Patent ID: 9545657
Date: 2017-01-17
CPC Classifications: B21D,B62D,Y10T

Claim:
1. A method of hydroforming a part from an extruded aluminum tube, comprising: positioning said extruded aluminum tube into a hydroforming die; partially closing said hydroforming die; applying a liquid under a first level of pressure to said extruded aluminum tube in said hydroforming die to prevent collapsing of said tube; engaging an inner radius of a bend in said extruded aluminum tube with said hydroforming die before completely closing said hydroforming die thereby reducing the amount of the outer fiber strain on said inner radius of said bend; providing said inner radius of said bend with a cross-sectional length of line reduction, wherein said cross-sectional length of line reduction is less than 1%; forming a cross-section of non-constant radius including a first transition segment, a second transition segment and an intermediate segment between said first and second transition segments; and completely closing said hydroforming die around said extruded aluminum tube and increasing the first level of liquid pressure to a second level to further form and hydro-pierce said part from said extruded aluminum tube.