Hydroforming process is used for obtaining different kinds of sheet metal components in an economic manner in terms of time and costs reduction and increase of the product quality. This paper deals with the application of this type of technology for manufacturing a rotational auto part from aluminium alloy. An experimental tool for hydroforming with rubber membrane was used. A set of dies with different geometries has been designed and constructed. Experiments have been conducted for investigation the ability of transferring features from the die onto the blank surface for different die geometries and pressures. The hydroformed part was measured using CMM. Based on the experimental data a numerical model was designed. FEM using Abaqus solver was used for investigated the part geometry and the effective stress distribution under various pressures conditions and dies geometries. The experimental and simulation results show the feasibility of applying the sheet hydroforming process in order to obtain a sound product.

Hydroforming of aluminum sheets is a plastic deformation process largely used in automotive industry. Among the different hydroforming processes, the Flexform is the one in which the punch is replaced by a fluid cell. This cell consists of a rubber membrane that is filled with a controlled pressure fluid that will deform the sheet in the tool. A rigid die is used for obtaining the shape of the workpiece. For obtaining a sound product a balance between the pressure fluid and the blank material and geometry must be assured. The paper presents experiments carried out for analyzing the influence of the die geometry, the blank thickness and the fluid pressure toward the product accuracy, in terms of thickness and shape variations. The results will be useful in process modeling and in estimation of hydro-deformability of aluminum sheets.