October 2013 - The FluidForming group of companies announces yet another breakthrough in advanced metal forming technology. Due to the ability of the FormBalancer family of products to vary the clamping and forming pressures throughout the parts creation cycle and the friction free metal distortion on the water-only exposed side of the metal or part, it is possible to use brushed and patterned sheet metal. The resulting, finished parts exhibit distortion free surface patterns. 

As with the entire FormBalancer family, the forming pressure of up to 4000 bar / 60,000 psi allow the creation of complicated parts with unprecedented levels of very distinct features and details with minimum radii of typically only 1.5 times the material thickness. 

“The ability to use pre-finished materials can have a significant impact on the final product cost as it avoids costly, labor intensive post-forming process work, e.g., polishing, patterning, coating, etc. This creates additional margin opportunity for parts that previously were very difficult or impossible to create”, says the founder/inventor of FluidForming GmbH, Dipl.-Ing. Reinhold Wesselmann. 

During the last five years, the FormBalancer line of products has seen increased usage in the automobile, aerospace, and medical industries and the capability to use pre-finished materials is an important part of that success. In all these industries, being able to design, model and produce parts with these pressures and capabilities opens up incredible opportunities and continues to allow our customers to reduce cycle time, explore previously untapped product opportunities and grow their revenue and profits.