A 400 ton press brake sits in the very heavy class. Tonnage is the force the machine can apply, and it decides how thick and how long a part you can bend. This guide covers what that force buys you, where these machines earn their keep, and how to choose the right size without over or under buying.
Bending force depends on thickness, bend length, material strength and die opening. As a rough air-bending guide for mild steel, with a die opening about eight times the thickness, a press brake needs roughly 7 to 8 tons per metre of bend for each millimetre of thickness. In practice a 400 ton machine handles around 12 mm mild steel over a 4 m bed, more on short bends. Treat that as a starting point and confirm with a tonnage chart.
A machine in this class works comfortably in mild steel and heavy stainless plate. Capacity falls on stainless, which needs more force than mild steel, and rises on short bends, where the force is concentrated. Die opening and punch radius matter as much as raw tonnage, so size the tooling to the job.
The standard VICLA SUPERIOR hybrid range runs up to around 320 tons, so at this capacity VICLA builds larger special machines or a synchronised tandem press brake solution for very long, heavy parts. Pair the tonnage with a bed length that fits your longest real part.
VICLA machines in this class run the hybrid drive, which saves up to 55% energy (up to 78% on the Hybrid System Plus), and bend with real-time Clever Crowning, the Flex flexion-control system and L.A.C. laser angle control, for linear, repeatable bends even on long or non-uniform sheet.
At 400 tons you are firmly in heavy-plate work. Think about material handling and crowning as well as tonnage, because flatness and consistent angle over a long thick bend depend on the whole setup. Start from your heaviest and longest real bend, add a sensible margin, and confirm the numbers with a tonnage chart or your VICLA contact rather than guessing.
As a guide, around 12 mm mild steel over a 4 m bed, more on short bends, in mild steel and heavy stainless plate. Always confirm against a tonnage chart for your exact material, thickness and die.
No. Oversizing wastes money and gives no benefit on thinner parts, while undersizing limits the work you can take. Match tonnage to your real part mix.
Force is spread along the whole bend, so a longer bend needs more tonnage. The same machine bends thicker material on a short bend than on a full-length one.