Stretch bending
Stretching and bending at the same time
Lightweight construction has been the fundamental requirement for automotive body construction for years and aluminium profiles are the base material for this. This material is extremely light and at the same time so tough, that aluminium profiles can be bent into different geometries without tearing – if you know how.
In addition to the bending processes, i.e., roller and mandrel bending that are already in use, KOHLHAGE has introduced another process: Stretch bending. Here, a profile that is either round or square, is deformed in such a way that it results in a product with highly complex curved contours.
The advantages of stretch bending are obvious:
- very short cycle times
- avoidance of ripple formation in the inner area of the bend
- 3-dimensional component alignment
- highest accuracy classes
The bandwidth of materials to which the stretch bending process can be applied ranges from simple steel to high-strength steel and stainless steel to aluminium materials of most varied types of alloys. KOHLHAGE stretch bending systems can even bend complex multi-chamber profiles into almost any desired shape and contour using 16 controlled axes and nominal forces of up to 300 kN.
Of course, KOHLHAGE also offers further mechanical and thermal processing, from simple drilling to laser-controlled contour cutting and insertion or welding of fasteners to production of extensive welded assemblies.
