Numerical and Experimental Investigation on Maximum Sheet Hydroforming Depth

Hydroforming process recently draws attention to automotive and aerospace industries due to its advantages over conventional methods. It can produce a wide range of products with cheaper production costs by reducing the overall number of processes. The advantages of hydroformed parts include the increased strength to weight, weight reduction through more efficient section design, reduction of number of parts and subassemblies, improved quality of formed components in terms of dimensional stability and repeatability, and reduced tooling developing costs [6]. Hydroforming is a process through which metal sheets are formed to the defined shape by high fluid pressure, and it relies on the forming condition of the high fluid pressure to achieve the designed shape [7]. There are a lot of advantages in hydroforming processes. First, since matching dies are not needed, the irregularly contoured shapes are easily formed; this results in a diminished tooling cost. In addition to this, it provides high surface finish and produces the formed sheet with a high precision. During metal forming processes, stresses are developed by a forming pressure both in conventional and new forming processes. The stresses of metal sheets are dependent on its forming condition and they also affect the amount of spring back [8]. In this paper the authors aim to analyze, numerically and experimentally, the maximum hydroforming depth for different geometries, process parameters and thicknesses. The analyzed material is an industrial steel, FeP04, with thicknesses of 0,7 mm and 1mm.