• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.247-250
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• 2005

The need for improved fuel efficiency, weight reduction has motivated the automotive industry to focus on aluminum alloys as a replacement for steel-based alloy. To cope with the needs for high structural rigidity with low weight, it is forecasted that substantial amount of cast components will be replaced by tubular parts which are mainly manufactured by the extruded aluminum tubes. The extrusion process is utilized to produce tubes and hollow sections. Because there is no weld seam, the circumferential mechanical properties may be uniform and advantageous for hydroforming. However the possibility of the occurrence of a surface defect is very high, especially due to the temperature increase from forming at high pressure when it comes out of the bearing and the roughness of the bearing, which cause the surface defects such as the dies line and pick-up. And when forming a extruded aluminum tube, the free surface of the tube becomes rough with increasing plastic strain. This is well known as orange peel phenomena and has a great effect not only on the surface quality of a product but also on the forming limit. In an attempt to increase the forming limit of the tubular specimen, in the present paper, surface asperities generated during the hydroforming process are polished to eliminate the weak positions of the tube which lead to a localized necking. It is shown that the forming limit of the tube can be considerably improved by simple method of polishing the surface roughness during hydroforming. And also the extent of the crack propagation caused by dies lines generated during the extrusion process is evaluated according to the deformed shape of the tube.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.45-49
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• 2010

The automotive industry has shown a growing interest in tube hydroforming during the past years. The advantages of hydroforming (less thinning, a more efficient manufacturing process, etc.) can, for instance, be combined with the high strength of extra high strength steels, which are usually less formable, to produce structural automotive components which exhibit lower weight and improved service performance. Design and production of tubular components require knowledge about tube material and forming behavior during hydroforming and how the hydroforming operation itself should be controlled. These issues are studied analytically in the present paper. In this study, the whole process of rear sub-frame parts development by tube hydroforming using AA6061 material is presented. At the part design stage, it requires feasibility study and process design aided by CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) to confirm hydroformability in details. Effects of parameters such as internal pressure, axial feeding and geometry shape in automotive rear sub-frame by hydroforming process were carefully investigated. Overall possibility of hydroformable rear sub-frame parts could be examined by cross sectional analyses. Moreover, it is essential to ensure the formability of tube material on every forming step such as pre-bending and hydroforming. In addition, all the components of prototyping tool are designed and interference with press is examined from the point of geometry and thinning.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.38-43
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• 2008

The hydroforming technology has been spreaded dramatically in automotive industry last 10 years. Itmay cause many advantages to automotive applications in terms of better structural integrity of the parts, lower cost from fewer part count, material saving, weight reduction, lower springback, improved strength and durability and design flexibility. In this study, the whole process of rear sub-frame parts development by tube hydroforming using steel material having tensile strength of 440MPa grade is presented. At the part design stage, it requires feasibility study and process design aided by CAE (Computer Aided Design) to confirm hydroformability in details. Effects of parameters such as internal pressure, axial feeding and geometry shape in automotive rear sub-frame by hydroforming process were carefully investigated. Overall possibility of hydroformable sub-frame parts could be examined by cross sectional analyses. Moreover, it is essential to ensure the formability of tube material on every forming step such as pre-bending, preforming and hydroforming. In addition, all the components of prototyping tool are designed and interference with press is examined from the point of geometry and thinning.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2009

The environment and energy related problem has become one of the most important global issues in recent years. One of the most effective ways of improving the fuel efficiency of automobiles is the weight reduction. In order to obtain this goal the hydroforming technology has been adapting for the high strength steel and its application is being widened. In present study, the chassis components (mainly cross members of engine cradle) simulation and development by hydroforming technology to apply high strength steel having tensile strength of 440 MPa grade is studied. In the part design stage, it requires feasibility study and process design aided by CAE (Computer Aided Design) to confirm hydroformability in details. Overall possibility of hydroformable chassis parts could be examined by cross sectional analyses. Moreover, it is essential to ensure the formability of tube material on every forming step such as pre-bending, performing and hydroforming. In the die design stage, all the components of prototyping tool were designed and interference with press was investigated from the point of geometry and thinning.