Common Types of Pipe End Forming Machines in the Automotive Manufacturing Industry

I. Classification by Drive Method (Core Power Determines Forming Capability)

1. Hydraulic-Driven Pipe End Forming Machine

• Core Principle: A hydraulic pump outputs high-pressure oil to drive actuators (cylinders), enabling mold extrusion forming of pipes. Output force can be precisely adjusted via a relief valve.

• Key Advantages: High output force (typically 10–100MPa, up to 200MPa for heavy-duty models), stable forming process. Suitable for heavy-load processes such as flaring, flattening, and punching of thick-walled pipes and high-strength alloy pipes (e.g., chassis control arm sleeves, drive axle housing pipes).

• Automotive Industry Application Scenarios:

• Integrated flaring + flanging of chassis subframe pipes (requires high thrust to ensure sufficient deformation of thick-walled pipes);

• Flange flanging of commercial vehicle exhaust system pipes (pipe wall thickness 5–8mm, requiring hydraulic-driven molds for large-diameter flanging).

• Typical Configuration: Equipped with a servo variable displacement hydraulic pump, reducing energy consumption by 30% compared to traditional fixed-displacement pumps, aligning with the energy-saving needs of the automotive industry.

2. Servo-Driven Pipe End Forming Machine

• Core Principle: A servo motor directly drives a ball screw or rack-and-pinion mechanism to convert rotational motion into linear motion. Real-time position feedback via an encoder enables millimetric or even micrometric forming control.

• Key Advantages: High positioning precision (repeat positioning error ≤ 0.01mm), fast response (forming beat 20%–40% higher than hydraulic models), low energy consumption, and no hydraulic oil contamination risk.

• Automotive Industry Application Scenarios:

• 45° flaring of brake hard pipes and air conditioning pipes (tolerance ±0.03mm to ensure leak-proof sealing);

• Stepped necking + inward curling sealing of NEV high-voltage harness protection pipes (requires precise control of necking diameter and edge flatness);

• Tapered necking of hydrogen pipes for fuel cell vehicles (taper fit error ≤ 0.1mm after forming, meeting low-leakage requirements).

• Technology Upgrade Direction: Adopts "multi-axis servo linkage" design, enabling simultaneous completion of multi-processes (e.g., flaring, chamfering, grooving) to meet the integrated processing needs of automotive components.

3. Pneumatic-Driven Pipe End Forming Machine

• Core Principle: Compressed air serves as the power source to drive mold movement via cylinders, featuring a simple structure and low cost.

• Key Limitations: Low output force (typically ≤ 5MPa), low precision (tolerance ±0.1–±0.2mm), only suitable for simple forming of thin-walled pipes.

• Automotive Industry Application Scenarios:

• Simple necking of interior seat slide rail sleeves (φ18mm galvanized thin-walled pipes with low forming requirements);

• Pipe chamfering and straight necking during small-batch trial production (no high precision required, prioritizing low cost and flexibility).

II. Classification by Automation Level (Adapting to Automotive Production Scale Differences)

1. Manual/Semi-Automatic Pipe End Forming Machine

• Equipment Features: Requires manual loading/unloading and mold adjustment; only the forming action is automated, mainly single-station design.

• Capacity Range: 10–30 pieces/minute, suitable for small-batch production (e.g., R&D prototypes, niche vehicle components).

• Automotive Industry Applications:

• Custom flaring of modified vehicle brake pipelines (batch size < 1,000 pieces);

• Supplementary production of air conditioning pipe connectors for the after-sales market (dispersed demand, no full automation needed).

• Typical Equipment: Desktop models with manual clamping + hydraulic-driven forming, small footprint (≤1㎡), and mold change time < 15 minutes.

2. Fully Automatic Pipe End Forming Machine

• Equipment Features: Integrates automatic feeding, clamping, forming, inspection, and unloading; controlled by PLC + touchscreen; supports continuous multi-station processing.

• Capacity Range: 30–120 pieces/minute, suitable for mass production (e.g., brake pipe and fuel pipe production lines of Tier 1 suppliers).

• Core Automotive Industry Configurations:

• Feeding system: Servo feeding mechanism with pipe length positioning error ≤ ±0.5mm;

• Inspection module: Built-in laser diameter gauge or vision system for real-time forming dimension detection and automatic sorting of unqualified products;

• Data traceability: Supports MES system integration, storing processing parameters (pressure, time, dimensions) of each pipe to meet IATF 16949 requirements.

• Typical Application: A leading Tier 1 supplier’s brake hard pipe production line uses fully automatic servo pipe end forming machines to achieve full-process automation (cutting → straightening → flaring → chamfering → inspection) with a capacity of 80 pieces/minute.

3. Integrated Production Line (Pipe End Forming Unit)

• Equipment Features: Integrates pipe end forming with laser cutting, robotic welding, and cleaning into a modular production line, enabling unmanned processing from "pipe infeed to finished product outfeed."

• Automotive Industry Application Scenarios:

• NEV battery pack cooling pipeline production lines (integrating "laser pipe cutting → servo forming → robotic welding → high-pressure leak detection");

• Chassis control arm sleeve production lines (integrating "necking → flattening → punching → deburring").

• Core Advantages: Reduces inter-process transfer time, improves production efficiency by over 30%, and ensures batch consistency (pass rate ≥ 99.8%).

III. Classification by Forming Function and Number of Stations (Matching Multi-Process Needs)

1. Single-Station Pipe End Forming Machine

• Equipment Features: Equipped with only one set of forming molds; only one process (e.g., simple flaring or necking) can be completed per cycle.

• Application Scenarios: Components with single processes, such as end flattening of automotive seat armrest frame pipes and simple chamfering of air conditioning pipes.

2. Multi-Station Pipe End Forming Machine

• Equipment Features: Integrates 2–6 stations; pipes are transferred between stations via a rotary table or conveying mechanism to complete multiple processes simultaneously.

• Typical Automotive Industry Applications:

• Brake hard pipe processing: Station 1 (necking) → Station 2 (flaring) → Station 3 (chamfering) → Station 4 (inspection);

• Fuel pipe processing: Station 1 (stepped necking) → Station 2 (thread forming) → Station 3 (seal groove processing).

• Key Advantages: Reduces single-piece processing time to less than 2 seconds, adapting to high-beat mass production needs, and minimizes clamping errors (multiple processes completed with one clamping).

3. Specialized Functional Pipe End Forming Machine

• Special-Shaped Cross-Section Forming Machine: Used for square/oval necking of chassis bracket pipes; equipped with adjustable special-shaped molds for multi-specification structural parts.

• Mirror Polishing Forming Machine: Designed for hydrogen pipes of fuel cell vehicles; integrates inner-wall electrolytic polishing after forming, achieving roughness Ra ≤ 0.8μm.

• Inert Gas-Protected Forming Machine: Fills nitrogen/argon during processing of NEV high-voltage pipelines or hydrogen pipes to avoid oxidative contamination and ensure pipeline cleanliness.

IV. Classification by Processed Pipe Type (Adapting to Automotive Material Characteristics)

1. Thin-Walled Pipe-Specific Forming Machine

• Adapted Pipes: Brake hard pipes (φ6–φ20mm, wall thickness 0.8–1.5mm), air conditioning pipes (copper/aluminum thin-walled pipes).

• Core Design: Adopts "flexible clamping mechanisms" (e.g., polyurethane jaws) to avoid pipe wall deformation; uses progressive molds to prevent wrinkling.

2. Thick-Walled/High-Strength Pipe Forming Machine

• Adapted Pipes: Chassis control arm sleeves (wall thickness 3–8mm), drive axle housing pipes (high-strength steel).

• Core Design: Hydraulic drive force ≥ 50MPa; integral cast steel frame for strong deformation resistance; carbide molds for 5x higher wear resistance.

3. Aluminum Alloy/Light Metal Pipe Forming Machine

• Adapted Pipes: NEV battery pack cooling pipes (aluminum alloy), body structural parts (aluminum-magnesium alloy pipes).

• Core Design: Teflon-coated molds to reduce friction and adhesion; precisely adjustable forming pressure (to avoid over-pressurization and cracking of low-yield-strength aluminum alloys).

Comparison Table for Selecting Pipe End Forming Machines in the Automotive Industry

Summary

• Small batch + simple process → Manual/semi-automatic hydraulic machine;

• Large batch + high precision → Fully automatic servo multi-station machine;

• Thick-walled heavy-load → Hydraulic machine;

• Thin-walled precision → Servo machine;

• Special materials/processes → Specialized functional machine.