The automotive industry is one where you can see a lot of metal tubing. You can find it in private cars within exhaust and hydraulic systems, seat constructions, and more. In addition, you can see it in public vehicles like trains, buses, and even planes and boats. Plus, it is vital for commercial vehicles like trucks. A lot of these uses rely on specialist skills to adapt the tubes. For example automotive tube swaging can be vital.

What is it?

Swaging is a technique that allows you to customise the inner diameter of a piece of tube. This can expand it or change the shape. It serves a vital purpose in making it so tubes can attach to fittings, fixtures, and other tubing without needing additional items. The change to the ID means it is possible to get a snug joint.

There are a number of ways to swage tubing. The most popular is rotary swaging. It involves a die that you can insert into the tube. Once it is in place it can open and close rapidly to hammer the inner surface of the tube. This gradually compresses the tube wall to expand the diameter.

You can also rotate the die to target different areas. This gives you the option to change the shape of the ID. For example, you could have round tubing but want to adapt the inner surface to make it hexagonal. You can do that with rotary swaging.

The benefits of automotive tube swaging

In general there are lots of advantages if you swage tubing. For starters, the process is completely mechanical. So, there is no need for cutting and no loss of material. You can also get very tight tolerances.

Another fantastic benefit is there are very short cycle times here. This is beneficial for a number of reasons. Most notable is it means the tubes can be ready to use quickly, maximising efficiency.

A third noteworthy advantage of swaging is you can adapt the ID without any impact on the OD. You can compress the wall thickness to maximise the diameter or adapt the shape without deforming the tube. So, if you have round tubes, the outer surface will still be rounded and smooth.

Speak to us if you need a service

Multiform Tubes Engineering Ltd is one of the best specialists in the UK. Our focus is on adapting tubing to cater for any kind of needs. For example, we can offer automotive tube swaging to provide bespoke products for many different applications. We are precise here but offer a lot of flexibility. You can choose swaging at either end of a piece of tube or both. In some cases we can adapt it throughout the whole section.

So, if you want a professional service, speak to us. We can advise you about the best way to get the exact tubing you need for almost any application.