EuroWire November 2017

News Technology

FAST, cost-effective and straightforward, the process of cold pressure welding has a lot to offer wire and cable manufacturers. Cold welded materials are not subjected to heat so the finished bond is very stable, and because the process produces a worked structure as opposed to the cast structure obtained by fusion welding, weld quality is excellent. Non-ferrous rod sections as large as 30mm in diameter can be bonded permanently using cold welding. Reliable welds reduce downtime

▲ ▲ The P1000 hydraulic cold welder

British company PWM, which has been manufacturing high-performance cold welding machines and dies for over 30 years, has developed a range of technically advanced machines specifically for joining materials of this size. Recent demand from customers in the automotive and renewables industry has seen sales of the company’s two largest machines increase significantly. The P1500 electro-hydraulic rod welder, suitable for large cross-sectional areas, is designed for copper rod 15mm to 25mm and aluminium rod up to 30mm. Although very powerful, the machine is energy efficient since it requires electrical power only for the hydraulic pump motor – the independent grip and upset forces are produced by an arrangement of hydraulic cylinders. The smaller P1000 hydraulic model, for joining copper rod 6 to 16mm and aluminium rod up to 20mm, has a compact footprint of just 1,100mm x 1,245mm. To reduce downtime, the machine is equipped with quick-release dies and an easily adjustable die setting mechanism. PWM dies are all precision engineered in-house by the company’s own skilled technicians to ensure total accuracy. Like all PWM cold welding machines, the P1500 and P1000 are quiet, clean and user-friendly. Once the weld parameters have been set using the control panel, the operator simply slides the rod into either side of the machine, presses a button to close the clamps that grip the material, and presses the ‘start’button. The two ends of the rod do not require any preparation prior to welding and the two butt ends are automatically aligned when they are placed in the die. Even 30mm rod can be cold welded in less than five minutes and the machines remove the weld burr or ‘flash’

automatically. PWM Ltd – UK Website : www.pwmltd.co.uk

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November 2017