Numerical simulation of an aluminum alloy tube hydroforming

Hydroforming is the fabrication process that uses a fluid medium to form a piece by using high internal pressure. In tube hydroforming, a tubular blank is placed between two dies, sealed and pressurized water up to 1200 MPa is injected, deforming the tube walls in the cavity form of the dies. The advantages of the hydroforming over the traditional process are: (a) weight reduction; (b) project flexibility increase, making possible to create new piece shapes; (c) stiffness and rigidity increase by obtaining tube pieces without weld; (d) unions regions elimination; (e) dimensional repeatability. The weight reduction obtaining by the hydroforming process can be allied to the weight reduction by the substitution of materials of high density by material of low density. As for this paper collects this two matters and discuss the aluminum tube hydroforming. The main objective of this paper is establish the basic understanding of the behavior of a aluminum tube when it is submitted to the hydroforming process. A review of the aluminum alloys hydroforming and the simulation via FEM of two-hydroforming process is made: for the first simulation, the hydroforming of a free aluminum tube without axial force and for the second one, the study of the hydroforming of a tube in a die. Both simulations were developed with the commercial software LS-DYNA and the results are presented and compared with the results of the references in the same conditions.