Production and heat treatment of composite components by temperature-assisted incremental tube forming

Composite components combine the advantages of different materials, for example in terms of strength or corrosion resistance. This project investigates the production and thermal treatment of composite parts made from tubes of different materials. An outer tube made of stainless steel is heated together with an inner tube made of heat treatable steel by induction heating and is then radially formed and joined by spinning rollers. The process can be superposed with bending and quenching to harden the composite. In this way, components can be manufactured that have tailored properties along the longitudinal axis.

In addition to the radial forming of the cross-section, which enables force-fit and form-fit connections, a second process mode is investigated. By rolling the tube walls between the rollers and a mandrel, the wall thickness is reduced and the contact surface between the tubes is increased. This may enable a solid state bonding between the different steels.