in degrees, R the inside bend radius, t the sheet thickness and K the K-factor — all in millimetres.
- Flat pattern (development)
- The part's surface laid out flat as one continuous cutting outline — the way the sheet looks BEFORE it is bent or rolled. Only a developable surface can be unfolded exactly; a doubly curved surface cannot be laid flat without stretching the material.
- Flat length
- The flat length the part must be cut to so the dimensions come out right once it is bent. It is either the sum of the outside dimensions minus the bend deductions, or the sum of the flat legs plus the bend allowances — both routes must give the same number.L = Σ(udvendige mål) − Σ(BD) = Σ(flade ben) + Σ(BA)
- Bend allowance
- The length of material that sits in the bend itself, measured along the neutral fibre. The bend allowance is always positive and is added to the flat legs.BA = (π/180) · α · (R + K · t)
- Bend deduction
- The amount subtracted from the sum of the outside dimensions, because the two outside dimensions between them count the corner twice. Here the bend deduction is taken as POSITIVE and subtracted; DIN 6935 writes the same quantity as the compensation value v with the opposite sign.BD = 2 · OSSB − BA
- Outside setback
- The distance from the theoretical outside corner point in to where the bend starts. Above 90°, tan(α/2) is clamped to at most 1 per DIN 6935, so the number does not explode towards 180°.OSSB = tan(α/2) · (R + t)
- Compensation value v to DIN 6935
- The standard's own way of writing the same corner loss: the flat length is a + b + v, where v is negative. Our bend deduction is therefore the same quantity with the opposite sign — never flip one without the other.L = a + b + v ⇒ v = −BD
- K-factor
- Where the neutral fibre sits in the sheet, given as a fraction of the sheet thickness. DIN 6935 writes the correction factor k, which applies to the neutral line in the form (R + t·k/2); the American CAD convention writes (R + K·t), so K = k/2.k = 0,65 + 0,5 · log₁₀(R/t), k ≤ 1,0 ⇒ K = k/2
- Neutral fibre
- The layer in the sheet that is neither stretched nor compressed when the part is bent. The flat pattern is always computed on the neutral fibre — which is why it matters whether the drawing's dimensions are inside or outside.
- Bend angle
- The angle the material is turned through, not the angle between the legs. The bend angle is 180° minus the included angle, so a square corner is 90° and a seam fold is 180°.α = 180° − åbningsvinklen
- Inside bend radius
- The radius on the inside of the bend. It is set by the tooling and the material, not by the drawing — too small a radius cracks the part in the outer fibre.
- Sheet thickness
- The thickness of the material. It enters every single bend allowance, so sheet delivered 0.2 mm thicker than ordered shifts the flat length at every bend.
- Fold line
- The line on the flat pattern where the part is to be bent. It is drawn but never cut through — in a laser file it therefore sits on its own layer.
- Test bend
- A strip of known raw length, bent in the material and the tooling that production will use. Measure the two outside legs afterwards and the bend deduction and K-factor can be worked back. The machine's own measured bend table beats any table.BD_målt = (A + B) − L₀
DIN 6935 covers only cold bending of flat products in structural steel. Stainless, aluminium, copper, brass and titanium zinc are not included — there the formulas are an extrapolation, and a test bend in the actual material settles it.
The dimensions you type
20 fields. The starting values belong to the figure itself — they live in one place in the code, so the tool, the share link and the smoke test can never disagree about what «default» means.
| Dimension in mm | Interval | Standard | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shell diameter D (inside)D_kappe | 100–2.000 mm · step size 10 | 400 mm | The opening the air circulates in. All the cyclone's other dimensions are normally set in relation to it — the ratios are given in the table ‘Cyclone ratios’. |
| Cylinder height hH_cyl | 50–4.000 mm · step size 10 | 600 mm | The straight part between the top plate and the cone's top edge. The inlet slot must fit here. |
| Cone heightH_konus | 50–5.000 mm · step size 10 | 800 mm | Vertical height from the cone's large circle to its small circle. The higher it is, the steeper the wall — and the dust needs to be able to slide on it. |
| Outlet diameter B (inside)D_udloeb | 20–1.000 mm · step size 5 | 100 mm | The small end of the cone — the hole the chip bag or rotary valve hangs on. |
| Inlet height adriverindloeb_a | 20–1.500 mm · step size 5 | 200 mm | Measured along the shell's axis. Together with the width, it gives the inlet's free cross-section. |
| Inlet width bdriverindloeb_b | 10–1.000 mm · step size 5 | 100 mm | Measured across, in towards the axis. It must be smaller than the shell's radius — otherwise the duct's innermost wall lies on the other side of the centre. |
| Degree of tangentialityindloeb_tangential | 0–100 % · step size 5 | 100 % | 100% = the duct's outermost wall is flush with the shell's inner side, and the air glides in without a step. 0% = radial inlet through the centre, which does not set the air in rotation. |
| Top edge of the inlet below the top edge of the shellindloeb_ned | 5–2.000 mm · step size 5 | 40 mm | Material must remain above the slot. If the dimension is 0, the cut-out is not a hole but a notch in the edge — and a notch cannot be punched in the cutting pattern. |
| Free length of the ductindloeb_L | 30–2.000 mm · step size 10 | 250 mm | Measured from the flange to the point where the duct FIRST meets the shell. The four walls therefore each become at least this long — the tangential one becomes the longest. |
| Inlet velocityindloeb_v | 1–40 m/s · step size 0,5 | 18 m/s | Used only to convert the cross-section into an air volume: q = A · v · 3600. What the velocity SHOULD be is determined by the installation and by the material — the tool does not invent it. |
| Dip tube diameter D_e (internal)D_dykroer | 30–1.200 mm · step size 5 | 160 mm | The vortex finder — the pipe the clean air exits through. It must not stand inside the inlet opening. |
| Dip tube depth below the top platedykroer_dybde | 10–2.000 mm · step size 5 | 300 mm | The lower edge must be BELOW the lower edge of the inlet slot. Otherwise some of the air will flow directly into the outlet along with the dust. |
| Dip tube height above the top platedykroer_over | 0–1.000 mm · step size 5 | 100 mm | The piece the exhaust duct or hose is fitted onto. |
| Outlet nozzle heightudloeb_studs | 0–500 mm · step size 5 | 60 mm | 0 = no nozzle; the cone then ends at its own edge and there is nothing to clamp the chip bag to. |
| Material thickness, shell and conet_kappe | 1–4 mm · step size 0,1 | 1,5 mm | The shell is the plate that is rolled. The thickness goes into the neutral axis D_n = D_i + t. |
| Materiallegering | Hot-dip galvanised DX51D+Z · Structural steel S235JR · Stainless 1.4301 / AISI 304 · Stainless 1.4404 / AISI 316L · Aluminium AlMg3 (5754) | Hot-dip galvanised DX51D+Z | — |
| The longitudinal seamssoemtype | Stumpsvejst med rodåbning · Riveted overlap | Stumpsvejst med rodåbning | — |
Advanced fields
Hidden by default — they have a sensible default, and most parts do not need them.
| Dimension in mm | Interval | Standard | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock position of the inletindloeb_klokke | 0–12 kl. · step size 0,25 | 3 kl. | Where the CENTRE of the slot sits, seen from above: 0/12 = 12 o'clock. The slot must not land across the vertical shell seam — it cannot be welded through a cut-out. |
| Material thickness, duct and dip pipet_kanal | 1–4 mm · step size 0,1 | 1,5 mm | The inlet duct and dip pipe can easily be thinner than the shell — they do not wear in the same way. |
| Root gap in the longitudinal seamsconditionalrodaabning | 0–4 mm · step size 0,1 | 1 mm | The gap between the edges. It is split with half on each edge, and the sum is subtracted from the blank. |
Ready-made presets
A preset sets every dimension at once. The name is often the word the part goes by in the workshop — the library's search knows them all.
Chip separator for a joinery workshop, Ø400
Ø400 shell, 200 × 100 mm tangential inlet — the slot becomes 210 mm wide in the arc, not 100
Also known as: spånudskiller · spåncyklon · snedkercyklon · spånsug · cyklon 400
Pre-separator for vacuum cleaner, Ø250
Thin galvanised sheet, riveted overlap — the one you build in a weekend
Also known as: forudskiller · cyklonforudskiller · støvsugercyklon · hobbycyklon · dust deputy
Chip silo cyclone, Ø800
Ø800 over the silo top — the cone's sector is 1.7 m wide and must be divided into wedges
Also known as: spånsilo · silocyklon · spåncyklon 800 · siloudskiller · spånafkast
Dust separator for grinding dust, Ø300
Tall, narrow inlet (a = 3·b) and a long dip pipe — fine dust must have its way round
Also known as: grinding dust · støvudskiller · finstøvcyklon · slibecyklon · poleringsstøv
Flour dust cyclone in a bakery, Ø350
Stainless 1.4301, smooth seams — flour dust settles in every single crevice
Also known as: melstøv · bagericyklon · melcyklon · melsug · støvudskiller bageri
Cyclone on a grain dryer, Ø1000
Ø1000, 3.1 m developed shell — the blank does not fit on one sheet
Also known as: korntørreri · grain dust · avnecyklon · landbrugscyklon · tørrericyklon
Cyclone on a wood-chip boiler, Ø500
Flue gas cyclone in 3 mm black steel — steep cone, 82° from horizontal
Also known as: flisfyr · røggascyklon · askecyklon · halmfyr · biobrændsel
Partially tangential inlet, Ø450
60 % tangent — the duct's outer wall sits 72 mm inside the shell's inner face, and the air hits a step
Also known as: delvist tangentiel · halvtangentiel · skrå indløb · indløb med trin · offset indløb
Reservation
Read them before the part is cut. They are here because they cannot be calculated away — not as legal text, but as craft.
- The figure DRAWS a cyclone; it does NOT SIZE it. Cut diameter (d₅₀), separation efficiency and pressure loss are process calculations that have not been made here. The ratios a/D, b/D, D_e/D, h/D, H/D and B/D are given as free parameters, and a named standard set has deliberately not been built in — a standard figure without a source is worse than no figure.
- The conveying velocity in the duct is an INPUT. What is needed to keep shavings, grinding dust or grain suspended depends on the nature of the material, moisture and particle size. Look it up in the installation's own sizing; the tool does not invent it.
- The cone's wall angle is calculated, but whether the dust SLIDES depends on the material's friction angle against the sheet. It must be measured or provided by the supplier — the tool does not invent it.
- Cyclones in dust zones with combustible dust (wood, flour, grain, coal) are ATEX equipment in accordance with Directive 2014/34/EU. Explosion relief, earthing, equipotential bonding and the placement of the outlet are NOT covered by this figure.
- The figure is an ATMOSPHERIC separator. It is not pressure-bearing and must not be used to size a pressure vessel — vessels above PED 2014/68/EU's class limits must be calculated in accordance with EN 13445.
- Hangers, legs, wind load and anchoring are not covered. A cyclone on a silo roof is a wind-exposed structure and must be sized in accordance with EN 1991-1-4.
- The duct network's pressure loss and sound attenuation have not been calculated. Duct sizing and leakage classes are set out in DS 447 and EN 1505/EN 12237.
- In food and pharmaceutical zones, crevices and overlaps are forbidden: choose butt-welded seams and an alloy suited to product contact. The figure does not enforce this — it states it.
Onward from here
- Cylinder – sheet length for the body Metal worker
- Truncated cone development (cone/funnel) Metal worker
- Clinch nail – spacing and edge distance Metal worker
- Sheet development with K-factor Technical designer
- Developed length in bending Metal fabricator
- The box unfolder A whole box unfolded with dimensions on every side — the same bending maths.
- 3D-workshop All the platform's 3D figures, including those without a flat pattern.
- The whole library Every figure, grouped and searchable by the words you know them under.