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Hydroforming Services

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Hydroforming Services

Hydroforming is a metal-forming process that can create complex and structurally strong parts from ductile metals. It is done by exerting a highly pressurized fluid force of up to 10,000 psi onto a piece of metal to change its shape. The process is unique in forming parts to very close tolerances and providing a quality finish. Hydroforming can be an adaptable and affordable solution for many industries, ranging from aerospace and defense to healthcare and research.

For more than 100 years, Jones Metal Products has been fulfilling complex metal fabrication orders using the hydroforming process. Our commitment to delivering the highest quality products for the most precise specifications ensures you get the parts you need with our expert hydroforming services in Ohio.

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The Hydroforming Process

Hydroforming is a cost-effective way to produce smaller quantities of drawn parts or parts with asymmetrical or irregular contours that do not lend themselves to stamping. Virtually all metals capable of being cold formed can be hydroformed, including aluminum, brass, carbon, stainless steel, copper, and high-strength alloys.

The Hydroforming Process: Step 1

A hydroforming press operates like the upper or female die element. This consists of a pressurized forming chamber of oil, a rubber diaphragm and a wear pad. The lower or male die element, is replaced by a punch and ring. The punch is attached to a hydraulic piston, and the blank holder, or ring, which surrounds the punch.

The Hydroforming Process: Step 2

The hydroforming process begins by placing a metal blank on the ring. The press is closed bringing the chamber of oil down on top of the blank. The forming chamber is pressurized with oil while the punch is raised through the ring and into the the forming chamber. Since the female portion of this forming method is rubber, the blank is formed without the scratches associated with stamping.

The Hydroforming Process: Step 3

The diaphragm supports the entire surface of the blank. It forms the blank around the rising punch, and the blank takes on the shape of the punch.

The Hydroforming Process: Step 4

When the hydroforming cycle is complete, the pressure in the forming chamber is released and the punch is retracted from the finished part.

What Are The Advantages Of Hydroforming?

Hydroforming offers numerous advantages, including:

  • Inexpensive tooling costs.
  • Reduced set-up time.
  • Lower development costs.
  • No shock lines, draw marks, wrinkling, or tearing.
  • Minimized material thin-out.
  • Replace multiple conventional draw operations with one cycle of hydroforming.
  • Ideal for complex shapes and irregular contours.
  • Optimize material and blank thickness to achieve cost savings.

The Cost Benefits Of Hydroforming Vs. Stamping

Hydroforming metal is a cost-effective method of shaping asymmetrical parts. It is an effective alternative to traditional stamping, increasing efficiency and saving time throughout manufacturing processes.

Hydroforming tends to be cheaper than deep draw stamping because tooling costs are up to 50% less, and the presses only require one cycle. There’s also no need to create new tooling when a change in wall thickness specifications or materials is needed.

The hydroforming process also helps manufacturers save money by the ability to pre-polish the material prior to forming.  Since the material is formed by pressure from a rubber diaphragm, it limits scratches and wrinkles on the formed metal parts.

The hydroforming method is extremely precise and can also help reduce material waste. Depending on the material and shape, ID measurements can be held as tight as ±.005 inches if required.

The Cost Benefits Of Hydroforming Vs. Stamping

How To Choose The Right Cold-Forming Method

Companies that need to create metal parts may wonder which cold-forming process is the most cost-effective choice: stamping or deep draw hydroforming. Both methods create durable parts, but they’re very different.

When customers aren’t sure which cold-forming process to choose, they should consider the type of part being formed and its specific application. The general rule is that complex, asymmetrical shapes in small runs are better suited to hydroforming. However, stamping is most likely the most cost-effective choice for parts with deep, simple shapes that need to be created in larger batches over 10,000 pieces.

Challenges We Can Solve With Our Precision Hydroforming Process

Hydroforming is a cold-forming method that deep draws metal and seeks a balance between the flow and stretching of material. If the metal flows too easily, it wrinkles; if it stretches too much, it cracks and breaks. At Jones Metal, we help customers overcome common hydroforming challenges with our years of experience.

Design Tolerances

They keep getting tighter. These tolerances aren’t always necessary to fabricate the assembly, but engineers are always looking for ways to guarantee that parts will fit perfectly together. Part tolerances greatly affect production costs and quality checks of the parts. Jones Metal’s engineering-oriented experts bring this into consideration when looking at drawings. We help customers decide the best and most cost-effective method for their parts.

Tight Corners

Hydroforming can create shapes with sharp-radius features by applying the right amount of pressure. This poses a challenge because the material must flow across the tooling, or breaks will occur. Jones Metal’s state-of-the-art facility has 11 deep-draw hydroforming machines, which allows our team to use the ideal size machine needed to produce each specific part. This helps prevent improper forming or material tearing.

Flat Surfaces

The flat areas of parts are among the most difficult shapes to maintain. For instance, a flat box top will tend to bow in forming. This is where a fabricator has a significant advantage; it’s a relatively simple matter to bend and weld a box together. Jones Metal has developed ways to maintain the shape of these parts. Hydroforming works best with materials that are difficult to form because it supports the entire surface of the blank as it is forming and controls the flow and stretch of the material.

Lubrication

It is not just about the type of lubricant used but how and where it is applied. Sometimes, the line between breaking and wrinkling a part is so small that the lubricant can become the deciding factor between success and failure. Jones Metal’s technicians precisely coat and lubricate tooling and material to minimize the risk of this factor.

Tool Design

This is especially challenging when it takes more than one tool to form a good part that meets the tolerances of a print. This comes into play when moving material into a difficult area that is causing breaks in the material. Jones Metal works with its customers to decide the best option for their design.

Is Hydroforming Right For Your Application?

Although hydroforming has numerous advantages over matched die drawing, there are cases where deep draw stamping may be a better fit for your specific application. In addition to being one of the nation’s largest contract hydroformers, we also have deep draw stamping capability to 350 tons. Send us your drawings and our engineering-oriented team will explain the benefits of both metal forming processes and help you select the most cost-effective means to manufacture your parts.

Parts We Can Hydroform

Hydroformed parts come in many shapes, sizes, and specifications. We can hydroform small, medium, and large parts, as well as irregular parts. While most companies in the industry focus on running larger orders at least 10,000 pieces–Jones Metal fulfills orders of any size.

Materials We Can Hydroform
  • Aluminum
  • Brass
  • Bronze
  • Stainless Steel, including 304, 316, and 409, 17-4, 17-7
  • Clad Metals
  • Carbon Steel
  • Copper
  • Galvanized Metals
  • Hastelloy
  • High Nickel Alloys
  • Inconel
  • Kovar
  • Lead
  • Molybdenum
  • Titanium Grade 5, Grade 2, 15-15-15, 15-3-3-3
Deep Draw Hydroforming

Deep Draw Hydroforming

Jones Metal can create deep drawn hydroformed parts from blanks up to 32.5″ with depths up to 12″ and diameters to 27.5″. We operate at forming pressures up to 10,000 psi, tackling material gauges up to 3/8 inches (steel) and 1 inch (aluminum).

The benefits of deep draw hydroforming metal include outstanding surface finishes, reduced tooling costs, and the ability to manufacture parts with irregular shapes while holding exceptionally close tolerances.

Deep Draw Hydroforming

Fluid Cell Forming

The ability to manufacture long, deep-drawn, and complex shapes is possible at Jones Metal thanks to our fluid cell forming capabilities available at Jones Metal.

Fluid cell forming is a process that utilizes a fluid-cell press, or bag press, to form sheet metal into complex shapes. The press exerts high pressure, up to 11,600 psi, onto a flexible rubber diaphragm that forms sheet metal into shapes that meet precise tolerances.

Based upon field-proven technology, Jones Metal’s Quintus Technologies Flexform Fluid Cell Press enables the formation of small parts, shallow components, large panels, and complex deep-drawn shapes, such as a negative lip. Several parts can be formed at once in each tray, resulting in significantly faster prototyping, shorter lead times, and lower tooling costs.

As with hydroforming, our fluid cell press limits surface abrasion, translating into fewer resources spent on downstream finishing. This type of forming also enables parts that are thinner, yet still strong.

Benefits Of Choosing Jones Metal For Your Hydroforming In Ohio

Since 1923, Jones Metal has been working with customers to produce a diverse range of hydroformed metal products. When engineers need a company to make their most difficult parts, they know Jones Metal is the place to go. Assisting engineers with creating the impossible is part of our heritage. We offer our customers high-quality metal products by combining engineering talent, more than 100 years of experience, and the latest technology. We have a large facility, dedicated testing equipment, a prototype development program, and the ability to produce small and large-volume orders. As the largest single deep-draw hydroformer in the country, you can trust Jones Metal to fulfill your complex metal fabrication orders.

Benefits of choosing us for your hydroforming needs include:

Precise Tolerances

Hydroformed parts maintain precise tolerances, allowing irregular pieces to be easily formed. We can create all types of shapes and angles, all with minimal thin-out.

Quality Finish

Because hydroforming employs high-pressure hydraulic fluid to form parts to a cavity instead of a punch, pieces emerge with a near-perfect, quality finish free of burrs or scuffs, eliminating the need for finishing or polishing.

Cost Savings

Our hydroforming services in Ohio allow customers to reduce upfront costs associated with traditional metal forming and stamping because the process eliminates the need for expensive dies.  Adjustments to forming tools during development of the first part are much less difficult and cheaper.

Economical Prototyping

For prototyping and part development, sheet metal hydroforming is an ideal process. With minor adjustments to the tooling and material thickness, we can produce new and improved parts in small runs for development and equipment modifications.

Jones Metal has the latest industry equipment and technical expertise to help you solve your engineering challenges. We are also NADCAP-approved, ISO 9001:2015 Certified (Without Design), and AS9100:2016 Certified. Contact us and we will be happy to work with you to find the best way to turn your production challenges into opportunities.

Industries We Serve

Aerospace
Aerospace

Aerospace and aircraft manufacturers search for outside processes for many of the components needed in the assembly of their highly complex products. When it comes to formed metal parts, they often require hydroforming. Hydroformed parts have minimal surface imperfections because tight specifications on contour and flatness can be achieved, and exotic materials can be utilized.

Defense
Defense

For manufacturers in the defense industry, precision and quality are two of the most important factors to consider when working with a metal processor. The defense industry requires high standards for mission-critical components, and hydroforming is an ideal solution for metal parts. Parts must be formed and finished correctly before they are added to the defense equipment. Our IT team has obtained the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and we are International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) approved.

Medical
Medical

Keeping costs down, inventory readily stocked, and maintaining sanitization are critical for every medical practice. Hydroforming medical equipment starts with the need for a high-quality finish that offers longevity and easy sterilization. Hydroforming is often used to form components with detailed shapes that require smooth finishes. Parts with inverted folds, inverted lips, curves, and other shapes can be hydroformed while avoiding wrinkles, tears, and thin-outs of their metals

Research and Development
Research and Development

Hydroforming metal is a commonly used, cost-effective cold-forming process that works exceptionally well for prototyping used in research and development. Prototyping is an integral part of the engineering process and is used to test parts on a small scale before they are manufactured on a larger scale. It also enables engineers to bring their concepts to life.

Contact Us For Your Hydroforming Needs Today

At Jones Metal Products, quality is our top priority. We are dedicated to delivering ultra-precise products to customers on time and within their budget. Our team has deep industry experience and the technical expertise to create precision components. Call us today at (888) 479-9566 or reach us online to send us your drawings to get started with your hydroforming process.