Method and apparatus for simultaneous hot formation of hollow component

A method of hot forming a pair of hollow components, the method comprising:

• heating a die stack comprising a first die, an intermediate die and a second die, wherein the first die and the intermediate die form a first die set, and the intermediate die and the second die form a second die set;
• opening the die stack, creating a first space between the first die and the intermediate die of the first die set, and a second space between the intermediate die and the second die of the second die set;
• loading a first component preform into the first space and a second component preform into the second space;
• closing the die stack to hold the first component preform in the first die set, and the second component preform in the second die set;
• providing a pressurised fluid from a first finite reservoir via a first conduit to an internal cavity of the first component preform, and a pressurised fluid from a second finite reservoir via a second conduit to an internal cavity of the second component preform, thereby deforming the first component preform and the second component preform;
• determining that both a first pressure in the internal cavity of the first component preform and a second pressure in the internal cavity of the second component preform have fallen below a first threshold;
• re-pressurising the internal cavity of the first component preform and the internal cavity of the second component preform based at least in part on a common pressure:
• time schedule, thereby respectively forming the first component and second component of the pair of components;
• opening the die stack;
• and
• removing the first component from the first space and the second component from the second space.