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.

Tube Hydroforming of Magnesium Alloys at Elevated Temperatures

Abstract: In this paper, a hydraulic forming machine with the functions of axial feeding, counter punch, and internal pressurization is designed and developed. This self-designed forming machine has a capacity of 50 tons for axial feeding and counter punch, 70 MPa for internal pressurization, and 300°C for forming temperature. Using this testing machine, experiments of T-shape protrusion of magnesium alloy AZ61 tubes at elevated temperatures are carried out. A commercial finite element code DEFORM 3D is used to simulate the plastic deformation of the tube within the die during the T-shape protrusion process. Different kinds of loading paths for the pressurization profile and the strokes of the axial feeding and the counterpunch are scheduled for analyses and experiments of protrusion processes at 150°C and 250°C. The numerical thickness distributions and the flow line configurations of the formed product are compared with the experimental results to validate this finite element modeling. The thickness distribution of the formed product or the flowability of AZ61 tubes at 150°C and 250°C is discussed. The effects of the forming rate on tube flowability at 250°C are also investigated. Through the observation of the fiow line configurations of the tube material, adequate backward speeds of the counter punch relative to the axial feeding for preventing the material from accumulating at the die entrance region are verified. Finally, a sound product with a protrusion height of 49 mm is obtained.

Highly corrosion resistant steel tube having excellent formability and its manufacturing method

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a highly corrosion resistant steel tube which has excellent formability in hydroforming or the like by limiting the characteristic value of the material, and to provide its production method. SOLUTION: This highly corrosion resistant steel tube which has excellent formability has a composition containing, by mass, 0.001 to 0.3% C, 0.001 to 0.2% N, 0.01 to 2% Si, 0.01 to 5% Mn and 5 to 30% Cr, and the balance iron with inevitable impurities. Either or both of that the average of the X-ray random intensity ratios in the 110} to 111} orientation groups in the sheet face at a sheet thickness of 1/2 in the steel sheet is >=2.0 and that the X-ray random intensity ratio in 110} in the sheet face at a sheet thickness of 1/2 in the steel sheet is >=3.0 are satisfied.

Forces analysis in sheet incremental forming and comparison of experimental and simulation results

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter characterizes innovative techniques, such as hydroforming and incremental forming by the possibility to be easily adapted to realize a small production lot with low tools cost. The chapter discusses grooves in sheets, which have been realized by means of the incremental forming technology. It presents the forces analysis in relation to the tool path and its diameter. FEM simulations are achieved with the purpose to carry out a comparison between the forces values experimentally pointed out and the ones by FEM. FE analysis also allows the individualization of the points where failure conditions take place by simple evaluation of the reach stress values. Therefore, the FE method can be used to determine the tool path in the design phase of the process cycle.

Optimum design of preform geometry and forming pressure in tube hydroforming using the equi-potential lines method

Abstract: The quality of a tube-hydroformed component as well as 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 paper, the notion of equi-potential lines (EPLs) is used to find an appropriate preform shape in the tube hydroforming process for the first time The EPLs generated between two conductors of different voltages show minimum work paths between the initial and final shapes Based on this similarity, the EPLs method is utilized for preform shape design Next, the forming pressure of the preform is determined using finite element analysis Finally, the computationally expensive procedure introduced above is significantly facilitated by employing a multi-layer perceptron neural network which is trained using results from application of the procedure to a set of uniformly distributed random input vectors Real-world examples are presented to demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed approach