Hydromechanical deep drawing of flat surfaces and molding with high pressure fluid from the inside of hollow products.

Hydroforming is the process of cold forming using a high pressure fluid. Hydroforming is a technology that is many times ahead of traditional pressing in a number of indicators. The use of this technology makes it possible to obtain solid parts of complex shape with minimal energy, material and time consumption. There are two main directions in hydroforming: hydromechanical deep drawing of flat surfaces, and molding with a high-pressure fluid from the inside (for example, in the case of pipes, when it is necessary to obtain a solid pipe billet with a variable cross section).

Benefits of hydroforming

By applying a uniform force to the metal sheet, the fluid forms it into a finished part in one operation. In this process, uniform distribution of pressure over the entire surface of the part allows you to achieve the maximum degree of deformation. This technology ensures high accuracy of the shape of the part and reduces the tendency of the material to return to its original size and shape after the load is removed.

Because the metal sheet is deformed with pressurized fluid instead of conventional deep drawing, the surface is not in direct contact with any tool, which can damage the surface. This results in excellent surface quality of the molded parts.

Hydroforming: flat steel surfaces

Hydromechanical molding of flat surfaces follows a similar pattern: a metal sheet is fixed on the mold and the sheet is exposed to a high-pressure liquid. During this process, the sheet blank is deformed and precisely fits the mold. This technology allows avoiding some intermediate operations that are inevitable in the classical pressing technology. Moreover, it becomes possible to obtain such workpieces that would be impossible to obtain even theoretically with standard pressing.

Hydroforming: high-pressure fluid molding of hollow billets

Pressure molding of hollow billets from the inside occurs according to the following scheme: the billet is fixed inside the mold, the mold is closed, and high hydrostatic pressure begins to act on the inner walls of the billet. At the same time, the workpiece begins to expand, rests against the inner walls of the mold, and is pressed against them. Thus, the outer contour of the resulting product exactly copies the inner contour of the mold.