Uniaxial hydroforming of cold forged cups on single action presses

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Bergs, since 7/2019
• Subject Area: Primary Shaping and Reshaping Technology, Additive Manufacturing
• Term: from 2014 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 254588323

The metal forming process hydroforming allows an economical manufacturing of both sides opened, undercut, and hollow lightweight components that are mostly used in the automotive and supplier industry. Typical components are e.g. suspension parts, exhaust and intake systems as well as steering and drive systems. The process is based on the expanding of a tube into a die form by a pressurized fluid medium. In this project, the well-known physical mechanisms of the common hydroforming process of tubular semi-finished products are transferred to a single-side opened cold-forged semi-finished part. This results in extensively modified process conditions that need to be investigated.The overall goal of this project is therefore to establish an analytical-empirical process model that fundamentally describes and explains the cause-effect relationships of the hydroforming process of single-side opened cold-forged parts on single-action presses. This process model will help to realize the manufacturing of high quality, cold-forged components with undercut areas by an analytically-based process layout. In addition to the process development and a wide range of fundamental experimental test series the numerical and analytical process modelling to describe, explain and predict unknown process limits like rupture, buckling and wrinkling respectively similar process-specific instability problems is intended.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr.-Ing. Fritz Klocke, until 6/2019