Performance of pressurising-material and process design considerations for the forming of thick-walled tubular components

To assist in designing pressure-assisted radial extrusion of thick-walled, tubular components the performance of pressurising materials and their influence on the forming process were studied. An innovative test method for the study of pressurising materials under confined compression conditions and FE simulations of material testing and the forming of the components were used. The results showed that some polymers function well as a pressurising medium for the configuration examined. The process can be simplified by using a stepped punch, rather than using two punches which need to be controlled independently. To achieve good-quality products, with less manufacturing trials, a concurrent procedure, which should include the testing of pressurising materials and manufacturing simulation, is recommended for process design for the forming of thick-walled tubular components.