Abstract
	The hydroforming technology has been well-known for several years and undergoes an extremely dynamic development in automotive applications, especially in Germany and the United States. The hydrofoming of sheet metal pairs is still at a pre-industrial stage. This publication presents the process and draws attention to some particular results of research work. Principal working directions for investigations, regarding the transfer of the hydroforming process for sheet metal pairs on industrial scale have been presented. Hydromechanical forming uses fluid pressure in place of the punch in a conventional tool set to form the part into the desired shape of the die. The technique is very useful for producing complete components that would otherwise be made from multiple stampings joined together. Hydroforming offers several advantages compared with conventional manufacturing by stamping and welding, such as the part consolidation, weight reduction, improved structural strength and stiffness, lower tooling costs, fewer secondary operations, low springback, and reduced the scrap. The increasing demand for highly complex shapes of the elements such as: car exhaust systems, connector pipes, branch-joins, car body frames, car roof frames, etc., require developing hydromechanical processes of tube forming. A laboratory stand for hydromechanical forming of tubes has been designed and prepared taking into account the analysis of laser welded blanks flow during hydraulic bulging tests and the bulging tests of tubes by inner liquid pressure. The paper presents the results of local strain distribution in laser welded tubes.