Content tagged with "hydroforming"
Results: 43
Article
August 1, 2009
Warm forming aluminum magnesium components
In all applications, being able to form complex features and details in a single step is an advantage. In addition, for automotive applications, improved forming characteristics open the possibility for more use of aluminum and magnesium to reduce vehicle weight.
In the 300- to 500-degree-C... Read more...
Article
September 30, 2008
Keeping hydroforming competitive
The market for hydroformed parts is substantial and diverse. Today's hydroformers make a multitude of components by forming tubes into various hollow shapes and sizes for use in the automotive, aerospace, plumbing, and appliance industries. The current North American tubular hydroforming... Read more...
Article
April 15, 2008
Automotive and industrial: A tale of two businesses
Every morning as John Atanasoski gets out of his car and walks over a parking lot to his office, he looks at an adjacent swath of land. There Atanasoski's employer, Microflex Inc., this year will start building a 45,000-square-foot facility to house Microflex Automotive, its 2-year-old OEM... Read more...
Article
April 15, 2008
Will tube and pipe industry have energy to continue expanding?
If you have been involved in the tube and pipe industry for more than a few months, you're well aware that this industry is in the midst of an unprecedented global expansion. It has undergone periods of active investment and rapid growth in the past, but never before has an expansion of this... Read more...
Article
March 11, 2008
Under pressure?
It's one thing to manufacture a tube; it's another to test it to verify its characteristics. Regardless of the raw material or the production method used to make the tube, pressure testing can be a necessary step in verifying the tube's quality. Whether the tubing is used for structural... Read more...
Article
November 6, 2007
Forming a new approach
An engine cradle is a good example of a large, tubular part that can be altered greatly with the hydroforming process. Eagle Precision Technologies, Brantford, Ont., Canada, displayed this automotive component at the 5th annual North American Hydroforming Conference and Exhibition in... Read more...
Article
September 11, 2007
Achieving aluminum's mass at steel's cost
Automakers continuously strive to reduce motor vehicle mass, mainly for efficiency and environmental reasons such as improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. However, as they reduce vehicle weight, they must try to avoid compromising other important criteria, such as strength and energy... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2007
The evolution of tube hydroforming
Editor's Note: This article appeared previously on www.thefabricator.com . The growth in hydroforming use has slowed as automakers and part suppliers, particularly in the automotive industry, are taking a step back to examine manufacturing options in an effort to determine the most... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2007
Straining to understand bending?
Editor's Note: This article was adapted from the paper "Springback Characteristics of Bent Tubes for Hydroforming Applications," which was presented at the 4th Annual North American Hydroforming Conference & Exhibition, Sept. 25-27, 2006 London, Ontario, Canada. The use of hydroforming... Read more...
Article
October 10, 2006
The evolution of tube hydroforming
Tube hydroforming has evolved over the last 20 years and now is being used to make many different parts more efficiently. The most common and highest-profile applications have been in the automotive industry. Structural components perhaps are the most touted hydroformed parts, because... Read more...
Article
June 13, 2006
Introduction to Tube Hydroforming
Figure 1 Hydroformed Sheet Metal Part When designers and engineers consider how to manufacture structural parts, they may think about several options, including tube hydroforming, a relatively new technique used to make an increasing variety of parts for an increasing number of... Read more...
Article
June 13, 2006
Tube hydroforming for expanded design options
Much of the attention on hydroforming concerns automotive components and focuses on weight savings, strength improvements, and reducing the number of parts. While all of these are advantages gained through hydroforming, a less commonly discussed reason to hydroform components is more... Read more...
Article
April 11, 2006
Processes for hydroforming sheet metal
Editor's Note: This article is Part III of a three-part series that discusses various sheet hydroforming processes. Part I, which appeared in the February issue, discussed sheet hydroforming with a die only (SHF-D). Part II, which appeared in the March issue, reviewed sheet hydroforming with a... Read more...
Article
March 7, 2006
Editorial Advisory Board Roundtable
The FABRICATOR's Editorial Advisory Board gathered to discuss the current skill sets for fabricating and forming employees and which areas need improvement. When fabricators get busy, the cries for skilled labor grow louder. Unfortunately, many OEMs and job shops aren't having the best of... Read more...
Article
March 7, 2006
The heat is off
Figure 1
The heat exchanger shell requires forming numerous complex shapes in a short cycle time.
The process of developing a hydroformed part is similar in many ways to developing a stamping. Factors that must be considered include part geometry (the amount of... Read more...
Article
February 7, 2006
Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part IX:
A common saying is that all good things must come to an end. I am not really sure why this must be true, and I certainly hope that there are many exceptions. However, it is true for this series of tube hydroforming design flexibility articles that began in March 2002. This final... Read more...
Article
June 14, 2005
Article
December 7, 2004
Forming advanced metals
While hydroforming is considered to be one of the enabling technologies that can deliver lightweight components, the technology faces increasing competition from other lightweight solutions, such as magnesium castings. However, hydroforming can compete effectively with other lightweight... Read more...
Article
September 14, 2004
Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part VI
Editor's Note: This article is Part VI in a series about design flexibility in tube hydroforming. Please read Part I , Part II , Part III , Part IV , and Part V .
Tube hydroforming reshapes a tube from a normally round cross section to a desired shape. The final shape, usually... Read more...
Article
June 8, 2004
Hydroforming tapered engineered tubes
In tube hydroforming processes, tube is expanded by a high-pressure medium (usually water) until it fills a die cavity. Since the volume of tube material (the product of its cross section multiplied by its length) remains constant, the tube wall thins to accommodate the expansion. Often axial... Read more...
Article
March 25, 2004
Part feature developments in hydroforming products
Tube hydroforming technology continues to develop in ways that improve part utility, economy, and process robustness. Each advancement broadens the applicability of tube hydroforming by making designers aware of what is possible and of the economic and performance benefits to be... Read more...
Article
March 25, 2004
Developments in hydroforming
The demand for hydroformed products continues to grow around the world, and so does the demand for hydroforming knowledge. To serve the continuing need for such knowledge, the third International Conference on Hydroforming brought people from around the world to Stuttgart, Germany, Oct.... Read more...
Article
February 26, 2004
Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part V
Editor's Note: This article is Part V in a series about tube hydroforming design flexibility. Please read Part I , Part II , Part III , Part IV , and Part VI .
Combined with the information in Part III of this series that focused on cross-section expansion before hydroforming,... Read more...
Article
October 9, 2003
A survey of presses for hydroforming tubes, extrusions
The first parts hydroformed in Germany for the automotive industry were manifold components. The process provided both cost savings and manifolds with good gas flow characteristics. Other applications of IHP hydroforming are engine cradles and frames for lightweight trucks. Advantages... Read more...
Article
April 24, 2003
Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part III
Editor's Note: This article is Part III in a series about tube hydroforming design flexibility. Please read Part I , Part II , Part IV , and Part V .
The last article in this series noted that variable periphery design, or cross-section expansion, often is thought to be the most... Read more...
Article
March 27, 2003
Fill 'er Up
Fuel filler tubes currently are manufactured from carbon steel tubing, which is expanded using mechanical forming techniques. The filler tube then is welded to a section of tubing that is bent to the shape required by the vehicle's design.
Most filler tubes have an offset centerline and their... Read more...
Article
February 13, 2003
Why use sheet hydroforming dies?
It's a simple fact that the automobile industry constantly strives to reduce vehicle weight, while maintaining or increasing performance and fuel efficiency. Despite major advances in engine and powertrain technology, the need to reduce vehicle weight still exists. Most automobile manufacturers... Read more...
Article
October 10, 2002
Analyzing tubes, lubes, dies, and friction
Tribology—the study of friction between interacting parts—for hydroforming analyzes interactions among the hydroforming die, lubricant, and tube. A tribological evaluation helps to determine the coefficient of friction, which currently is the main parameter for selecting a suitable... Read more...
Article
October 10, 2002
Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part II
Editor's Note: This article is Part II in a series about tube hydroforming design flexibility. Please read Part I , Part III , Part IV , and Part V .
It's difficult to overemphasize the importance of cross section expansion when you're talking about successful and innovative... Read more...
Article
September 12, 2002
Designing a hydroforming press for research, production
Hydroforming machines--whether designed for sheet or tubular hydroforming--rely on fluid to form or shape metal blanks into finished or semifinished components. While designing a machine for tubular hydroforming can be a monumental task, designing one for sheet hydroforming is more complex... Read more...
Article
May 16, 2002
Tube Hydroforming Design Flexibility—Part I
Editor's Note: This article is Part I in a series about tube hydroforming design flexibility. Please read Part II , Part III , Part IV , and Part V .
Design flexibility is something that all automotive designers want, but too often they lack a thorough understanding of what that... Read more...
Article
April 15, 2002
Sheet hydroforming in automotive applications
Figure 1 Object Editor's Note: This column was prepared by the staff of the Engineering Research Center for Net Shape Manufacturing (ERC/ NSM), The Ohio State University, Professor Taylan Altan, director. Various types of sheet hydroforming operations, specifically rubber forming and... Read more...
Article
March 14, 2002
Determining flow stress of tubes
The conventional uniaxial tensile test often is used to determine the properties of tube material for hydroforming. However, a biaxial test is more appropriate for hydroforming applications. Material data obtained from a uniaxial tensile test using sheet samples cannot be used for process... Read more...
Article
March 14, 2002
Article
January 24, 2002
Hydroforming gains ground in Germany
Object "We started to use the hydroforming process for the production of structural parts in 1999, and our current timetable schedules an annual production volume of 2.5 million hydroformed parts by 2005," explained Dipl.-Ing. Matthias Schroeder, calculation specialist in the hydroforming... Read more...
Article
January 24, 2002
The HOW, WHAT, and WHY of liquid impact forming
Hydroforming has revolutionized sheet metal stamping and tube forming. It can expand, bend, bulge, and change a simple pipe into geometric shapes without a hint of wrinkling. This process has allowed automotive exhaust manufacturers to produce a variety of shapes to accommodate almost... Read more...
Article
January 10, 2002
Hydroforming provides Rx for medical pumps
Figure 1: The pump housings Hudson produces for the three Arrow models are made of fully contoured and circular titanium to provide smooth, sloping edges between surfaces. Arrow International wanted strong housings for its implantable pumps. The answer had to be in titanium, with... Read more...
Article
January 10, 2002
How material influences bending for hydroforming
Figure 1: Aluminum-alloy and steel tubes were compared. Bending tube is an integral first step in many hydroforming applications. The outcome of this preparatory step is critical to the final results. The bending process causes elastic and plastic deformation. During initial bend... Read more...
Article
November 29, 2001
Hydroforming Y-shaped stainless steel exhaust components
Today, an increasing number of automobile exhaust parts are being hydroformed. T-shapes (three-way connectors with a right-angled branch) and Y-shapes (three-way connectors with an angled branch) are the most commonly hydroformed exhaust system components. This article reports on the... Read more...
Article
October 25, 2001
Hydroforming a new front automotive structure
Figure 1 Vehicle structures have evolved over the years in response to demands for improved performance, safety, cost reduction, and changes in technology. In today's automotive environment, those first three factors often are concurrent requirements, while the last can provide the... Read more...
Article
August 16, 2001
Hydroforming with end feeding
Figure 1 Object Sections of tubular hydroformed components typically are developed to keep the section perimeter-the length of line —to within 2 and 5 percent of the tube's circumference in the central regions of the member. Near the ends, the section perimeter can be increased by... Read more...
Article
July 12, 2001
Hydroforming on a budget
In today's business environment, characterized by cost-cutting measures and increasing competition, it can be difficult to justify spending money on new manufacturing equipment. It can be especially difficult to justify purchasing equipment for a competitive niche market, such as hydroforming.... Read more...
Article
March 5, 2001
The basic elements of tubular hydroforming
Tube hydroforming has been well-known since the 1950s. However, with recent advancements in computer controls and high-pressure hydraulic systems, the process has become a viable method for mass production, especially with the use of internal pressures of up to 6,000 pounds per square inch... Read more...
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