The Application of Thermal Hydroforming in the Automotive Industry

Thermal hydroforming process was developed to overcome the problems of forming aluminium alloy sheets or tubes, which are used extensively in the automotive industry for weight reduction and corrosion resistance. FEA simulation was used to predict the thermal hydroforming process and was verified by experimental analysis. Strains of up to 130% were reached during the experiments, which corresponds to five times higher strains than that present in AlMg alloy at room temperatures. The FEA model can be used to assess the feasibility of new components.