TPT May 2013

Technology News

Siemens adopts all-electric tube bending machine from UK

currently undergoing commissioning and is due to commence operation during 2013.

and throughput by allowing long and complex parts to be produced from a single length of tubing in one continuous cycle. Installed at Siemens’ Kongsberg facility at the end of last year, the new all-electric tube bending machine is

SIEMENS Subsea Products has chosen an all-electric tube bender from Unison to improve the quality and speed of the production of the small- bore hydraulic tubes it uses on subsea hydraulic flying leads with Multiple Quick Connections (MQC), Cobra Heads and associated offshore oil and gas recovery equipment. The tubes feature complex bends of extremely high accuracy, and until now the company has either fabricated them manually or bought them in as pre-formed sub-assemblies. Siemens Subsea Products produces a wide range of subsea electric, fibre optic and hydraulic power and control systems for offshore oil and gas subsea applications. Its hydraulic workshop at Kongsberg in Norway operates world-class fabrication and assembly processes, producing systems for direct sales and third-party suppliers. As part of its strategy to expand manufacturing capabilities in this specialist field, the company recently reviewed tube bending automation, starting by comparing the performance of a number of leading hydraulic and all-electric tube bending machines. According to Terje Barth Andersen, technical advisor for subsea products at Siemens, “It was quickly apparent that electric tube benders offer a number of advantages over hydraulic machines; including more accurate and repeatable results, lower energy consumption and lower noise. “In the all-electric sector, Unison’s machines stand out from the competition because they allow much faster tool changeover – which is important for us because we produce many of our tubes in very small batch sizes. Another key factor behind our choice was Unison’s willingness to develop a machine configuration specifically for our needs.” The tube bender supplied to Siemens Subsea is a 25mm model based on Unison’s popular Breeze platform of all-electric machines, and incorporates a ‘rise and fall’ pressure die which enables it to perform right- and left-handed bending; this increases manufacturing flexibility

Unison – UK Email: enquiries@unisonltd.com Website: www.unisonltd.com

65

www.read-tpt.com

M ay 2013