lehtvormimise operatsioonide (painutamine, sügavtõmbamine, ääristamine jne) üldnimetus, mida iseloomustab tasapinnalisele toorikule ruumilise vormi andmine (vrd eraldusoperatsioon), a sheet forming operation, in which a piece of sheet metal is plastically deformed by tensile loads into a three-dimensional shape, often without significant changes in sheet thickness; examples of processes that fall under the sheet metal forming are deep drawing, bending, stretch forming etc (compare: shearing-type operation)