TPT March 2024

TUBE 2024

The new generation of direct forming tube lines from Germany

06 A01

FOR more than a hundred years, SEUTHE, an ASMAG Group company, has been developing ERW tube mill lines for tubes with outside diameters starting at 19mm and wall thicknesses of 0.9mm and greater. Located in the industrial city of Hemer, in North Rhine/ Westphalia, Germany, all development, design, mechanical and electrical, assembly, automation and testing of SEUTHE equipment is done in-house. It manufactures over 60 per cent of the parts in our own production plant and inspects them through operational testing before they leave the plant. This guarantees a high level of quality, the company said. Beyond this, customers have come to value its custom-tailored development and process specifications that have established the company’s reputation around the world. SEUTHE has recently celebrated its 125 th year in business. It has designed

All development, design, assembly and testing is done in-house

Alternating stands are further apart and therefore cause less stress on the strip edge, which results in a better weld quality. Edge radii can be chosen individually, which combined with optimised tool roll position results in high quality products. The direct forming process inherently allows for a more narrow strip width and therefore material savings on average of 5 to 10 per cent; material that with conventional mills thickens in the corners of your tube. The high number of forming stands is selected so that the tool roll set avoids any overextension of the strip edges. All the forming and sizing stands are operated by a single drive per shaft. This prevents any difference between the relative velocity of the strip and the forming flower. The single motor drive also results in lower energy and tool costs. Slit tubes are formed gently and evenly, which prevents damage to the strip surface. A special, patented design of tool rolls negates different speeds on the base and side of the roll, thus avoiding any marks on the tube. Now that tests have been completed, SEUTHE engineers can report that the new direct forming lines exhibit high availability, with reproducible settings and short set-up times, ensuring production processes that are safe and easy on your material.

and manufactured tube mills for a long time. More recently, designers, assemblers and machine operators have implemented customers’ more exacting demands when it comes to creating competitive advantages. The result is a new generation of lines with greater efficiency and new processing and productivity specifications. Direct forming mills have been around for three decades, but have recently seen a resurgence in popularity. Along with the goal of lower operating and maintenance costs, customers admire the solid machine construction and the equipment’s long service life. They also appreciate the modular construction that facilitates flexible adjustment to their specific process and production specifications. Multiple options also require adjustability, quick set-up times and ease of operation. These requirements are all reflected in the new generation of direct forming lines, dedicated to square and rectangular shapes. A few highlights of the new direct forming equipment are: dimensional changes are automated and can be done in 30-60 minutes, good tube to good tube. Customers appreciate additional up-time and higher output; one set of tool rolls will produce all tube sizes within the range of the mill. No investment in additional tool rolls nor storage space therefore is needed; and customer samples will not require a new set of rolls but can be produced immediately.

SEUTHE GmbH www.seuthe.com

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MARCH 2024