Flexible Metal Inc.

United States

Air tubes offer a means to reduce engine emissions. Because they connect to the engine they must be made to a high degree of precision. The assemblies shown incorporate corrugated heavy wall tubing, powdered metal connections with integral air passages, a cast elbow, pierced and flared tubes, spot welding, induction brazing and furnace brazing. They were manufactured in high volumes with automated inspection and leak testing fixtures.

Flexible Metal designs and manufactures a complete range of exhaust manifolds (tubular, single wall stamped and dual wall air gap), exhaust pipes and ducts, exhaust extension tubes for off highway heavy equipment and ducting for on highway trucks. The company has CNC tube bending capability through 8 inches diameter, flaring and sizing equipment, and manual and robotic welding. Design service is available for complete system layout, FEA and flow analysis.

Flexible Metal has bellows hydro-forming capability suitable for high volume projects as well low volume production and prototyping. Bellows capability combined with tube milling, bending through 8" diameter, expanding, swaging, cutting, de-burring and beading provide complete capability to fabricate tubular assemblies.

Flexible Metal's Hamburg, Michigan facility has been an industry leader in the development of formed manifolds, turbocharger housings and ducts incorporating dual wall air gap technology. With modern engines operating at high temperatures, formed manifolds offer substantial cost saving by limiting the use of high Nickel alloys to the inner liner with the added benefit of the low thermal inertia which reduces emissions. These designs are in service on high volume production vehicles, and development is continuing to expand the application of this technology.

Turbocharger oil drain lines which incorporate metal bellows provide a ready to install assembly that is leak tight and suitable for high temperatures. They offer a substantial cost savings over multi part assemblies with non-metallic flexible elements as a result of the labor savings during installation.

Flexible Metal has extensive experience designing and manufacturing Exhaust Gas Recovery assemblies for gasoline and diesel engines. The company’s capabilities include bellows forming, machining, tube bending, tube forming and sizing, and major joining processes including MIG and TIG welding, resistance welding, furnace brazing and induction brazing.