Hydroforming

About: Hydroforming is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2796 publications have been published within this topic receiving 26293 citations. The topic is also known as: Bulge forming.

Method of hydroforming tubular members

Abstract: The present invention discloses a hydroformed tubular member and a method of hydroforming the hydroformed tubular member for a vehicle, the method includes the following steps: providing a tubular blank and positioning the tubular blank within a die. The method also includes the steps of hydroforming the tubular blank in the die into a tubular member having a generally ''T'' shape with a sidewallhaving a straight length of the sidewall increased from its originally expanded length.

Preform Shape Design in Tube Hydroforming Process Using Equi-Potential Line Method

Abstract: The quality of a tube-hydroformed component and the tooling cost and processing time involved in the process are notably affected by the component's preform Hence, it is necessary to produce a proper preform shape for the successful hydroforming from the initial tube to final shape In this article, a new technique based on the equi-potential line (EPL) designed in the electric field was used for the first time to find an appropriate preform shape in THF (Tube Hydroforming) process The equi-potential line generated between two conductors of different voltages show similar trends for minimum work path between the initial and final shapes Based on this similarity, the equi-potential line obtained by arrangement of the initial tube and final die was used for preform design The finite element (FE) method was employed to find the forming pressure to form the preform shape in the die cavity, and then the effectiveness of this method was compared with previous methods It was shown that the new method was si

A new method for compression bending of thin-walled tubes in hydro-bending process

Abstract: Tube bending is widely used in aerospace, automotive, and several other industries. The main problems of this operation include wrinkling, cross-section deformation, and variations in wall thickness of thin-walled tubes during process. If bending radius to tube diameter ratio (R/D) is less than 1.5, the bending process will fail using conventional methods. Proposing a new technique capable of eliminating wrinkles from the tube cross section which results in minimal changes in tube wall thickness would be very important. One of these bending methods is hydroforming, in which compressive force and internal pressure can be simultaneously used to better control the bending process. In this study, in order to uniformly apply the pressure of fluid to the inner surface of the tube, thin-walled tubes with closed ends were first fabricated. Since this fabrication is difficult, initially, seamless tubes with closed-ends were fabricated using multi-stage deep drawing and ironing processes. Then, the tube bending process with R/D ratio of 1, using a new hydro-bending process, was investigated through experiments and simulations. After examining different pressure paths, the path by which the tube completely took the shape of the die without wrinkles was obtained. In addition, the effect of pressure variations on the distribution of wall thickness along the inner and outer radii of the bend area was studied. The formation of tubes with fixed R/D ratios through changing bending radii and tube diameters simultaneously was also compared with that of tubes with variable R/D ratios of less than 1. Finally, the effects of friction coefficient between the die and tube and the tube length were evaluated.

Hydroforming method and device for implementing it

Abstract: The subject of the invention is a method for hydroforming metallic pieces in a matrix, in which the leaktight closure of the ends of the piece and the pressurising of the liquid located therein are exerted simultaneously by the action of pushers (thrust devices) on the ends of the piece. The hydroforming machine according to the invention comprises, in a vessel 1, two thrust jacks (rams) 2, 3, the rods of which carry the pushers 16, 17, intended to enter into contact with the ends of a tube 21 contained in a die (matrix) consisting of two half-dies 4, 5. These two half-dies are held in place by the action of clamps (blocks) 9, 10.