Electrohydraulic Forming of Near Net Shape Automotive Panels

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM
Electrohydraulic Forming of Near

Net Shape Automotive Panels
The Development of Advancing
Automotive Panel Manufacturing for
Increased Energy and Material Savings
The U.S. automotive industry manufactures approximately
17 million vehicles annually that each contain 900 pounds of
stamped steel sheet metal parts. The current technology predominately used in automotive panel manufacturing is conventional
stamping, which includes drawing, piercing, trimming, and
flanging operations. These approaches use two-sided tooling and
rely on metal-to-metal contact between the tools/dies and the
workpiece to achieve metal forming. This approach is becoming substantially more difficult to apply, given the increasing
strength and hardness of the metals that are being formed.
As a result of these operational shortcomings, these processes
are extremely energy-intensive and often involve multiple
steps and equipment. Also, conventional forming processes use
significant amounts of material because they cannot produce the
very thin automotive panels required to significantly decrease the
thickness of materials that comprise automotive structures.
Electrohydraulic forming (EHF) is a high-rate forming process
based upon the high-voltage discharge of capacitors between two
electrodes positioned in a fluid-filled chamber. This promising
process is extremely fast; uses lower-cost, single-sided tooling;
and potentially derives significantly increased formability from
many sheet metal materials because it involves elevated strain
rates.
This project will advance the EHF process and reduce the energy
use and carbon emissions from panel manufacturing, increasing
the competitiveness of the U.S. automotive industry.
Benefits for Our Industry and Our Nation

The application of EHF by automotive manufacturers and
their suppliers will significantly reduce the amount of tooling,
manufacturing equipment, and required material input, compared
with conventional stamping technology. Successful use of EHF
would also provide substantial improvement in formability
for both advanced high strength steels (AHSS) and aluminum
alloys, improvement in trimmed surface quality, elimination of
springback of the stamped part, and a substantial reduction of
cost of the tooling fabrication and alignment.
Schematic of the electrohydraulic forming process. The

electrohydraulic effect is created via a shock wave generated by the
discharge of high-voltage capacitors through a pair of electrodes in
a liquid-filled chamber.
Image courtesy of Ford Motor Company.
Applications in Our Nations Industry

Electrohydraulic forming is a highly viable manufacturing
technology because it can be used to form all types of sheet
materials. This multimaterial capability will allow vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers to make the necessary investments
to bring EHF into commercial applications because they will not
have to limit their capabilities to a single family of materials,
such as steel or aluminum.
Project Description
The goal of this project is to develop the EHF process as a near
net shape automotive panel manufacturing technology that
simultaneously reduces the energy embedded in vehicles and the
energy consumed while producing automotive structures.
The technical objectives of this project include developing the
following:
A predictive numerical design tool for EHF processes,
An electrode discharge chamber equipment design suitable for
automotive panel manufacturing,

A laboratory prototyping system that will be utilized for pro-
cess development, and

One full-scale automotive prototype using the developed EHF
process.
INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM
Barriers
Commercialization
The stamping of aluminum alloys and advanced high-strength
Ford Motor Company, through the Ford Research & Advanced

Engineering organization, will lead the commercialization efforts
for the technology. In terms of EHF intellectual property, Ford
believes the technology must be licensed outside the company to
obtain the desired cost and energy benefits. This will result in an
aggressive approach to engage the automotive supply base, which
will lead to broader application of EHF over a shorter period of
time. Ford Motor Company also plans to bring the technology
in-house for pre-launch if successful.
steels using conventional methods increases springback

defined as the elastic relaxation of a stamped blank that occurs
after release from the stamping die. Solving this problem often
requires expensive iterative solutions.
Electrohydraulic forming has had very limited industrial
usemostly in experimental facilities or in very low volume

production. The main reasons for this have been the lack of
advanced equipment capable of delivering the high-voltage
discharge in a timely manner, the erosion of electrodes, die
material requirements, need for process models, dealing with
water as a transmitting medium (and attendant scaling issues),
and the lack of economic drivers when energy prices are low.
Pathways
Project Partners
Ford Motor Company
Dearborn, MI
Principal Investigator: Sergey F. Golovashchenko
E-mail: [email protected]
The principal elements of EHF have been demonstrated at the

laboratory scale, and equipment capable of commercial-scale
operations appears technically feasible. However, several tasks
need to be completed to move EHF into commercialization.
These tasks include the development of robust and durable
electrodes and automated process and equipment controls, which
must meet automotive durability and maintenance requirements;
demonstration of key elements of process equipment automation;
and demonstration of process-cycle operating times compatible
with medium- to high-volume stamping and forming.
US Steel Corporation
Pittsburgh, PA
Milestones
Oakland University
Oakland, MI
This project started in August 2008.

Predictive modeling of electrohydraulic forming process
Electrode system and discharge chamber design and develop-
ment (Near completion)

Demonstration of EHF process and equipment on a production-
scale part
IAP Research
Dayton, OH
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA
Troy Tooling Technologies
Fraser, MI
For additional information,

please contact
Stephen Sikirica
Technology Manager
U.S. Department of Energy
Industrial Technologies Program
Phone: (202) 586-5041
E-mail: [email protected]
EERE Information Center

1-877-EERE-INFO (1-877-337-3463)
eere.energy.gov/informationcenter
DOE/EE-0455 July 2011
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INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM

Electrohydraulic Forming of Near

Benefits for Our Industry and Our Nation

Schematic of the electrohydraulic forming process. The

Applications in Our Nations Industry

automotive panel manufacturing,

cess development, and

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM

The stamping of aluminum alloys and advanced high-strength

Ford Motor Company, through the Ford Research & Advanced

steels using conventional methods increases springback

usemostly in experimental facilities or in very low volume

The principal elements of EHF have been demonstrated at the

This project started in August 2008.

ment (Near completion)

For additional information,

EERE Information Center

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