Abstract
Hydroforging is a hybrid forming operation whereby a thick tube is formed to a desired geometry by combining forging and hydroforming principles. Through this process hollow structures with high strength-to-weight ratio can be produced for applications in power transmission systems and other structural components that demands high strength-to-weight ratio. In this process, a thick tube is deformed by pressurized fluid contained within the tube using a multi-purpose punch assembly, which is also used to feed tube material into the die cavity. Fluid pressure inside the thick tube is developed by volume change governed by the movement of the punch assembly. In contrast to the conventional tube hydroforming (THF), the hydroforging process presented in this study does not require external supply of pressurized fluid to the deforming tube. To investigate the capability of hydroforging process, an experimental setup was developed and used to hydroforge various geometries. These geometries included hollow flanged vessels, hexagonal flanged parts, and hollow bevel and spur gears.
Highlights
There is a growing demand for lightweight structures in the automotive, aerospace, and maritime industries
Based on initial fluid volume responsible for inducing pressure inside the tube during upsetting of the tube, process windows for determining the required tube length to successfully form a part were established for a few geometries
Hollow flanged hexagonal parts, and hollow bevel and spur gears were hydroforged from AL6061 and SS306 tubular blanks
Summary
There is a growing demand for lightweight structures in the automotive, aerospace, and maritime industries. In metal forming, the combination of two or more processes is called hybrid forming process. Attempts to hybridize metal forming processes have been done by several researchers; for example, Debin et al [1] combined an isothermal closed forging and piercing process into a micro-scale hybrid forging process to produce a micro-double gear. A hybrid laser-assisted incremental sheet forming combined with stretch forming lead to reduction in cycle time and increase in formability [2]. A hybrid process combining warm and electromagnetic forming of magnesium alloy sheet has been reported [3]. Penda and Ngaile [4] introduced a new drawing process that incorporate attributes of hydroforming. Hybrid processes which combines deep drawing and cold forging, hot extrusion and integrated equal channel angular pressing, and a combination of tube spinning and a tube bending have been presented [5]
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