TPT November 2012

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48 November 2012
Eliminating scrap and increasing
productivity
HIGH energy costs can strongly
influence competitiveness in the steel
industry. In particular, scrap and offcuts
in the production of slabs, sheet metal
and pipes require a great deal of
energy when they are remelted. Using
LAP measuring systems significantly
increases measuring accuracy. The
amount of scrap is reduced almost to
zero, and energy costs are permanently
lowered.
LAP GmbH is a specialist in the
development, production, installation
and commissioning of laser measuring
systems for measuring the dimensions
of unfinished and finished products in
the metal and steel industry. “Preventing
scrap, which takes a lot of energy to
melt down, is one of the basic rules of
steel production. Our LAP measuring
systems are excellent in this regard,
especially the ANTARIS SCAN sensors
in conjunction with our evaluation
software, Slab Check,” noted Dr Axel
Schulz, sales manager for the steel
industry at LAP.
LAP laser measuring systems check
the dimensions of long and flat products
including slabs, billets and pipes. LAP
fabricates laser-supported systems
for the contact-free measurement of
distance, width, thickness, length,
diameter, contour and flatness for the
entire process chain from continuous
casting to the finished product.
LAP laser measuring systems
enhance cost-effectiveness by reducing
scrap and increasing throughput. “The
more scrap is produced, the higher the
production costs,” stated Dr Schulz. “Let
me give you an example. Let’s assume
that you produce 1,000,000 tons of sheet
metal a year with sections measuring
5,000mm x 45,000mm x 10mm with an
optimisation potential of 50mm on each
side when cutting the width. Each ton of
steel sheet metal sold yields a profit of
€400 per ton with a sales price of €650
per ton and scrap price of €250 per ton.
If you could reduce the amount of scrap
when cutting to size by just 2 per cent,
you could save or earn, actually, up
to €8mn.
The sensors of the ANTARIS series
use a triangulation method. A laser
beam is reflected off the surface of the
measured object and and is projected
by a lens system and deflection mirror
onto a light-sensitive
target camera. Depending
on the distance from the
measured object, the
position of the point of
light changes. The signal
processor calculates the
distance between the
sensor and surface of the
steel products from this
data.
By using LAPmeasuring
systems, you avoid
excess slab weight for example. This
helps guarantee the per metre weight
in sheet metal production, for example.
Not only do you save material, you
refine production in the energy intensive
steel industry. “In addition, these
savings mean that the LAP measuring
systems pay for themselves quickly, as
the calculation example shows,” noted
Dr Schulz.
For more than 25 years, LAP has
been providing laser-based systems
for the highly precise measurement of
geometric quantities such as position,
width, thickness, length, diameter and
the flatness of products in industrial
production. The systems offered by
LAP are distinguished by their superior
precision under extreme conditions.
Hundreds of these systems are proving
their usefulness everyday in steel and
rolling mills.
The customers of the company,
which presently employs more than
180 people, include Baosteel, Posco,
ThyssenKrupp Steel, Vallourec and
Mannesmann and other leading steel
manufacturers.
LAP also manufactures laser
projection systems. These generate
points of light, lines, crosses or outlines
of any shape such as true-to-scale
shapes generated from CAD files.
The employees of LAP serve
customers throughout the world from
company headquarters in Lüneburg and
an international network of branches
and technical sales representatives.
LAP Laser – Germany
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Technology News
LAP laser measuring systems, especially ANTARIS SCAN
sensors, enhance cost-effectiveness by reducing scrap and
increasing throughput
Automated weld monitoring
AUTOMATIC welding processes require
remote monitoring cameras to be
able to properly verify equipment set-
up, monitor weld quality and alert the
operator to other welding issues before
they result in production problems.
Because it is typically too congested
or dangerous to have an operator
directly monitor the welding tip while
under operation, Xiris has developed
the XVC-O wide dynamic range view
camera, which can be mounted right at
the welding tip to allow the operator to
remotely view the welding process.
Combining sophisticated sensor
technology with advanced electronics
to provide high contrast, wide dynamic
range images, the Xiris XVC-O View
Camera for weld monitoring is suitable
for a wide range of welding applications
including MIG, MAG, TIG, plasma and
laser. By delivering clear views of the
brightest features of a welding torch tip
while still being able to see the weld pool
and surrounding darker background, the
cameras can improve weld quality, lower
the defect rate and improve efficiency.
Xiris Automation Inc – Canada
Website: