Investigation of an Integrated Process for Bending and Cross-Section Forming of Tubular Lightweight Parts Based on a Working Media Made of Materials with High Plasticity

Thin-walled steel profiles are the key to cost efficient lightweight structures. Structure parts and design elements in cars and trucks are often based on curved and hydroformed profiles. The possible production chains for those parts are often long and complex, and the machines and tools are expensive, and the flexibility is low. For smaller production lots, e.g., for applications in aircraft industry, these processes are not efficient. This paper shows a solution for smaller and middle-sized production lots realized by an integrated process for bending and cross section forming of tubular lightweight parts by a forming operation based on a working media made of metal alloys with high plasticity. The paper shows the process idea, fundamental mechanisms, the process analysis, and the process limits. Furthermore, a strategy is given to find a practical process windows.