Frictionless Metalforming with Water

FluidForming Americas, LLC, (Hartsville, TN) in conjunction with its partner FluidForming GmbH in Germany, is pleased to announce a high-pressure metal forming process that precisely shapes metals into a predefined geometries by using fluid under pressures of up 60,000 psi resulting in heretofore unprecedented capabilities.

Our model line of FormBalancer FluidForming machines now encompasses bed sizes from 800 mm x 800 mm (32 in x 32 in) up to 1200 mm x 1200 mm (47 in x 47 in) with a next generation size of 1500 mm x 1800 mm (59 in x 71 in) projected for 2014/15. With the latest round of innovative improvements, the capability of the machines have been expanded beyond the revolutionary sheet metal forming ability to also include advanced tube forming capability – all within the same machine and system footprint of only 50 m² to 80 m² (550 ft² to 860 ft²), depending on the machine.

The forming pressures of up to 4000 bar (60,000 psi) allow material thicknesses in a range of 0.05 mm (0.002 in) up to > 5 mm (0.2 in) and hard-to-believe minimum bend radii of ~ 1.5 x material thickness.

http://youtu.be/5FIMXGTYhbM
A demonstration of the Formbalancer FB35 hydro forming machine bringing metal plates in a mold with high work pressure, with pressures up to 4000 bar acting on the molded part.

For additional application demonstrations, click here.The machine is capable of producing parts using various metals like titanium, aluminum, stainless steel, copper, etc. The tools are fundamentally independent of the material and the material thickness, i.e., changes in material & thickness are accomplished by changing the time / pressure characteristics of both the clamp and forming pressures without changes to the tool itself.

FluidForming Americas, LLC, 295 Trousdale Way, Hartsville, TN 37074-2073, 800-497-3545, info@ffamericas.com, ffamericas.com.