Effect of Axial Feed in a T- Shape Tube Hydroforming Process

Abstract

Tube hydroforming (THF) is one of the most popular unconventional metal forming processes, which is widely used to create tubular components, in this paper a comparison between the finite element method using (the ANSYS11.0) program and experimental work were made to show the effect of axial compression feed in a T-shape THF process, in order to prevent excessive thinning from the internal pressure. A good agreement was obtained between experimental and numerical results. The tube wall thickness will gradually increase with each increasing axial feed at constant internal pressure, while the maximum stresses will be below the material's ultimate stress.

Keywords

• FEM
• internal pressure
• axial feed