METHODS OF TUBE FORMING.

Tubes can be widely used as intermediates and methods of tube forming are just as numerous. They include processes with rigid tools (tube upsetting, tapering, circular kneading, expanding and inverse forming) and methods using forming media (bulging). The last named processes include the high-performance forming procedures: hydropunch, electromagnetic and electrohydraulic expansion and also explosive forming. The review of a selection of important tube forming processes for the production of structural workpieces permits comparisons with regard to the possibilities of application, to the peculiarities and limits of the various methods.