The AutoForm Hydroforming Package integrates both the AutoForm-HydroDesigner and AutoForm-Hydro software modules. With this specialized solution, feasibility engineers, process planners and tool makers can efficiently analyze the entire design cycle, from part design to tool design to process design.

Photo: AutoForm Hydroforming Package - Courtesy of ULSAC Project

The AutoForm Hydroforming Package provides the following benefits:

	Rapid die design and rapid process design for hydroformed parts
	Handling of multiple parts
	Design of several different tooling concepts in a single day
	Tooling concepts are automatically used to run tryout simulations
	Reduced tooling costs and shorter development time
	Increased part quality
	Improved process reliability

The AutoForm Hydroforming Package is highly intuitive and provides many automatic functions and easy-to-use features for tube hydroforming. Based on AutoForm’s clear and logical methodology, the user is guided step-by-step from the import of CAD geometry until the complete die face design.

After creating the part geometry in a CAD system, the part’s feasibility throughout the remainder of the design chain must be checked. In other words, part feasibility must be analyzed already during the part design phase, for example, to determine the minimum part radius and to evaluate the required internal pressure to form out the part. A section analysis is also required and the bending line must be defined. It has to be defined whether the part should be manufactured as a single part or as a multiple part, if applicable several different parts could be combined. Following the part design phase, a concept tool must be designed. The addendum and die split lines must also be defined, as well as all tools for the bending operation, if required. Traditionally, all these steps are carried out in a CAD system, which is very time consuming and inefficient to do. The AutoForm-HydroDesigner module is ideally suited for carrying out all these steps, thereby saving users considerable time and money during the entire hydroforming design process. Furthermore, all resulting data from AutoForm-HydroDesigner are automatically transferred to AutoForm-Hydro for tryout simulations and process design optimization.

The main features of the AutoForm Hydroforming Package include:

	Handling of multiple parts
	Automatic filleting of sharp edges
	Automatic calculation of the centerline
	Cross-sectional part analysis
	Tube generator to create profiles, and conical and tailored tubes
	Automatic creation of the addendum and inner fills
	Functions for addendum modifications
	Automatic and manual part tipping
	Tipping of individual geometries for multiple parts
	Improved generation of the separation surface
	Generation of lead-in surfaces
	Export of complete surface data
	Generation of the bending line
	Automatic design and positioning of all required bending tools and bending steps
	Improved design of bending tools and bending steps
	Hydroforming Info-Page
	Improved tools and process steps for better process reliability
	Pressure/displacement in graphical control dialogues
	Simulation of contact between two deformable bodies
	Springback calculation

This product may practice one or more of the following patents owned by or available to AutoForm Engineering GmbH, Switzerland: European patents 1290515, 1623287, 1665103, 1741012 and US patents 7542889, 7623939. Other European, other US and JP patents pending.

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Last Update November 25, 2009