Collaborative Research: Warm Hydroforming of Lightweight Materials Using Selective Heating Strategies

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The objective of this collaborative GOALI research is to gain basic understandings necessary to develop and design an industrially viable and reliable warm hydroforming process technology for fabrication of aluminum and magnesium alloys into complex shapes as required in aircraft and automotive body and structures. It is known that at high temperature levels (i.e. 200-300oC) and under hydrostatic pressure conditions, materials demonstrate increased and more uniform elongations up to 150-300% as opposed to their very poor formability degrees at room temperature levels. The approach is to design a lab-scale tooling for material characterization and friction testing to understand and model the effect of high temperature on material properties, friction, and overall formability. Then, a computer model will be constructed to effectively and rapidly study the effects of various process parameters on the overall formability. Finally, the experimental and numerical findings will be synthesized into design guidelines for industrial use. Proposed research will facilitate the rapid and cost-effective development of process, part and tooling design for a variety of parts and products using this technology. Societal impacts of this effort can be realized when low-mass vehicles with significant fuel efficiency and emission improvements are introduced to consumers at an affordable cost. The warm hydroforming technology and its successful implementation will make remarkable and enduring impacts throughout the life-cycle of aircrafts and automotives to the greater benefit of public health, environmental conservation and economy.