Stretch forming is a metal forming process in which a piece of sheet metal is plastically stretched and bent simultaneously over a die to form large contoured parts.
HTF uses stretch forming technology to manufacture multi-contoured skins and panels in different materials such as Al, Steel and Titanium alloys up to 1900W x 4900L (mm) – 74W x 192L (inches)
HTF stretches the panels by vertically gripping on dedicated jaws the sheet metal then pulled by hydraulic force to stretch the sheet into plastic range.
The tooling used in this process, on which the sheet metal is pressed on the die to be plastically deformed, is a stretch form die internally designed and dedicated by HTF for each part.