Beckwood Press to build 3,500-ton bulge forming press for Wabash National

The 285- by 216-in. press will weigh about 650,000 lbs. when fully assembled and will be installed in a 6-ft.-deep pit.

Beckwood Press Co., a St. Louis-based manufacturer of hydraulic and servo-electric presses and automation systems, has been awarded a contract by Wabash National Corp. to engineer and build a custom 3,500-ton hydraulic bulge forming press.

Scheduled for delivery in October 2019, this machine will be used to form stainless steel and aluminum tank heads with diameters up to 156 in. for Wabash National’s tank and silo business in Lafayette, Ind.

The 285- by 216-in. press will weigh about 650,000 lbs. when fully assembled and will be installed in a 6-ft.-deep pit. The 160- by 160-in. bolsters will contain machined t-slots for use with the quick die change system, and a fully adjustable 8-point square gib-guidance system will help ensure bed-to-ram parallelism throughout the stroke.

To accommodate Wabash National’s existing tooling, the press will be able to bulge form using either air or water. Beckwood will design a closed-loop pneumatic control system for the bulge forming operation, allowing Wabash National to form parts to specific dome heights while using up to 750 PSI of air pressure.

An automated quick die change system with chain-driven die clamps and a bed trolley will be included. The trolley will be able to transport dies up to 30,000 lbs. across a 30-ft. track via a push-button controls station.