WCA September 2007

wire treatment

Kieselstein – making life easier

Covering all the steps Niehoff has developed production equipment which covers all steps from copper wire drawing to cable manufacturing. For copper wire annealing, the RM type continuous annealers are a standard solution, while the RI type inductive con- tinuous annealers are designed for wires made of metals with low electrical and thermal conductivity.

Kieselstein has improved the innovative technology of draw-peeling of wire.

The basis for this improvement is increasing quality requirements to the final products, for example highly stressed springs used in the automotive sector. The steel wire those springs are made of needs to show a high degree of pureness and chemical composition. The draw-peeling of wire allows the creation of a very smooth surface of the wire, achieved by the continuous removal of the outer layers of the surface by one closed, circular, fixed tool. This avoids the typical grooving that appears with the usage of several blades during other processing methods. After the draw-peeling process the wire surface neither needs to be hardened, nor requires any polishing or grinding. One of the milestones in the development of this procedure and the respective machine technology is the modular type series of high-speed draw-peeling- machines. Emanating from existing machines, a new modular concept has been developed which allows an especially gentle processing improving the quality of the finished wire. At the same time a considerable gain in productivity is reached due to an increase of the draw-peeling speed. Due to the modular concept the machines can be composed according to the customer’s individual requirements. Kieselstein International GmbH – Germany Fax : +49 371 910 4105 Email : info@kieselstein-group.com Website : www.kieselstein-group.com Besides valve spring wire and steel wire, aluminium, copper, nickel alloy and different special materials can be draw-peeled.

RI type annealer ❍

The annealing method is particularly well suited for copper alloys such as brass, bronze, German silver and also for nickel and nickel alloys. It can also be used for wires of copper, tin-plated copper or silver-plated copper, precious metals and their alloys, as well as for composite wire and special material wires. Compared with annealing in a bell furnace, continuous induction annealing causes the same wire material and at least equivalent mechanical properties. As the grain size is very fine, tensile strength and yield limit are up to 30N/mm² higher, and elongation is the same or higher. The RI type annealers are designed for round wires in the wire diameter range of 0.15 to 4.5mm. The Niehoff-Steuler WPT wire plating technology for tin plating, silver plating, nickel plating, zinc plating, and alloy-plating of copper and other non-ferrous metal wires benefits from the experience of Niehoff and Steuler Anlagenbau. Maschinenfabrik Niehoff GmbH & Co KG contactless

Induction heating technologies at Celes

The Celes Group has been involved in most induction heating technologies in heat treatment for steel wires and cables. As well as designing, manufacturing and commissioning solid state inverters for high or middle frequency induction heating, cooling systems for industrial facilities include: recycling groups with plate exchangers, refrigerated unit, cooling towers or air cooling unit filtering and recycling groups for quenching unit quenching tanks (water with or without additives or oil coolant) equipped with propeller pumps and immersed cooling exchangers • • •

Inductors be specifically designed for various and complex applications. In the field of wires and cables, Celes is involved in the following field of activities: induction heating of round or square billets and tubes. Celine technology is characterised by power density of 4-6Mw/ m², ie up to six times that of traditional inductors, an electrical efficiency of 85% above the Curie-point, as can also Celine high-flux

Oil quenching of threads from Celes ❍

opposed to the previous 50-60%, representing a considerable saving in electrical energy consumption, a space requirement limited to approximately 1m per MW injected in the typical case of a billet of 90mm in diameter, thermal and mechanical protection devices designed to reduce maintenance costs when operating under extreme conditions.

Fax +49 9122 977 155 Email : info@niehoff.de Website : www.niehoff.de

Celes – France Fax : +33 038976 3679 Email : info@celes.fr Website : www.celes.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2007