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The tube is also loosely held by two other dies, the wiper die and the pressure die. The process of tube bending involves using mechanical force to push stock material pipe or tubing against a die, forcing the pipe or tube to conform to the shape of the die.
In tube hydroforming pressure is applied to the inside of a tube that is held by dies with the desired cross sections and forms. When the dies are closed, the tube ends are sealed by axial punches and the tube is filled with hydraulic fluid. The internal pressure can go up to a few thousand bars and it causes the tube to calibrate against the dies.
Soft (or ductile) copper tubing can be bent easily to travel around obstacles in the path of the tubing. While the work hardening of the drawing process used to size the tubing makes the copper hard or rigid, it is carefully annealed to make it soft again; it is, therefore, more expensive to produce than non-annealed, rigid copper tubing.
Bending is a cost-effective near net shape process when used for low to medium quantities. Parts usually are lightweight with good mechanical properties. A disadvantage is that some process variants are sensitive to variations in material properties. For instance, differences in spring-back have a direct influence on the resulting bend angle.
A die is a specialized machine tool used in manufacturing industries to cut and/or form material to a desired shape or profile. Stamping dies are used with a press, [1] as opposed to drawing dies (used in the manufacture of wire) and casting dies (used in molding) which are not.
In 1983 they designed and released the Model 1 tube bender. The Model 1 Bender became popular because it was one of the few affordable manual tube benders on the fabricating market. However, the Model 1 Bender could only bend 90 degrees. In 1988 JD Squared released the Model 2 Tube bender with 180 degree bend capability.
Tube sinking, also known as free tube drawing, reduces the diameter of the tube without a mandrel inside the tube. The inner diameter is determined by the inner and outer diameter of the stock tube, the outer diameter of the final product, the length of the die landing, the amount of back tension, and the friction between the tube and the die. [3]
The area reduction in small wires is generally 15–25% and in larger wires is 20–45%. [1] The exact die sequence for a particular job is a function of area reduction, input wire size and output wire size. As the area reduction changes, so does the die sequence. [3] Very fine wires are usually drawn in bundles.