TPT May 2021

I NDUS T RY

Large manufacturer chooses Thermatool’s HAZControl™ technology HF welder

TODAY’S tube and pipe manufacturers are required to have increasing versatility in the creation of products for their customers that also adhere to the strictest quality standards. To date, most welding equipment has been used in singular applications that restrict a manufacturer’s ability to produce multiple products on the same production line. Meanwhile, some manufacturers have adopted new, variable output, precise heat input control, HF welding machines that give them the flexibility to win more business by producing multiple products as orders come in. To meet this growing challenge, Thermatool has started producing variable frequency HF welders, offering a range of welding frequencies. The stabilised power output is available from 50kW to 2000kW, which allows manufacturers to produce 1.5" diameter pipes in the morning and 3.5" pipes in the afternoon if they wish, combined with Thermatool’s easy-to-use operator console that stores ‘recipes’ for future use. “When we were running the electric resistance welding copper wheel system previously, we had to make sure the seam was straight up, the profile was just right, and start the welder by producing scrap to allow the copper wheel to heat up before everything was ready to go,” explained the plant

fabricate, and, once started, the system takes over right where it left off and adjusts automatically from there.” Peter Meglin, director of sales at Thermatool, said: “Thermatool contin- ually focuses on providing tube welding process knowledge to our customers so they can optimise their mills. This focus provides proven HF welder performance.” Thermatool’s machines give operators the ability to maintain a stable welding frequency and stable power output, even at low power levels. That means every tube has the same weld quality, from start-up to full speed to shut down, and scrap is kept to a minimum. “We knew going to an HF welder would consume less power than the copper wheel,” the plant engineer of the cooling equipment manufacturer explained, “So we installed a power data logger to see exactly how much power we saved: with our Thermatool machine, we’re utilising 54 per cent less energy compared to the weld wheel system we used to have. In addition, we’re not consuming any power at all on standby mode. Plus, we’ve seen our run time percentage reduced by 50.1 per cent while our mill speed increased by exactly 25 per cent. It’s miles ahead of what we’ve had in the past.”

engineer of the cooling equipment manufacturer. “But now that we have a Thermatool machine with HAZControl™ technology, all that we have to check before starting the high frequency welder is that the recipe profile that we’ve saved in our system matches the pipe we plan to

Thermatool www.thermatool.com

The world of metalworking at EMO Milano EARLIER this year, a press conference for the South Korean public was held to present EMO Milano 2021, the world exhibition of reference for the metalworking machine tool manufacturing industry, scheduled to take place at Fieramilano in Italy in October 2021. Seoul – Korea. The conference involved more than 40 participants – among machine tool manufacturers, representatives of local organisations and journalists – who followed the conference in live streaming. in machine tool consumption worldwide, expected to grow by +18.4 per cent to €61bn, (Asia €33bn, +15.6%; Europe €17bn, +23.5 per cent; Americas €12bn, +19.7 per cent).

If we observe single countries, all of them should experience a demand recovery, likely to continue also in 2022 and in 2023. Focusing on Europe, in 2021 both Italy (€3.1bn, + 38.2 per cent) and Germany (€5.7bn, +20.9 per cent) should again see a plus sign with regard to investment in production technologies.

Promoted by CECIMO, the European Association of Machine Tool Industries, EMO MILANO 2021 will take place at Fieramilano Rho from 4 to 9 October, when the recovery of investment should already have started. Indeed, according to the forecasts processed by Oxford Economics, after a 23.4 per cent fall registered in 2020, the year 2021 should bring about a recovery

The speakers of the meeting, which was streamed online, were Mr Luigi Galdabini, general commissioner of EMO Milano 2021, Mr So-Ahn Kang, director general at the Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association, and Mr Vincenzo Calì, Italian trade commissioner – Italian Trade Agency

EMO MILANO 2021 www.emo-milano.com

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MAY 2021