TPT November 2015

Technology News

Solution for combined pipe forming THE technical challenges of modern pipe processing are constantly increasing, driven by demanding applications for high grade piping. A singlemanufacturing process is often not enough to perfectly and effectively form pipe ends, requiring interaction between combined axial and rotary pipe forming techniques. transfluid Maschinenbau engineers have developed a new range of combination machines to achieve this. Managing director Stefanie

Flaeper explained the improvements incorporated: “There are actually five fundamental changes. For a start, our combination machine is now externally more compact. All the drives are electrical, and CNC control enables synchronous axial and radial movements. And we have once again made significant improvements to rotary forming techniques. For the first time, these techniques now enable forming of contours virtually independent of the tool. Our machines are furthermore also now CNC controlled and it is possible to

with the transfluid stand-alone rotary forming machines – allows contour forming irrespective of the tool. transfluid will be present at the Blechexpo trade fair (3-6 November), on stand 4000 in Hall 4. transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH – Germany Fax: +49 2972 9715 11

very effectively form pipes with bends in excess of 90°.” The new features of the combination machines allow additional pipe forming options. The swaging unit can accommodate, for example, an intermediate chuck, despite the electrical drive. A wide variety of tools may be used for various rotary forming tasks, and the machines can also cut chipless – from the inside out and vice versa. Newly introduced CNC technology – as

Email: sales@transfluid.de Website: www.transfluid.de Continuous tube cutting

below 330mm, which is why Dyn-Metal chose a KASTOwin A3.3 bandsaw of that capacity. Managing director Stephen Capper said: “We supply standard bronzes as well as our own special varieties with modified grain structures, which result in bearings lasting up to three times longer than commercial castings of similar composition. Self-lubricating varieties with embedded solid lubricant are included in our range. “We needed another horizontal bandsaw to replace an older model of a different make that was causing bottlenecks, as our order intake has returned to pre-recession levels. When I saw the new KASTOwin at the supplier’s launch, the machine’s competitive price, small footprint and ability to tackle long automatic runs made up my mind on the day, so I placed the order for the machine there and then.”

THE first bandsaw from the new KASTOwin range to be purchased in the UK was delivered directly from the launch at Kasto’s Milton Keynes open house to Dyn-Metal, a specialist bronze foundry and machine shop in Acton, north-west London. Since the machine was installed in August 2014, it has been the mainstay of the firm’s long production runs of automatic sawing-to-length of bronze tube, used principally in bearing production. The material is used in ships’ transmissions, oil and gas rigs, off-road vehicles, cranes, steel mills, mining equipment and machines in general, including machine tools. The bronze alloys are produced in six centrifugal casting machines at the Acton foundry, one of which is among the largest in the UK, capable of producing two-tonne castings. The phosphor-, lead-, aluminium- and manganese-bronze tubes can be cast up to 1.2m in diameter, although larger is possible depending on length and weight. However, most material is

Kasto Ltd – UK Website: www.kasto.uk.com

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N ovember 2015