Hydroforming Process for an Ultrasmall Bending Radius Elbow

Bent pipes are widely used in automotive, aviation, and aerospace industries for delivering fluids. Parts having small relative bending radiuses are called elbows. However, fabricating a thin-walled elbow part using the simple bending process poses many challenges. One possible way to manufacture el...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in materials science and engineering 2018-01, Vol.2018 (2018), p.1-15
Main Authors: Ruan, Shangwen, Ge, Yulong, Lang, Lihui
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advanced manufacturing technologies
Aerospace industry
Automobile industry
Automotive engineering
Automotive parts
Computer simulation
Design optimization
Fuel consumption
Grain size
Heat treatment
Hydroforming
Lap welding
Pipe bends
Stainless steel
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Summary:Bent pipes are widely used in automotive, aviation, and aerospace industries for delivering fluids. Parts having small relative bending radiuses are called elbows. However, fabricating a thin-walled elbow part using the simple bending process poses many challenges. One possible way to manufacture elbows is with the stamping-welding process. The major drawbacks of this method include the decline in sealing performance and the addition in weight attributed to the lap welding process. Tube hydroforming (THF) is considered as a feasible solution to these problems. However, the forming process could be quite complex, and multistep forming is necessary. This study investigates the effects of preliminary processes on elbow forming such as bending, partition forming, and heat treatment and presents a high-performance optimized process design to achieve an ultrasmall radius elbow. The effects of multistep forming on the thickness distribution and the heat treatment on the microstructure have been evaluated. The results obtained from simulations show a reasonable agreement with those from the experiments.
ISSN:1687-8434
1687-8442
DOI:10.1155/2018/7634708