• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.223-228
• /
• 2005

Tube hydroforming provides a number of advantages over conventional stamping process, including fewer secondary operation, weight reduction, assembly simplification, adaptability to forming of complex structural components and improved structural strength and stiffness. It can produce wide range of products such as subframe, engine cradle, and exhaust manifold. In this study, the effect of the heat treatment conditions such as post seam annealing (PSA) and bright annealing (BA) on the ovality and hydro-formability of steel tubes has been investigated. Hydroformabilities have been estimated by the bulging heights obtained at various processing parameters such as internal pressure, axial feeding and heat treatment conditions. The ovality and forming height are strongly influenced by material properties after heat treatments.