Hydroforming and Latest Advances University （液压成形和最新进展）.pdfVIP

Hydroforming and Latest Advances Jainil Desai, Jaydeep Karandikar Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida 1. Introduction The automotive industry, with an increasing demand for weight reduction in modern vehicle construction, has encouraged research and development work in the area of hydroforming technology, which offers decisive advantages regarding the manufacturing of complex shaped lightweight components. This article provides an overview of hydroforming and its application to automotive industry, along with latest advances like the use of heat energy to improve formability of lightweight materials. Hydroforming uses fluid pressure in place of the punch in a conventional tool set to form the part into the desired shape of the die (figure 1).In the tube hydroforming process, the initial work-piece is placed into a die cavity, which corresponds to the final shape of the component, Fig. 1. The dies are closed under the force, Fs, while the tube is internally pressurized by a liquid medium to effect the expansion of the component (internal pressure, pi) and axially compressed by sealing punches to force material into the die cavity (axial force, Fa). The component is formed under the simultaneously controlled action of pi and Fa. [1] Fig.1 Hydroforming Principle [1] Types of Hydroforming are: Tubular hydroforming is used to form pre-fabricated sheet metal tubes into structural members. Sheet hydroforming is used to form pre-fabricated sheet metal into structural members. Low pressure hydroforming simply re-shapes tubes, producing a very good shape, but