Study of Intrusion Bending for Steel Tubes with Thin Wall Thickness

Abstract

In regard to light-weight structural members for automobiles, attention to hydroforming has been increasing. Intrusion-bending method is well suited to the preliminary bending of hydroformed structural members of automobiles, because straight tubes can be bent into three-dimensional forms by this new method. However, in the case of tubes with a thin wall thickness, wrinkling remains a problem. In this report, application of intrusion bending method to tubes with extremely low ratios of wall thickness to outer diameter (from 1.2 to 1.9%), and whose steel grades are SSPDX, SAFC440R, and SAFC590T was investigated. A summary of this study is as follows. Effects of steel grades and wall thickness ratios on wrinkle formation, eccentricity, and ovality are studied. Relationships between wrinkle generation and gyro movement are investigated.