TPT May 2015

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Technology News
28 May 2015
Plate edge milling
LINSINGER’S plate edge milling
machine provides perfect profiles for
welding, and handles metal sheets of up
to 12m in length, 3m width and 150mm
thickness, with even larger dimensions
also available.
One application of Linsinger’s PFM
45/500 CNC is in tank production for
the oil and gas industry. The machine
mills sheet metal edges with high
accuracy as a prerequisite for optimal
welding results.
Both dimensional accuracy and
perfect preparation of the welding edges
have a major impact on tank fabrication.
The tolerances of the PFM 45/500 CNC
are better than ±1mm width, and ±2mm
length, easily surpassing relevant
quality standards. The machine uses
peripheral milling cutters designed
for the HF milling process standard
developed by Linsinger.
HF milling is free of adverse thermal
effects, and therefore there is no
change to the metallurgical structure
(ie no blue staining). This ensures
consistent quality, free of thermal
damage or weak points.
Once the sheet to be machined lies on
the roller table and the data is read in,
everything runs fully automatically. The
sheet is aligned based on the input data,
and hydraulically tensioned.
The disc-shaped cutter heads
equipped with carbide tips then move
into action. After milling the first
longitudinal and transversal edges,
the sheet is turned 180° by customer
crane for final milling of the remaining
two sides.
All profiles are machined in a single
pass, independently of whether the
same geometry or varying geometries
are required for the four edges. Feed
rates of up to 10m/min can be achieved
consistently.
The profiled milling heads can be
supplied in sandwich layers, which
allow the cutter profile to be quickly
reconfigured to any milling geometry
(eg X, Y, N or J) according to the
particular job requirements. Special
cutters are available for any edge
geometry, including U-profiles. The
range of tooling required for any job
can be held in a magazine for fast
changeover.
The fully automatic tool changing
station detects the correct tool using a
proximity ID-chip embedded in each
milling head. This system requires no
operator intervention.
The ‘height copying’ design of the
Linsinger milling units resolves the
potential issue of inconsistent edge
profiles along undulations in heavy-duty
plates. This design ensures a constant
edge profile over the whole length of the
sheet, even if it is not perfectly flat.
Linsinger Maschinenbau GmbH –
Austria
Fax: +43 7613 8840 951
Email:
Website:
Linsinger plate edge milling machine Milling edge
Inline quality assurance for
metal pipe production
THE Machines produces metal pipe
forming plants with efficient productivity
and low power consumption. To use
such machines, it is important to have
an accurate testing system for the
quality of the produced pipes.
With the THE forming and welding
technique it is possible to form and
weld almost all known metals at high
production rates. One of the essential
parts of the system is the in-line
quality check. A new system has been
developed and introduced to check
the welded product at speeds of up to
50m/min. A combination of eddy current
testing and a visualised surface detection
allows analysis of the production in-line,
with high accuracy.
THE Machines Yvonand SA –
Switzerland
Fax: +41 24 423 50 52
Email:
Website: