Abstract

Sheet hydroforming process has been used for near-net shape forming of non-ferrous metals and alloys. A commercial purity Al, Cu and Ti metals as well as α-brass an alloy of Cu-Zn has been formed into various shapes using an indigenously designed experimental set-up. The process parameters have been selected based on the previous study on simulation of this process. The process is shown to exhibit a better surface quality of products together with relatively high drawing ratio. These effects along with uniform distribution of stresses cause considerable reduction in secondary processing of the component. The micro structural features of sheet hydro-formed products are reported. The uniformity in grain size and grain size distribution of all the materials employed in the present work are presented and discussed. Important advantages of this method vis-à-vis conventional cup drawing techniques are illustrated.

Keywords: Sheet hydroforming; Tube hydroforming; Non-ferrous metals; CP titanium; Optical metallography