Abstract
Deformation surrounding the hole in the tube during the hydropiercing process has been investigated in this study. The tube is expanded and internally pressurized between upper and lower dies, and a piercing punch is driven forcefully through a cross passage in the die and through the wall of the tube. The pressurized fluid within the tube provides support to the wall of the tube during a piercing step to form a hole in the tube having less deformation surrounding the hole in the tube. The deformation area may be fully retracted to a substantially flat form or partially retracted to a countersunk form. In this study, a mathematical model that can predict deformation surrounding the hole has been proposed and experimentally verified by actual hydropiercing test.