With the explosion of insulated cups, the shapes of insulated cups have become increasingly diverse in recent years. Below is an explanation of the production process of insulated cups – water swelling molding.
1. Water swelling molding process
The water swelling forming process is an advanced manufacturing technology for producing hollow integral components through internal high-pressure forming.
The principle is to use the pipe as a blank and water as the transmission medium. Water with ultra-high pressure is filled into the interior of the pipe to generate pressure on the inner wall of the pipe. The two ends of the pipe are sealed with a punch, and the axial feed is used to provide supplementary material for the pipe forming, so that the outer wall of the pipe is completely close to the mold cavity, thereby obtaining the desired shape of the part. Not only insulated cups, but also commonly used pipe parts and supplies such as stainless steel tees, copper tees, stainless steel compression pipes, automotive shaped fittings (such as corrugated pipes), bathroom faucets, and hot water pots are mostly made using water swelling molding technology.
2. Advantages of water swelling molding process
(1) In the process of reducing water swelling in the forming process of pipes, the punch not only has a sealing effect on the pipe, but also applies axial force to supplement the material for pipe forming, improving the forming ability of the pipe. It can also achieve one-time forming for multi section parts.
In addition, due to the good overall integrity of water swelling molded parts, water swelling molding technology can reduce the amount of welding, and some water swelling molded parts do not require assembly welding.
(2) Improving material utilization and reducing weight. Most water swelling molded workpieces only require one set of molds, while stamping and welding often require three or more processes, and the number of molds required is relatively large. The development of tooling and subsequent manufacturing costs will greatly increase.
The reduction of processes will correspondingly decrease the amount of process waste. Under the condition of meeting the requirements for the use of parts, water swelling formed parts can achieve a weight reduction of one-third and a material utilization rate increase of about 40% compared to stamping and welding assembly parts.
(3) The product quality is good, and the parts formed by water swelling have high strength and stiffness due to their good overall integrity. In addition, the welding quantity of water swelling formed parts is relatively small, and the number of welding joints with stress concentration is also reduced, resulting in better quality parts obtained by water swelling forming.
(4) Pollution reduction and water swelling forming technology is an environmentally friendly forming technology. Compared with traditional stamping and welding, it has less noise pollution and a better working environment. In addition, the water required for water swelling forming can be recycled, which has less impact on the environment.
The water swelling forming technology is faster, simpler, more efficient, and cost-effective compared to traditional pipe processing techniques. Additionally, it produces more shapes and offers greater flexibility in customization.Water swelling molding will become the mainstream process for pipe processing, as it can not only cater to the aesthetic and needs of various consumers, but also bring better profits to businesses and enterprises.
