Richard:
Have you looked at hydraulic bladder hydroforming? We did this all the time in aircraft, especially for forming aluminum or stainless steel sheet material, typically up to 0.125" thick. All we did was machine an inexpensive male (typically male but female could work better in some cases with a caul or top plate) aluminum "hydroblock" with the bladder acting as the punch or top part of the die. We would incorporate material springback into the surface we machined and we would use tooling holes and/or tabs to locate the flat pattern blank on the hydroblock. Sometimes there was some development involved in creating the optimal flat pattern for more complex forms. Some aircraft job shops have these bladder machines (Asea Brown Boveri or ABB is one mfg. of these machines). If you're interested you might try contacting Brittain Machine in Wichita, KS. Hope this helps.
Good Luck!
Glenn Whiteside
----- Original Message -----
From: Richard M. Harrington
To: Rapid Prototyping Mail List
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 10:41 AM
Subject: [rp-ml] Forming aluminum or steel
Hello List,
a RP method, without going to epoxy?
Rick Harrington
Harrington Product Development Center
"Your partner in product development solutions"
4700 Smith Road, Suite R
Cincinnati, Ohio45212
Phone: 513.482.4702
Fax: 513.482.4706
Email: rharrington@harringtonpdc.com
FTP: ftp.harringtonpdc.com
Received on Wed Dec 01 01:16:29 2004
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