TPT November 2015

Technology News

Continuous casting technology UPCAST OY is a supplier of Upcast ® - SGTube production lines for upward casting of thin-walled Cu-DHP tubes ready for further processing into various high quality tube products.

reduction of min 50 per cent is required before intermediate annealing. Upcast rod and Upcast-SGTube lines are both of modular design, offering solutions for small and medium capacities. With a double-furnace configuration (separate melting and casting furnaces) it is possible to reach 12,000 tpa. Sizes of tube with outer diameters from 38 to 60mm have been cast, with wall thicknesses of 2mm and 3mm respectively. Different tube sizes can be cast simultaneously when the casting machine is equipped with more than one servo-drive system. The smaller the final tube size, the smaller the cast tube size. With respect to coil weight, Upcast- SGTube is flexible, with an upper limit of around 1.5 tons. The final weight limit

Upcast-SGTube continuous casting technology offers a shortcut in copper tube production process, using one step compared to the traditional multi-step tube production. It is an extension of the Upcast system used for casting Cu and Cu-alloy rod, sharing the same benefits of the standard system, with specific construction of the casting machine, coilers and casting machine tooling. The Upcast-SG cast tube has a fine grain structure allowing for its straight breakdown drawing followed by inductive in-line annealing. To ensure complete softening a total area

SG cast tube in a coil

is more likely to be determined by the downstream process equipment. The main use of Upcast-SGTube is in the casting of phosphor deoxidised (DHP) copper tube for the production of sanitary, industrial and ACR tubing. The process is not limited to DHP copper, and is also suitable for other copper grades/copper alloys. Oxygen-free copper and copper nickel alloys have all been successfully cast. Having the Upcast-SGTube process as the first step of tube production is claimed to reduce energy consumption. It is also possible to use clean and dry scrap in the process with the double- furnace configuration.

Upcast OY – Finland Fax: +358 207 577 401 Email: upcast@upcast.com Website: www.upcast.com

Double-furnace configuration

Bendcheck assures straightness ABSOLUTE straightness is one of the most important criteria in the production of round bars and pipes. Bendcheck – the precision laser measuring system from Zumbach – monitors bending continuously without missing any sections directly within the production process. directly after the straightening process; direct integration in the production process (customer-specific installation); and no time consuming and laborious checks with manual tools. continuously calculated and graphically displayed. Bendcheck can be operated in a continuous measuring mode without encoder, or in a triggered mode where the measurement pulse is generated by an encoder along the cutting edge.

The system measures the position and diameter of the product at three different locations along its axis. Bendcheck calculates the deviation of the central measuring head in respect of a virtual straight line projected from the position of the left head to the position of the right head, from the data. This value is either divided by the distance or by the distance squared. The operator can select the preferred formula for the bend calculation. Thanks to this information, the bend of the product is

The respective data is clearly shown on a display board. Diameter, absolute bend value, bending angle as well as the individual and current measurements of the three measuring heads are clearly shown. Additional statistics complement the informative value of the measurement. Zumbach Electronic AG – Switzerland Email: sales@zumbach.ch Website: www.zumbach.com

This replaces the ODAC ® laser measuring heads used currently to manually spot test with a non-contact online test for bending. Apart from the obvious gain in quality the manufacturer also saves considerable time through the use of the online data check. Bendcheck can be used for: synchronous real time scanning in the production process; quality assurance

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N ovember 2015