Theoretical and Experimental Study of Conical Tube Hydroforming with One-Sided Axial Feeding

Abstract

Hydroforming has gained increasing attention in the manufacturing industry in recent years due to the demand for fast yet reliable production for parts, the applications of which accept a wide range of dimensional tolerances. In this study, tube hydroforming in conical dies has been analyzed. The study consists of two parts: computer simulations and experimental work. The simulation results were utilized to find the load paths which produce successful hydroforming for the selected tube specimens. Twelve load paths were identified and implemented with two friction coefficients and three pressure ranges. During the simulation process, the tubes were given an end movement that ranged from a sealing distance to twice that distance. The experimental work was implemented to verify some of the simulation results. The results showed that the best hydroforming limit was reached when the axial feeding was twice as much as the sealing distance. Also, the maximum amount of deformation rate happens shortly after the specimendie interface starts having relative motion, and it is at its slowest when the hydroforming reaches the fully-formed specimen’s shape.