Simulation of Hydroforming of a Two-Wheeler Fuel Tank With Large Depth for Lightweighting

Abstract Automotive sheet metal parts such as fuel tanks with large depth require multiple deep drawing steps in conventional manufacturing. Sheet hydroforming is a potential alternate manufacturing process to form parts with complex shape or large depth due to enhanced formability. In view of this, the feasibility of manufacturing a two-wheeler fuel tank with a large depth as one single part with reduced weight by hydroforming technology has been explored using finite element (FE) simulation in this work. Numerical simulations of hydraulic bulging have been carried out to determine the maximum safe pressure that can be applied in hydroforming of the sheet material without causing excessive thinning and failure and experimentally validated. The effect of process parameters (peak pressure, clamping force, and friction) and die design has been studied in FE simulations of single-stage and two-stage hydroforming of the fuel tank. It was found that a fuel tank with a large depth could be formed successfully as a single component by two-stage hydroforming thus eliminating the need for forming two separate parts followed by joining. From this study, hydroforming is expected to result in significant weight and cost savings when compared to conventional forming of the fuel tank with the same geometry.