JFE Steel, Toyota, Taiyo Corp. Develops New Pipe Bending Method

JFE Steel announced on Thursday the firm, Toyota Motor and Taiyo Corporation developed new processing method of steel pipe named PRB, which means bending method with slight reduction in diameter by push with pressure die and rotation of bending die. The new method improved the productivity and the bending flexibility for pipe with more than 590 mega pascal of tensile strength. PRB method paves the way to utilizing processed steel pipe for parts around automotive suspension. PRB is to narrow the diameter of steel pipe with pressure toward the center during the bending of pipe. The method avoids making uneven thickness parts of the pipe and minimizes unfavorable effects from the ductility caused by the higher strength. The method can bend high-strength steel pipe with smaller radius, which was hard with traditional rotation and drawing bending method. The new method also can reduce processing cycle time and metal mold cost by cut tools including mandrel and wiper. The method can process pipe into complex radiuses shape and three dimensions shape. The method can process steel pipe with narrow sized ends and control part of pipe diameter. The method could expand the possibility for new application of steel pipe to reduce automobile weight.