Tubular articles with varying wall thickness and method of manufacturing same
AssigneeArcelormittal Tubular Products Canada Inc.
InventorsMamad Jahani, Colin Newport
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for manufacturing a one-piece axle tube housing with localized sections of increased wall thickness includes providing a tube blank, inserting a mandrel having a reduced diameter profile, passing the tube through an extrusion die to conform the tube to the shape of the mandrel; and extraction of the mandrel from the tube to cause outward deformation of the tube at specific locations. A further reducing step may be used to form the final desired profile, including reduced inner and outer diameters along sections of the axle tube housing.
Claims11
A tubular article extruded from a one-piece blank, said tubular product comprising:
- an internal longitudinal cross sectional profile and an external longitudinal cross sectional profile, said internal and external longitudinal cross sectional profiles defining a wall therebetween;
- and
- said wall having varied wall thickness along said tubular product;
- wherein said wall includes at least one interior bulge and one exterior bulge.
An axle housing assembly, said axle housing assembly having support and load bearing components and a tubular member, said support and load bearing components being attached to said tubular member and defining load bearing regions on sections of said tubular member, wherein said tubular member has localized structural enhancements in said load bearing regions.
A method for manufacturing a tubular article, said tubular article defining a longitudinal axis along its length and having a longitudinal cross sectional profile including sections of increased wall thickness, the method comprising:
- a) providing a tubular blank having an inner surface, an outer surface and a transverse cross sectional circumference;
- b) axially inserting a mandrel into said tubular blank, said mandrel having sections of reduced cross sectional area complementary to said longitudinal cross sectional profile;
- c) longitudinally forcing said tubular blank with said mandrel contained therein through a throat of an extrusion die, said throat being sized smaller than said transverse cross sectional circumference of said tubular blank, thereby applying a force on said blank to force the inner surface of said blank to conform to said mandrel to form said sections of increased wall thickness corresponding to said sections of reduced cross sectional area and wherein said tubular blank is provided with a reduced, longitudinally uniform second transverse cross sectional circumference conforming to said throat;
- d) withdrawing said mandrel from said tubular blank, thereby applying a transverse outward force on said blank to cause outward deformation of said sections of increased wall thickness and to provide said tubular article with a uniform inner transverse cross sectional circumference.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.