Influence of axial feeding on the growth of circumferential thickness deviation in free hydraulic bulging

Loading paths (hereafter referred as LPs) that consist of internal pressure and axial feeding are important manufacturing conditions in tube hydroforming. Among the factors that affect LP design, friction between the forming die and tube causes the most difficulty due to its complicated characteristics. Although there is no friction, a number of issues with LP design remain. In this study, free hydraulic bulging (hereafter FHB) with internal pressure and axial feeding is investigated. In FHB, tubes are freely expended without friction. It has been shown that axial feeding affects the circumferential thickness distribution in the tube periphery. The tubes in this study are straight seamless tubes. Seamless tubes typically have predictable thickness deviations resulting from their manufacturing processes. In general, the degree of thickness deviation will increase as the tube expands. A FEM simulator is used to analyze the mechanism of the growth of thickness deviation.