Metal bellows is a common component in the industry. Different methods can be used to make metal bellows, such as hydroforming, mechanical forming, rubber forming, and hydraulic forming. There are some differences in the effects and applications of different processes. As a professional manufacturer of metal bellows, the main manufacturing processes are introduced in detail below.
1.Hydraulic forming process
Hydroforming is the most widely used and most common forming method for metal bellows. It is mainly used to make annular bellows. It can form bellows with wall thickness of 0.08 ~ 4mm. Corrugated pipe hydroforming is a process in which a pipe blank is formed into a corrugated pipe in a special mold when the stress exceeds the yield strength under the liquid pressure of the inner wall.
2.Mechanical forming process
Mechanical forming of metal bellows, including spin forming, roll forming and mechanical expansion.
Generally speaking, mechanical forming has the advantages of simple technology, easy tooling, and high production efficiency. At the same time, there are also shortcomings such as relatively rough manufacturing and low performance. It is mostly used in the manufacture of spiral corrugated pipes, corrugated expansion joints and large-diameter thick-wall corrugated pipes.3. Rubber forming process
The rubber forming process is a kind of bulging process. It uses rubber as a forming convex mold, which deforms like a plastic convex mold under pressure. The tube blank is formed into a corrugated tube according to the cavity of a concave mould. The forming method is usually single-wave continuous forming.
4.Mechanical hydroforming
Mechanical hydraulic forming is a forming method in which a pipe blank is first rolled inward by a rolling method, and then expanded outward by a hydraulic method to form a corrugated pipe. The corrugated pipe formed by mechanical hydraulic pressure has been strengthened due to the wave crest and trough, which have played a good role in improving the elasticity of the corrugated pipe. It is an effective method for manufacturing deep wave corrugated pipes.