TPT September 2007

Technology Update

Seamless pipe maker opts for LUT wall thickness gauge

Tecnar, Canada, has received an order from a well-known German seamless pipe producer for its LUT laser ultrasonic thickness gauge. The LUT gauge will be installed in the company’s hot production line, where it will ensure better pipe quality and more economic pipe production. Using the LUT gauge, wall thickness is measured over the full circumference and full length of the shell, with mandrel bar still inside the shell, allowing eccentricities of different characteristics to be detected. These eccentricities can be relayed to upstream processes such as heating, piercing and elongating forming steps. The results are used for the downstream process control, to correct ‘out of tolerance’ conditions of produced pipes, and for the readjustment of the upstream machinery to improve the specifications of the following shells. This strategy leads to better pipe quality, with closer wall thickness tolerance.

Closer tolerances are even achieved for the first few pipes produced, as the LUT data is used for downstream process control. Improved results can be achieved after optimisation of the upstream process, based on the same LUT data. Better wall thickness tolerances, concentricity and local/average wall thickness all contribute to improving plant yield. With the accurate knowledge of the produced geometry, safety margins on the wall thickness can

› Tecnar’s LUT gauge

be reduced, and fewer pipes will be rejected in the finishing lines. The LUT gauge can measure true single wall thickness around and along the pipe, and the measurement is not affected by pipe bouncing or a harsh industrial environment. Ingenieurbüro Gurski-Schramm & Partner is the worldwide exclusive representative of Tecnar’s LUT gauge.

Tecnar Automation Ltée – Canada Fax : +1 450 461 0808 Email : mchoquet@tecnar.com Website : www.tecnar.com Ingenieurbüro Gurski-Schramm & Partner – Germany

Fax : +49 203 37809 26 Email : info@gurski.biz Website : www.gurski.biz

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S eptember /O ctober 2007