TPT November 2014

Technology News

Processing of high-strength pipes THE step-by-step shaping of a tube end or a tube has been made possible by a newly developed procedure for processing high-strength and ultra- high-strength materials. This could revolutionise manufacturing, particularly in industrial applications where the requirements are set ever higher, and straight tubes are formed into increasingly extreme shapes. hydroforming is that there is no change in wall thickness in the locally reduced tube area. High-strength and ultra-high- rotatory shaping brings the material to the plasticising zone, and tubes can be simultaneously bent with relatively

Incremental tube shaping can be used for weight reduction purposes in the automotive industry, for example. A wide variety of products manufactured with this new type of process can be exposed to heavier loads and are lighter. The innovation of incremental tube forming has arisen from cooperation between transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH and the Institute of Forming Technology And Lightweight Construction at Dortmund’s Technical University. “Conventional forming processes are over-taxed with the majority of high- strength materials,” stated transfluid managing director Gerd Nöker. “Our machine can partially shape tube made of such materials, in order to prepare them for the next process.” Hydroforming, for example, could be such a subsequent process. For this, a tube is pre-formed with different diameters and different wall thicknesses by means of the incremental shaping forming. Particularly important for

A solution for tubes where ever-higher demands are placed in industrial areas

tight radii without mandrels. Because the tube spring-back is minimal due to the plasticised material, the bending angle achieved is almost identical to the selected angle of the bending machine. transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH – Germany

strength materials can be cold shaped. Bending radii and free-form radii can be shaped in a continuous process with high accuracy and without spring-back. The rolling process also allows a defined manipulation of the surface. The tube forming machine from transfluid is equipped with a simple bending device. The shaped tube is bent with very little force being required. The

Email: info@transfluid.de Website: www.transfluid.de

Welded tube and profile lines BIRLIK Makina has more than 22 years’ experience in designing, manufacturing and installing complete systems for the production of welded tube and/or profile lines and has more than 120 employees. The company has highly trained technical personnel and top-level facilities with its own tube manufacturing factories in Turkey and Azerbaijan meaning it can offer its long-term experience about which machine best suits each customer. It also trains

specialist operators at its factories in order to send them to customers’ factories to support productivity. Birlik Makina had a steady increase in sales in foreign markets last year and exported to more than 30 countries. In total it has manufactured two hundred lines worldwide. It advises customers in all aspects of the tube manufacturing process, such as choosing optimum machinery for their markets, projecting their plants, supplying required cranes, projects for oil and water tanks, packaging solutions, welding systems, ferrite core applications and production organisation. Birlik Makina – Turkey Email: info@birlikmakine.com Website: www.birlikmakine.com.tr

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N ovember 2014