Custom Metal Spinforming
CUSTOM METAL SPINFORMING
Steelhead Composites can design and fabricate Aluminum liners using a spin forming method customized to meet your needs. Spinforming is a hot forming process that rotates a metal tube around its central axis (similar to a lathe), softens the material by adding adequate heat, and then forms the material to its final shape by taking a series of passes with a forming roller. One of the primary advantages of spinforming is that domes can be formed onto a tube to create an entirely seamless part. Unlike welded construction, closed ended seamless liners when used in a composite pressure vessels can withstand repeated exposure to high stresses. Another advantage is the low tooling cost relative to other metal forming processes, placing spinforming at the top of the list as a way to prototype and manufacture your next design.
Steelhead Composites’ CNC-controlled spinformer, combined with our in-house machining and inspection capabilities, allow fast turnaround times for prototypes and short production runs. Our custom spinformer, built by MJC Engineering, can spinform liners with outer diameters ranging from 4 in (10 cm) up to 16 in (41 cm), and lengths from 15 in (38 cm) up to 110 in (2.8 m).
The machine has 3 independent, hydraulically-actuated, CNC-controlled axes of motion that provide precise, repeatable dome forming and necking, using either oscillator type motion or x-y spinning.
Our engineering department is ready to assist you at any point in the process by combining our knowledge in pressure vessel design with our advanced manufacturing capabilities. These capabilities include computer aided design (CAD), state-of-the-art finite element analysis (FEA), and custom computer aided manufacturing (CAM) software. Our design process includes 3-D solid modeling of the finished liner, which can then be analyzed to predict stresses on the material during forming, as well as stresses on the material for a given end application. Upon approval of the design, our custom CAM software generates the spinforming roller paths to create first articles. The final shape of the spinformed liner is confirmed with our in-house portable coordinate measuring machine (CMM) before starting prototyping or production.
Contact Steelhead Composites today to discuss your metal spinforming needs!
By: Mike Stewart, Production Engineer