Hydroforming variants - also for prototypes and short production runs
Alvar Palmcrantz
Hydroforming Design Light
Hydroforming Design Light has developed a new way and an ideal technique for producing complicated profiles. The unique, patented hydroforming technology enables us to offer cost-effective hydroformed components for a number of industrial applications. The company has penetrated a highly competitive market in a very short space of time, and has already secured customers such as Volvo Trucks and Electrolux.
Three main types
HDL produces three main types of hydroformed components:
1. Tubular – a tube is placed in a die, both of its ends are blanked off, and the pressure inside the tube is raised. The pressure causes the tube to expand and be formed into the shape of the die. In the process, the tensile strength of the material increases by up to five times.
2. Sheet forming – a sheet is gripped in the die, the pressure on one side of the sheet is raised, and the sheet is formed into the shape of the die. In this case, the formability increases substantially and the process is suitable for products such as vehicle body parts and furniture parts.
3. Pillow forming – the edges of two sheets are joined together by laser welding, for instance, and liquid is injected between the sheets. The joined sheets are then “inflated” in the same way as an air mattress. This technique is particularly well suited for various types of tanks and for heat exchangers.
Lightweight and strong products
Customers demand lightweight and strong products. In the automotive industry, the demand is for high load-bearing capacity, but the component must also “crumple” in the right way in the event of a crash.
The hydroforming process makes the steel soft and easy to work, and it can be formed to meet the purchaser’s specification. The process offers the designer a much greater degree of freedom. One example is a very complicated form of tube supplied to Volvo Trucks. Another example is a tank for Electrolux refrigerators and is the result of a development project run jointly with the customer.
Rewarding to work with universities
It is important for us who are at the cutting edge of technology to have a broad contact network and to foster contacts with universities around the country. We open new doors and demonstrate new opportunities for both materials technologists and designers. In my experience, it is very rewarding to work with universities.
Triple Steelix was one of the interested parties right from the start. During the autumn of 2006, we ran a project together with the Institution for Materials Technology at Dalarna University, where we tested the forming of materials at various temperatures and endeavoured to produce surfaces that were as hard as possible. The project was financed through Triple Steelix.
The largest products manufactured so far are parts for truck exhaust pipes, refrigeration tanks for Electrolux, and suction pipes for the paper industry. The work for Volvo Trucks and Electrolux serves as a guarantee to demonstrate that we are able to make products that the automotive and white goods industries need. More than 40 enquiries and quotations are now being processed, and a number of additional development projects are about to start.
Contact network is vital
It is difficult to run a company in Sweden, but it is possible. And particularly so in Vansbro. Personal connections and a contact network are vital in operations such as ours. The Commerce and Industry Office in Vansbro follows our development with keen interest. I have hand-picked the ten persons who are now working at HDL. They are a problem-solving team of unparalleled quality. We have now covered the management function, the skeleton of something great is there, and I look to the future with confidence.