TPT November 2013

Welding technology

Longitudinal welding lines

protective gas which, given the shortage of helium, secures and assures the future supply of these products. Since the edge trim alone makes up some 15 per cent of total material requirement in the manufacture of smaller tubes, the materials savings not necessitated by elimination of this process step can be deducted in the equivalent amount. The actual laser source and power can be individually tailored to suit customer application needs, thus resulting in a highly favourable energy efficiency requirement when compared to alternative welding technologies (eg TIG, HF and older laser types). Weld seam reproducibility, (weld shape and microstructure) and full process stability are achieved by the consequent absence of any setting adjustments, especially in the forming benches. THE Machines Yvonand SA supplies alongside the LSL line the complete range of equipment for the continuous and endless production of tubes, including laser cross welding of the coils as well as tape accumulators with all other up and down stream requirements, right through to the full turnkey process and solution.

THE Machines Yvonand SA has continued to expand the field and application areas of the well proven LSL type forming and longitudinal welding lines. New is the use of very thin gauged high precision tubes in the automotive, medical, aeronautical and aerospace sectors. In addition to the wide range of alloys that can be used, the particular feature of process stability in the manufacture of the thin-walled precision tubes must be highlighted and emphasized. The LSL range of equipment is used in the manufacture of tubes ranging from 2 to 125mm in wall thickness from 50 micron (0.05mm) upwards, and engineered and conceived for line speeds up to 60m/min. The continuous and non-contact laser welding is subjected to a full in-line and real-time 100 per cent verification and testing. Additional measuring and visualisation systems support the process management and line control. Given that the setup and re-tooling time of the line, for making other dimension tubes, is in the range of a very short 30 minutes makes the LSL range also suited for small lot and batch size production or JIT (just in time) orders. Also new is the welding of aluminium tubes without any edge trim and without

THE Machines Yvonand SA – Switzerland Website: www.the-machines.ch

THE Machines has expanded its welding lines

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N ovember 2013