In the course of the further establishment of lightweight construction, the complexity of sheet metal components increases as the range of materials broadens and demands towards quality rise continually. Due to existing procedural limits, classical sheet forming methods often do not lead to useful production results as they had previously. Hence, the necessity to implement methods with increased potential exists. Apart from using the quasistatic and high dynamic work media based sheet forming, there exists the promising procedure of the so-called hydro pulse forming. In this method, the forming with working media takes place through pressure pulses that are caused by a collision between hammer and working media. The pulse characteristics lie in the transition area between quasistatic and high dynamic pressure build-up. Numerous advantages for sheet metal forming are seen in the “softer” pressure pulses generated in this method (as opposed to explosive forming by means of explosives), which are, however, not researched as yet. With these studies, basics for the hydro pulse forming of metal sheets are developed, and preconditions for the industrial use of this innovative forming technique created. In order to make well-funded statements concerning this procedure’s potential, the hydro pulse forming area of expertise was identified in the present thesis on the basis of theoretical basics, simulation, and experimental studies for forming speeds between 10 and 10² s-1.
