Products : Wheel & Rim Machines :
Steel or Aluminum Rim Flowformer

Purpose

This machine is designed for the reduction of the cross-sectional area of steel bands, prior to profiling on a conventional rim profiling line.

Description

CNC control of the flowforming process allows the material thickness of the band to be profiled, thus optimizing weight savings while at the same time maintaining the structural integrity of the finished rim. Using years of experience in aluminum rim thinning, aluminum rim profiling, and steel and aluminum disc flowforming, Hess Engineering has developed innovative, durable machine designs, application specific machine control algorithms, and extensive process knowledge relating to flowforming. This overall experience is applied in the proposed equipment to assure precision control of the rim profile, width and quality.

Each machine consists of a fixed, rigid angular frame with three integrated, servo-hydraulic forming rolls. The forming roll slides are equipped with self-adjusting, hydraulic gibs that require virtually no maintenance. The band to be profiled is loaded unto the mandrel via a two-position transfer mechanism. An expanding section of the mandrel grips the parts during the spinning process. The rotating mandrel is positioned within the annular frame where the forming rolls then reduce the band thickness in the appropriate areas. The moving headstock, on which the mandrel is mounted, is equipped with preloaded, anti-friction bearings to assure optimum rigidity.

KNOWLEDGE CENTER : STEEL OR ALUMINUM RIM FLOWFORMER

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