TPT March 2011

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76 March 2011 ›
Technology Update
TRANSFLUID Maschinenbau GmbH has
developed and manufactured a tube bending
machine that allows the fully automatic
bending of highly alloyed steel tubes up
to 300mm external diameter and with wall
thickness up to 30mm. This solution was
requested for pipes in the USA. In Houston,
Texas it will be used for manufacturing
pipes for offshore, shipbuilding and for the
chemical industry.
For its trip to the USA, the 80-tonne,
12m-long and 3m-wide colossus was
disassembled in several segments. “Out
of our knowledge a cold tube bending
machine of this size and in particular this
wall thickness was never built worldwide.
This makes this project with a whole volume
of more than US$1mn unique in the area of
the international tube bending technology,”
commented Ludger Bludau, managing
director and founder of transfluid. Within
six weeks the German company realised
the special bending machine according to
customer requirements.
Impressive forces are at work with the
cold bending of the pipes up to 300mm
in diameter. “A hydraulic drive generates
for this a torque of several million Newton
metres,” explained Benedikt Hümmler,
managing director of transfluid. An effective
Bending machine for pipes up to 300mm
CNC control that makes the fully automatic
bending of tubes possible provides for
optimum and efficient manufacturing
processes.
transfluid has placed special value on an
economic solution with the special change
system of the bending tools. For the unusual
tool dimensions, up to 2m diameter and
5 tonnes each, the tool changing time is less
than 30 minutes.
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH –
Germany
Email:
Website:
TCT saw
blade for
flying saws
THE new TCT saw blade from SW Wil is
made to cut any steel tube on a flying saw
with high performance. A further benefit is
that the blade can also cut tubes in a
large number when the tube has an ID
weld bead. When the steel tube is made
out of a very high material strength, the
weld bead can easily destroy the TCT saw
blade, often after only a few cuts. Following
a fundamental analysis of this problem,
SW Wil engineers developed a completely
new TCT circular saw blade. Two aspects
were at the forefront of the development:
minimising the risk of fracture; and high
life time.
Thanks to the newly developed geometry
of the base blade – with higher nose – the
risk of fractures could be reduced by several
scales. Practical tests showed that the weld
bead is not cut in one time, but in several
successive steps. To fulfil the demand
for a long life, the SW Wil technicians
in cooperation with a Swiss hard metal
producer developed a new kind of hard
metal that offers an especially high bending
fracture strength.
Long-term practical tests with the
SwissCut TN proved that the new TCT-
circular saw blade from SW-Wil fulfils the
high requirements.
Standard range is from 350 to 690mm
OD, and other sizes can be made upon
request.
SW Wil Werkzeug-und Maschinenhandel
AG – Switzerland
Email:
Website:
Cold tube bending machine DB 60273-3A-CNC
With the special
transfluid tool changing
system, large tooling can
be changed rapidly