A multi-stage stamping process of one-piece automobile steel wheels from tubes was
developed to decrease the loss of material for the blanking. In this process, the tube is nosed into a
cup with a central hole, and then the taper bottom and side wall of the cup are formed into disk and
rim portions of the wheel, respectively. The tube is produced by bending a rectangular sheet into a
tube and by welding both edges of the bent sheet to prevent the loss of material for the blanking.
The stamping sequence of the one-piece wheels was designed by finite element simulation. The
central hole of the cup was decreased to a desired diameter of the hub hole without buckling and
wrinkling by a 5-stages nosing operation. The taper bottom of the cup was reversely drawn, and
then was flared without folding by 2 stages. The wall thickness of the formed wheel was thick and
thin in the disk and rim portions, receptively, and thus the requirement of strength of wheels is
satisfied. A one-piece wheel having a hub hole was successfully formed by the designed sequence
in a miniature experiment.