The Triform press reduced production costs by 25% and scrap rates are down to less than 1%.
Aerosud Holdings, a manufacturer of wing components for commercial airliners located in Pretoria, South Africa, was experiencing a bottleneck in the production of aluminum canisters for the Airbus A320. The company’s traditional forming operations required six annealing steps to draw a 4.5-in. diameter canister 6.5-in. deep. Excessive thinning in the process — which resulted in high scrap rates — required a starting sheet thickness of .080-in. In addition, the high number of anneals affected the quality of the welding in the final assembly and made it difficult to meet demanding delivery schedules.
By moving production to a Triform deep draw sheet hydroforming press, Aerosud is now able to draw the canisters consistently without needing a single annealing process. Additionally, the steady, uniform pressure of the Triform press reduced material thinning greatly, allowing the blank thickness to be reduced from a .080-in. sheet to a .063-in. sheet, offering significant material cost savings.
Thanks to Aerosud’s new 16-10-7DD Triform press, annealing has been completely eliminated from the forming process, part production costs have been lowered by 25%, scrap rates have been reduced to less than 1%, weld quality has been greatly improved, and the overall appearance of the final parts has been enhanced.
Video: See how sheet hydroforming works
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Type of Press | Triform Deep Draw 16-10-7DD |
| Max Chamber Pressure | 10,000 PSI |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Forming Area | 16″ Diameter |
| Lower Punch Stroke | 7″ |
| Max Punch Tool Diameter | 12″ |
| Challenge | Eliminate annealing from the forming process to have better weld quality in final assembly. |
| Solution | Thanks to Triform’s ability to tightly control the flow of the material as the downward acting bladder holds the material while the tool extends atop a punch cylinder, Aerosud was able to completely eliminate all 6 annealing steps. Now the part can be formed without using any heat in the process allowing for a better weld quality during final assembly. |
| Challenge | Reduce expense associated with scrap and part thinning. |
| Solution | Because the Triform press is able to form the cannister in a single step with controlled flow of the material, thinning of the part has been reduced significantly. Aerosud is now able to buy blanks that are 10% thinner. Additionally, because of the process repeatability inherent in a Triform, scrap parts are a thing of the past. |
| Results | Aerosud was able to eliminate 100% of their annealing process. They can now procure thinner starting materials, and scrap rates are less than 1%. The finished parts also offer a better weld quality in final assembly and the overall appearance is greatly improved. The reduction in forming steps also means parts can be produced faster with less skilled labor. |
