TPT May 2017

T UBE M I L L S & R OL L FORM I NG L I NE S

Commissioning of laser tube mill in USA by Kusakabe Electric & Machinery

customers. This system was installed on the mill as part of the overall quality control system. Major operation data such as mill motor power, current, speed, ECT signals, laser inputs, cut length and defect tracking are processed by the PLCs and recorded in a PC in real time. The system provides immediate feedback to the operators, as well as historical record tracking of the quality and inputs to each pipe, and production data to assist with managing the mill operation. Kusakabe Electric & Machinery Co, Ltd – Japan Fax: +81 78 992 9139

responsibility for the quality and precision of the mill, which is essential for high quality laser welding. Each driven roll shaft on the forming and calibration mills has its own AC inverter motor. This provides the flexibility to achieve a very stable mill speed while distributing the drive load evenly across all the rolls. The cut-off supplied by Kusakabe is a rotary disc type, providing a swarf- free cut-off with only minor surface deformation. The company has delivered more than 20 rotary disc cut- offs around the world, mainly to the automotive industry. Kusakabe has developed a tube mill operation data acquisition system over many years, in co-operation with its

VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation from Yekaterinburg, Russia, has granted SMS group the final acceptance certifi- cate for the supplied ring rolling plant. The new plant produces jet engine rings made of titanium alloys. With the new ring rolling plant, consisting of a PL 8000-V3 ring blank press, RAW 400/200-3500/800 DM radial-axial ring rolling machine and two RKP 500 and RKP 1350 ring expanders, the Russian company is extending its product portfolio for the aerospace industry, while increasing its competitiveness with the newly built production line. VSMPO is one of the largest producers of forgings made of titanium alloys, and a strategic partner of aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus. A special feature of the ring rolling line at VSMPO is the combination of the forging and the ring rolling process. With this technology developed by SMS group, VSMPO is able to produce rings with complex inside and outside profiles. The material input is lower than with the conventional forging process TUBE mill builder Kusakabe, which cel- ebrated its 100 th anniversary last year, has started the next century of operation with the successful commissioning of an automotive stainless steel laser tube mill in the USA. The tube mill comprises strip entry, forming mill, laser welder, calibration mill, cut-off and quality control system. The Kusakabe-designed strip entry section is almost fully automated – unusual for a laser welding or TIG welding line. The customer selected the automatic entry system to provide a safe working environment and reduce the labour and operational running costs. The laser tube mill was designed and fully manufactured in-house, giving Kusakabe total control and

Email: sales@kusakabe.com Website: www.kusakabe.com

Combined forging/ring rolling line for titanium alloys

SMS group GmbH – Germany Fax: +49 211 881 4902 Email: communications@sms-group.com Website: www.sms-group.com

that the company has employed to date. With the new production line, VSMPO can manufacture titanium rings with a diameter of up to 3,500mm and a height of up to 800mm.

The line includes two ring expanders supplied by SMS group

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MAY 2017