Enhancing the formability of aluminium components via temperature controlled hydroforming

The following work starts with the description of the hydroforming process at room temperature. Afterwards a concept for the thermal hydroforming is developed and a forming tool for sheet metals is realised. With this tool, experiments are executed which investigate the formability, the wall-thickness distribution, the microstructure before and after the forming and the strain distribution of the aluminium alloys at enhanced temperatures. With this knowledge, a thermal hydroforming tube part will be developed and prototypes will be produced. Simultaneous to the practical experiments a Finite-Element Model will be developed and used for a parameter study as well as for the design of the thermal hydroforming part.