Hydroforming Press Guide

Product overview

The origin of the hydroforming press can be traced back to the 1940s. It developed as a cost-effective means to form metal materials. You can say that all metals can be put and shaped by a hydroforming press. Commonly metals that are formed and used in most industries include aluminum, brass, carbon and stainless steel, copper, and high strength alloys.

Nowadays, hydroforming presses can be used for a wide range of applications. As the pressing process develops, they are mostly used for forming but are most commonly used for the forming of automotive exhausts, aircraft parts, and other irregularly shaped parts. If you want to find out more about hydroforming pressing, continue to read for further information.


How does it work?

The main function of a hydroforming press is like an upper or female die element. Basically, the whole structure consists of a pressurized forming chamber, a rubber diaphragm, and a wear pad. Unlike other types of forming methods, the lower die element (or male die) is replaced by a punch.

First of all, put your metal blank on the punch. Later, the press is going to bring the chamber of oil down to the upper side of the blank. When the punch is raised through the punch, the forming chamber is pressurized with oil.

The diaphragm forms the blank around the rising punch. While the blank helps shape the punch. The cycle of hydroforming pressing continues until the shape is formed. When the process is complete, the forming chamber releases the pressure and retract the punch. Once the form is done. The upper part of the press is going to release. Thus, the whole pressing process is finished.


Advantages of hydroforming pressing

1. Versatility of the forming process
Since the forming capacity of it is very high, nowadays many manufacturing industries apply hydroforming pressing. It allows users to form complex shapes and angles. That is why some mobile components rely on hydroforming.

It provides a sturdy structure and a quick, time-saving, and efficient manufacturing method. The preciseness can be maintained and the quality compared to other producing means is much better. This feature is good for companies that need to produce small runs of intricate metal components, such as sheet hydroforming and tube hydroforming.

2. Metal variety
Some forming methods are limited in the use of metals. But users with hydroforming pressing do not have to worry about it. It comes with a variety of metals, including stainless steel, titanium, and brass, copper. Alloys can be used for forming with hydroforming pressing, which includes hastelloys, cobalt, and nickel.

3. High quality
The sheet hydroforming method employs high-pressure hydraulic presses during the forming process. Compared to using a punch, the quality of using hydraulic presses enables a finer result. The quality of the pieces is much better than other types of forming methods, which has no burrs of scuffs. That is why the products that come from hydroforming presses require no downstream finishing or polishing, which saves time and effort for users.

4. Cost-efficiency
Hydroforming provides an efficient way of forming metals into different shapes and angles. It also eliminates the need for prototyping. All of these features help the business owner to cut down the cost. Compared to the traditional metal forming and stamping method, it reduces nearly 50% of the total cost. The main reason is that with hydroforming presses, users do not have to spend an extra penny on expensive dies, cast plastics for prototyping, and hardened steel tools. Also, since the final products usually require no polishing and finishing, the expense can be spared as well.


Comparison between hydroforming press and deep draw stamping.

1. Hydroforming press and deep draw stamping are two commonly seen means for metal forming. Here is some comparison in terms of cost between the two.

2. If you have low volume runs, tooling will be the main cost that comes to your consideration. Compared to matched die tooling or deep draw stamping, the cost of hydroforming tooling is significantly less. This is because, during the process, the hydroforming press only requires a male die as the rubber diaphragm. As for a female die, it only needs a pressurized forming chamber.

3. The whole structure works in a less complicated way and requires less. In the manufacturing business, less is better since it reduces the abundant cost of other unnecessary things. Also, hydroforming tools are easily manipulated when it comes to mounting and aligning, which makes set-ups faster and more efficient.

4. With the hydroforming press, the development costs can be lowered by nearly 50% compared to other means. Since hydroforming press does not require users to create new tooling. The prototyping cost is thus lowered and saves you a lot of money.

Since the time required in matched die operation majorly depends on the times of press cycles. Hydroforming press reduces the amount of time needed during the press time by nearly 80% compared to conventional matched die presses.

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