The world of tube forming is wide and vast. It covers many technologies such as hydroforming, laser cutting, and bending. Control technologies include analog, digital, and analog-to-digital conversions. Quite often it covers machining as well. The processes used are essentially unlimited, and in some cases a machine has to pull double duty. For example, a machine does CNC lathe cutting on Monday and Tuesday and rotary shearing Wednesday through Friday. This may be the case if you produce flexible bellows (see Figure 1). This type of component is used in automotive, aircraft, and laboratory instrumentation. In an automotive application, a bellows might be used to connect two other tubes. In such an application, the bellows serves as a flexible member that allows mechanical changes in a system. A bellows can accommodate compression, extension, lateral offset, angular motion, and torsion.
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