• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.86-92
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• 2008

Recently, the use of tubes in the manufacturing of the automobile parts has increased and therefore many automotive manufactures have tried to use hydro-forming technology. The hydro-forming technology may cause many advantages to automotive applications in terms of better structural integrity of the parts, lower cost from fewer part count, material saving, weight reduction, lower spring-back, improved strength and durability and design flexibility. In this study, the whole process of front engine cradle (or front sub-frame) parts development by tube hydro-forming using steel material having tensile strength of 440MPa grade is presented. At the part design stage, it requires feasibility study and process design aided by CAE (Computer Aided Design) to confirm hydro-formability in details. Effects of parameters such as internal pressure, axial feeding and geometry shape on automotive sub-frame by hydro-forming process were carefully investigated. Overall possibility of hydro-formable sub-frame parts could be examined by cross sectional analyses. Moreover, it is essential to ensure the formability of tube material on every forming step such as pre-bending, preforming and hydro-forming. At the die design stage, all the components of prototyping tools are designed and interference with press is examined from the point of geometry and thinning.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.241-244
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• 2003

The productivity of hydroforming process can be increased by combining pre-forming process and post-forming process such as the bending, piercing and the embedding process. Therefore in this study, integrated studies on the hydro-embedding technology have been performed by analyzing the deformed mode of the tubes and the optimal process parameters. In the case of the embedding test the characteristics of the embedded parts, such as the shape of the screw tip, screw thread and shape of thread were investigated at various process conditions. To measure the clamping force between the embedded part and the tube, special measuring device was used.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2002

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the effect of Process parameters such as internal pressure, amount of axial feeding, and frictional condition between the die and the material on the tube hydro-formability. For carbon steel tubes(STKM 12A, STBH 410 and SPS 290), simple bulging, circular bulging and Tee-fitting tests are performed to evaluate the hydro-formability of these materials which is determined by deformation characteristics such as thickness distribution, forming height and branch dome shape. The formabilities obtained from these tests are analysed and compared with the results of the numerical simulation.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.15 no.8 s.89
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• pp.568-573
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• 2006

In order to numerically evaluate automotive hydro-formed DP-steel tubes on crash performance considering welding heat effects, the finite element simulations of crash behavior were performed for hydro-formed tubes with and without heat treatment effects. This work involves the mechanical characterization of the base material and the HAG-welded zone as well as finite element simulations of the crash test of hydro-formed tubes with welded brackets and hydro-forming of tubes. The welding heat effects on the crash performance are evaluated in efforts to improve the process optimization procedure of the engine cradle in the design stage. In particular, FEM simulations on indentations have been performed and experimentally verified for material properties of weld zone and heat affected zone.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.717-718
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• 2008

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.218-224
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• 2008

A recent trend in automotive parts has been an integration of sub-assemblies with unified shapes. Tube structures also have been integrated to one body structure by using a near net shape forming instead of adopting welding. A cylindrical elastomer-forming process can be utilized to form a steel tube compressed in a radial direction. This process has some advantages compared to a hydro-forming or a swaging process in the viewpoint of a lower investment and a higher productivity. In order to predict a feasible specification of products within a work capability of the elastomer-forming equipment developed previously, effects of geometrical parameters of a tube on its shape accuracy are examined. Two characteristic parameters to account for the shape accuracy are chosen. One is the curvature radius at the corner part and the other is the straight ratio of the formed region. Careful examination of two parameters has led that the shape accuracy can be easily predicted by the regression equation obtained from the response surface method.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1810-1815
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• 2003

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. In this study, the effect of the heat treatment on the hydro-formability has been investigated. By using the mild steel tube bulging test is performed at various heat treatment conditions to evaluate the hydro-formability.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2000

In this paper, we developed the hydroforming simulator which can apply an axial compressive force and high internal pressure to bulge a tube. Experimental dtudies have been performed to investigate the effect of each parameters such as internal pressure and axial compression stroke required for the forming of circular components. Under the improper forming conditions there were two forming failures. One was the axial buckling due to excessive axial compressive load and the other was the circumferential necking fracture due to relatively high internal pressure. A safe forming zone without any failures exists between these two extreme zones. Also the condition of forming failure such as fracture is examined throughout the theoretical analysis. This paper covers a brief overview of the mechanism of hydroforming process as well as the design of die and tools.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.14 no.9 s.81
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• pp.756-763
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• 2005

The applicability and productivity of hydroforming process can be increased by combining pre- and post-forming processes such as the bending, piercing and embedding process. For the fabrication of automotive parts, the hollow bodies with connecting nuts are widely used to connect parts together. Hollow body with connecting nuts has been conventionally fabricated by welding nuts or screwing in autobody screws. It requires multiple steps and devices fur the welding and/or screwing Therefore in this study, hydro-embedding process that combines the hydraulic embedding of connecting element(nut) with hydroforming process is investigated. Studies on the hydro-embedding technology have been performed to optimize the shape of the connecting element by analyzing the deformed mode of the embedded tube The effects of the shape of the screw tip, screw thread and shape of thread on the connection force between the tube and the connecting element have been investigated to optimize the shape of connecting element. Finite element analysis has also been performed to provide deformation behaviors of the tube surrounding a hole produced by hydro-embedding.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.206-209
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• 2004

In the hydroforming process the number of process can be reduced by combining pre-forming process and post-forming process such as the bending, piercing and the embedding process. Integrated studies on the embedding manufacturing technology have been performed by analyzing the deformed mode of the tubes and the optimal process parameters. In this study, a simulation model that can prove clamping force between the clamping element and tube has been investigated by FEM. The characteristics of the embedded parts, such as the shape of the screw tip, screw thread and shape of thread were investigated at various clamping element conditions.