TPi July 2015

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July 2015 Tube Products International 25
products & developments
Circular saw blades
50 years’ experience in metal cutting
circular saw blade production, along
with constant technical cooperation
with pipe producers and machine
manufacturers, enables Stark to offer
the high performance Olympic line, fully
dedicated to tube cutting applications.
The range includes three kinds of blades:
HSS circular saw blades; throw-away
TCT saw blades; and resharpenable
TCT saw blades.
The HSS circular saw blade is an
alternative to TCT saw blades for
tube cutting. Its special steel and PVD
coating allow it to be used at the same
peripheral speed as TCT circular saw
blades. The feed rates in the central
area of tube crossing are claimed to
be 40 per cent higher than feed rates
of TCT saw blades, and so the blade
cuts thin tubes 20 per cent faster than
TCT saws. It is suitable for carbon steel,
alloyed steel with high tensile strength,
stainless steel, stainless steel and non-
ferrous materials.
In recent years, tube processing
technology has changed greatly. Steel’s
higher tensile strength values, greater
tube thickness, and faster production
line speed are often required by
customers. The range includes Olympic
100, suitable for hard material, cutting
with low vibrations; and Olympic 200,
suitable for stainless steel cutting.
Stark Olympic also includes a range
of TCT circular saw blades suitable for
orbital cutting machines. For cutting
tubes with large dimensions, customers
are increasingly using orbital cutting
heads equipped with two to four blades.
Stark developed a new PVD-coated
resharpenable blade with special tooth
shape, with the aim of reducing the
effort during cutting and to reach a
longer tool life.
According to the section and the
material to be cut, Stark can supply
different toothing geometries, specially
developed to obtain the highest cutting
performance.
Stark SpA – Italy
Circular saw blades from Stark
High-performance rubber materials
for subsea
Precision rubber moulding specialist
Metflex Ltd has introduced a new
range of high performance rubbers
designed specifically for demanding
subsea applications.
Named MetflexSubsea NRX, the API
17 compliant, natural rubber materials
are available as moulded shapes for
pipeline pigging connectors, protective
shielding for HPHT pipelines, and riser
and umbilical connection systems.
Advantages of natural rubber include
high tensile strength, resilience, the
ability to absorb dynamic stresses, and
abrasion resistance.
The NRX rubbers offer temperature
resistance in the range -50 to
+80°C, 67-73 Shore hardness and
compression set up to 14 per cent.
In large rubber blocks where greater
stiffness is needed, Metflex is able
to supply mouldings containing single
and multiple metal inserts.
“The NRX range of rubber materials are
the result of a three-year subsea rubber
development programme working
closely with the offshore industry,” said
Steve Parry, director of development
at Metflex. “These new rubber grades
are designed to assist engineers in
meeting the challenges of long term
water immersion, robust handling and
rigours of subsea deployment.”
Metflex is an established supplier to
the offshore industry, and has over 70
years’ experience in rubber moulding.
It manufactures precision rubber
moulded components, rubber seals
and gaskets, and diaphragms to a
worldwide customer base.
The company offers a complete
design service, and production
methods that include rubber to metal
bonding, and ultra-thin (0.2mm), 3D
fibre reinforced mouldings based
on the company’s proprietary DFT
(dispersed fibre technology), using a
combination of injection, compression,
transfer and flashless fabrication
techniques.
Metflex Ltd – UK