*2.1.3. Thermo-hydroforming*

In this chapter, an "Out of Autoclave (OOA) HydroElastic Hydroforming" method is proposed to utilize pressurized water as a forming fluid behind an elastomeric membrane. The shell tool is water heated and backed by a high strength reusable fiber/epoxy composite [14–24]. In addition to the forming chamber shown, an outer sleeve chamber is used to contain extremely high pressures [25, 26]. Because of this high-pressure capability, the system can simultaneously form laminate stacks of both metal and composite material strata using the OOA hydroforming approach. This opens new potential possibilities for metal [27–32] and fiber reinforced composite flat panel [33–35] as well as contoured part designs [36, 37].
