Application of flowforming in pipe manufacturing

Application of flowforming in pipe manufacturing

Application of flowforming in pipe manufacturing

Thin-wall precision pipes

Precision pipes with thin wall thicknesses of 1 to 5 mm, also known as sleeves, are used in many industries. A wide range of materials, such as Inconel, Stainless Steel, Nickel, Aluminum, Copper, Niobium, Tantalum, and Titanium are used for industrial sleeves. Examples of such thin-walled tubes are pneumatic cylinder tubes, paint and textile industry rollers, and precision MRI tubes. With this method, a 0.2-micron surface roughness can be obtained. By flow forming, yield strength can be reached to about 1600 MPa for ordinary steels while the strain rate is the same.

 


Hydraulic cylinders

Hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders of various metals such as stainless steel, Inconel, and aluminum are available from metal sheets and forged parts seamlessly with flowforming technology. The main advantage of this method is that flanges and other work surfaces can be integrated seamlessly into the cylinder. It also saves energy consumption through cold work and improved mechanical properties.

Light/flag poles

Spinning is widely used to produce light reflectors. Also, this method has recently been used to produce light poles. With the use of thin-walled tubes produced by flowforming technology, besides saving the consumable material, more beams can be produced. The production of steel beams is also more cost-effective than conventional methods. For the first time in July 2012, Leifeld company launched a dedicated Flow form Machine for the production of light and flag poles. Using the flowforming machine saves 35% of consumables in addition to increasing the speed of production of such poles.