Product Overview:

Hydroforming is an innovative metal fabrication process that enables the shaping of various metals, including steel, stainless steel, copper, aluminum, and brass. This specialized die molding technique utilizes highly pressurized fluid to manipulate the metal into desired shapes, making it both cost-effective and efficient. Hydroforming can be categorized into two main types: sheet hydroforming and tube hydroforming.

• Sheet Hydroforming: This method involves a single die and a metal sheet where high-pressure water is applied on one side to drive the blank sheet into the die, forming the intended shape.
• Tube Hydroforming: In this process, metal tubes are expanded into shapes using two die halves that contain the raw tube.

Hydroforming offers significant advantages over traditional methods, such as replacing the older stamping process where parts are welded together. This modern technique enhances manufacturing efficiency by eliminating welding, enabling the creation of complex shapes, and providing several benefits, including seamless bonding, increased part strength, and superior surface quality for finishing. Compared to traditional metal stamped and welded components, hydroformed parts are lighter, less expensive per unit, and possess a higher stiffness-to-weight ratio. Additionally, hydroforming allows for single-stage production of components, reducing labor, tools, and material costs.

In this tutorial, we focus on simulating sheet hydroforming.

For this simulation, aluminum is selected as the material for the sheet, and water is modeled using the Us-Up equation of state. A dynamic explicit step with surface-to-surface contact is employed. The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is used to accurately model the behavior of the water during the forming process. As the punch moves into the water, the fluid exerts significant pressure on the sheet, leading to the sheet’s deformation and eventual forming.