HYDROFORGING: A New Manufacturing Technology for Forged Lightweight Products of Aluminum

The demand of parts with low weight, high material properties and relatively low cost leads to lightweight constructions. Especially hollow structures with a high stiffness and minimized weight are expected to have high potentials. In comparison to other manufacturing technologies, e.g. hydroforming or casting, characterized by their limitations of material thickness or mechanical strength, forging is a costeffective way to produce lightweight parts with excellent material properties and a balanced relation between strength and mass. Based on known flashless forging processes, a new technology to produce forged parts with hollow structures is developed at IPH — Institut fur Integrierte Produktion Hannover, Germany. The hollow structure is filled by an incompressible liquid which is removed after the forming process. Maximum deformations are reached by using punches moving into the liquid.Copyright © 2005 by ASME