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Articles tagged with "hydroforming"
Results: 43
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Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part I |
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The basic elements of tubular hydroformingMany factors come into play when attempting to execute a production hydroforming operation, among them material selection, friction and lubricants, tube bending and preforming, and equipment. Many companies in the automotive sector are experiencing great success with the process, which can reduce weight, overall costs, and the number of parts per vehicle.
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Hydroforming gains ground in Germany: Growth seen in high-volume automotive structural partsThis article examines hydroforming in Germany, focusing on the advancement of the technology. It specifically discusses growing automotive uses, a new type of hydroforming press, material quality requirements, cost factors, new testing methods, and simulation software.
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Hydroforming with end feedingThe list of applications for hydroforming with end feeding is growing all the time. Maybe you should check into how this technology could benefit your operation.
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Predicting failure in hydroforming prevent aluminum tubes: Strain variables require sophisticated analysisThis article discusses an approach to predicting failure in hydroforming prebent aluminum tubes. While strains are well researched for stamping sheet, this type of knowledge is lacking for hydroforming tubular components. Because the strains are different—prebent hydroformed tubular parts experience stress in the axial direction during bending, then in the circumferential direction during hydroforming—new methods for predicting failures are necessary. Researching these methods adds to the knowledge base of hydroforming, helping the technology gain further acceptance in manfacturing.
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Determining flow stress of tubes: Biaxial test provides better results for hydroformingThis article discusses tests that are used to evaluate flow stress in tube and why the uniaxial test is not suitable for this application. It discusses a bulge test, which stresses the tube biaxially, including tooling, software, and analysis tools for evaluating stresses.
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Hydroforming provides Rx for medical pumps: Fabriator adds economy to other benefits of titaniumThis article relates how a Florida-based company used hydroforming to produce titanium housings for implantable pumps for a Massachusetts-based manufacturer.
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Analyzing tubes, lubes, dies, and friction: Using tribology to evaluate lubricant-material combinations in hydroformingComparing and correlating two tests, a common bench test (twist compression) and a straight-tube corner-fill test simulate hydroforming to find the coefficient of friction.
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Hydroforming Y-shaped stainless steel exhaust components: How to select process parametersT-shapes and Y-shapes are the most commonly hydroformed exhaust system components for automobiles. This article reports on the investigation into the metal flow in Y-shape hydroforming by the Engineering Research Center for Net Shape Manufacturing (ERC/NSM) at The Ohio State University, which conducted several experiments using the tooling available at the SPS research center in Aalen, Germany.
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Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part II |
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Hydroforming a new front automotive structure: How new methods can rise to old challengesHydroforming the parts in a vehicle structure can be of immense benefit on several counts, as a review of a recent project at the author's company can attest.
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Designing a hydroforming press for research, production: Press accommodates sheet hydroformingA new type of hydroforming press was recently developed for sheet applications. The new press incorporates data acquisition and control features for research purposes. Current press frame designs for tube and sheet forming are uneconomic for large forces. This press achieves a clamping force of 100 mN, which is absorbed by a single cast frame with a circumferential pretensioning system.
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How material influences bending for hydroforming: Effects on ovality, springback, and wall thickness in tubesThe bending characteristics of a tube depend on the material it is made of. Exceeding the allowable limits of this deformation results in unusable parts. The author relates his company's examination and comparison of the bending of two different seamless, extruded tubes: aluminum alloy and steel.
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Hydroforming on a budgetYou can use several strategies for starting a hydroforming operation on a limited budget. Review your alternatives for selecting a press, fluid intensification system, and developing the tooling necessary for your operation before you take the plunge.
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Fill'er Up: Using hydroforming to manufacture one-piece gas tank filler tubesHydroforming is gaining ground in the manufacture of many automotive components,such as pillars, frame rails, and engine cradles. Automakers are finding hydroforming advantageous for forming many smaller parts also. The process is useful for manufacturing an automobile fuel filler tube, which is the expanded portion of a fuel filler assembly where a fuel nozzle is inserted.
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Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part III |
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A survey of presses for hydroforming tubes, extrusions: Presses, accessories offer options for hydroformersHydroforming is one of the most important fields in production manufacturing. In recent years many single presses, groups of presses, and entire production plants for internal high-pressure (IHP) hydroforming of tubes and extrusions have been installed, especially in the Americas and in Europe. The driving force behind this development has been the efficient production of automotive parts.
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Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part V |
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Developments in hydroforming: International conference highlights new equipment, industry trendsCommentary from the people interviewed at the International Conference on Hydroforming (Oct. 2003) indicate that trends include an increasing interest in forming aluminum and other lightweight materials; more use of tailored tubes; and that sheet hydroforming is expected to grow faster than tube hydroforming.
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Part feature developments in hydroforming products: Hydroforming continues to make automotive inroadsTube hydroforming technology continues to develop in ways that improve part utility, economy, or process robustness. Auto parts that have recently been produced by hydroforming include roof rails, radiator enclosures, a front-end structural module, and roof rails.
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Hydroforming tapered engineered tubes: Are they more formable than uniform-thickness tubes?Hydroforming often results in localized thinning. Using engineered tubes--tubes that have a thicker wall where the tube is most prone to thinning--can result in a stronger finished component.
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Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part VI |
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Forming advanced metals: Hydroforming dual-phase steelThe demand for lightweight components continues to be a primary driver in the automotive industry.
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Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part VIII: Dimensional StabilityWhether they are producing automobiles or hydroforming press parts, designers, manufacturers, and assembly personnel are very concerned about dimensional stability. Surfaces and holes must be located in a specified range and smaller is better. Concern escalates as the drive to improve quality and reduce build tolerances and problems increases.
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Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part IX:: Process Conditions, Equipment, and ConclusionsIn this last article in a nine-part series, Gary Morphy reviews high-pressure and pressure sequence hydroforming and discusses factors to consider when deciding which process is best for a particular application. The decision should be based in part on anticipating future needs.
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The heat is off: Why hydroforming makes sense in heat exchanger manufacturingTo make a complex heat exchanger shell, a company produces a prototype model using the hydroforming process, analyzing fatigue, thinning, and cycle times to decide if the process will prove to be cost-effective.
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Processes for hydroforming sheet metal: Part III: SHF-P and SHF-D case studiesPart three of a three-part series on sheet hydroforming, this article reviews the SHF-P and SHF-D processes.
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Introduction to Tube HydroformingUnder the right circumstances, hydroforming can be a viable, cost-effective manufacturing process. Tube hydroforming often produces stronger structural components than can be achieved with more conventional methods. This article explains tube hydroforming, describes its evolution, and discusses the factors that should be considered when deciding whether to use the process.
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Tube hydroforming for expanded design options: Knowing the capabilities, limitations, and misconceptions is key to understanding hydroforming's potentialHydroforming has become a favored technology for automotive parts because it allows manufacturers to increase a component's strength, reduce its weight, and reduce the number of parts in an assembly. Another important benefit, one that is often overlooked, is the increase in design freedom this technology allows. Engineers and designers must be aware of the factors that restrict design freedom, such as material characteristics and press limitations, and alternatives such as annealing and axial feeding that help work around these limitations.
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The evolution of tube hydroformingThe growth in hydroforming use has slowed as tube hydroformers, particularly in the automotive industry, are taking a step back to examine process options in an effort to determine the most efficient, cost-effective process. Some even have reverted to stamping and welding formerly hydroformed parts. This article explains how the industry got to this point and where it's headed.
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Straining to understand bending?: Regression analysis predicts springback’s magnitude, variationBefore you can hydroform tube, you bend it. Then it springs back. You can compensate by overbending it, but first you have to predict the amount of springback.
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The evolution of tube hydroforming: Adapting to a changing environmentMore than a decade ago, tube hydroforming grew in two directions: low-pressure hydroforming (a patented process) and high-pressure hydroforming. Since then the industry has grown to include all manner of robots, laser cutting systems, punching operations, and so on. Manufacturing consultant Gary Morphy takes us through about two decades of trends and developments and sheds some light on the future of this industry.
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Achieving aluminum's mass at steel's cost: Using variable-wall technology to optimize tubular structuresTube traditionally is produced with a constant wall thickness, leaving design engineers stuck with designing tubular parts and unable to optimize them. A tube with variable wall thickness changes all that. This technology allows design engineers to specify the wall thickness in various areas of a tubular component—increasing the wall thickness in bend regions to prevent splitting and decreasing wall thickness elsewhere to reduce part weight.
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Forming a new approach: Hydroforming is no longer a brand new technology, but it may be the solution for new applicationsAttendees of the fifth Hydroforming Conference and Exhibition, organized by the Tube & Pipe Association, International, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, learned that hydroforming technology is not dead yet.
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Keeping hydroforming competitive: A call for improved specifications, processesASTM A513 (Standard Specification for Electric-Resistance-Welded Carbon and Alloy Steel Mechanical Tubing) is a conventional specification that governs tube for many uses, and hydroformers have been relying on tube made to this standard for many years. However, some hydroformers think that some aspects of this specification aren't appropriate for hydroforming: Some portions of it need to be tightened up and others loosened. Developing a modified specification specifically for hydroforming likely will result in less expensive tubing and fewer failures.
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Will tube and pipe industry have energy to continue expanding?: Despite some trouble spots, prospects overall are goodThe current expansion in the tube and pipe industry isn't new, but it bears a close look nonetheless. Understanding the factors that are causing it and how manufacturers are reacting to it provide some guidance to the future of this trend.
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Editorial Advisory Board Roundtable: The education of the fabricating industryThe FABRICATOR invited the members of its Editorial Advisory Board together to discuss the state of skilled labor in North America and what the future looks like for tomorrow's fabricating and forming employees and employers.
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Sheet hydroforming in automotive applicationsSheet hydroforming can be used in the automotive industry for forming alloys with low formability and prototype applications, among other handy applications.
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Warm forming aluminum magnesium components: How it can optimize formability, reduce springbackWarm forming, or forming material heated in the 200- degree-C to500-degree-C range, offers dramatic improvement in formingproperties over room temperature forming for many aluminum ormagnesium alloys—without exotic heat sources or tooling.
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Under pressure?: Selecting the right pressure test for verifying a tubular component's integrityAlthough it is used primarily for forming, hydroforming equipment also is useful in many pressure testing applications (burst testing, pressure pulsation, leak testing, autofrettage).
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Why use sheet hydroforming dies?Most automobile manufacturers have looked for alternatives to the steel traditionally used in car production; hence, the introduction of high-strength steel.
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The HOW, WHAT, and WHY of liquid impact forming: Hydroforming in a conventional stamping pressLiquid impact forming, a patented process developed by Greenville Tool & Die Co., Greenville, Mich., uses a conventional stamping press with a liquid medium to manufacture parts that otherwise would require hydroforming.
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Automotive and industrial: A tale of two businesses: Microflex grows in automotive through automation, diversificationEmbracing technology has given Microflex a firm foothold in the turbulent automotive marketplace.The Tier 2 supplier has garnered a reputation for advanced sheet metal forming, developing parts for exhaust, steering, and fuel system components. It has ISO 9001 and other quality certifications and has invested in software that will add traceability and cohesion throughout the automotive operation.
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