AutoForm News

March 20, 2012

AutoForm Hydroforming – A New Level of Accuracy and Speed of Tube Hydroforming

One important new feature is the support of cutting process steps. As a result, tube length can be optimized and the forming of tube ends as well as the complete forming process can be simulated.

AutoForm Hydroforming supports parallel computing achieving significant speed-up levels. The shared memory multiprocessing (SMP) hydro solver is available for 2, 3, 4 and 8 cores.

AutoForm Engineering GmbH, the leading supplier of software solutions for the sheet metal forming industry, has enhanced its hydroforming products. AutoForm Hydroforming contains innovative functionalities for the rapid analysis and simulation of the entire hydroforming process. The software excels at a new level of accuracy and speed.

AutoForm’s focus on accurate results and short computation times has led to these latest innovations specifically developed for AutoForm Hydroforming customers. One important new feature is the support of cutting process steps. As a result, tube length can be optimized and the forming of tube ends as well as the complete forming process can be simulated. Two cutting types are available: plane cut and laser cut for tube ends trimming and holes piercing.

The AutoForm hydro solver now supports parallel computing achieving significant speed-up levels (comparable to AutoForm’s incremental solver). At the same time, the number of licenses needed to perform parallel execution has been reduced, offering the user the advantage of multiprocessing at lower cost. The shared memory multiprocessing (SMP) hydro solver is available for 2, 3, 4 and 8 cores. Furthermore, improved and more robust mesh refinement algorithms increase the accuracy of the results. Stress in thickness direction is taken into account allowing for better evaluation of critical areas and more accurate results for thick tubes. Pressure dependent friction is supported, which further enhances accuracy. In addition, the hydro solver has a new simulation status dialog which provides immediate feedback and helps to prevent misinterpretation of the result files.

Dr. Markus Thomma, Corporate Marketing Director of AutoForm Engineering, stated: “Hydroforming technology is widely used in the production of complex lightweight components. AutoForm has invested much time and effort in this technology and has enhanced its hydroforming products. AutoForm Hydroforming customers can now take advantage of increased efficiency of hydroforming simulation, lower cost for parallel computing on multi-cores and improved simulation accuracy.”

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