March 2013 Tube Products International
43
products & developments
Saw blade for efficient orbital cutting
Kinkelder has developed the smooth
cutting TubeMaster
®
saw blade for
orbital cut off applications. Its special
tooth-geometry cuts a large range of
thin to thick wall tubes.
“Key features of this TubeMaster saw
blade are a special carbide grade and a
high tech PVD coating,” said Kinkelder
application engineer Leo Molenaar.
“This, combined with a special cutting
geometry, does not require much force
for chip removal, assuring a milled like
finish of the cut surface. This special
geometry also reduces vibration when
cutting thin wall (<4mm) tubing, thereby
achieving an excellent blade life.”
The saw blade concept allows using
one set of blades with medium tooth
pitch to cut tubes with wall thickness
from 3 to 9mm, and on some machines
up to 12mm. For wall thickness 9 to
30mm, a coarse pitch is defined.
TubeMaster saw blades are available
in diameters from 300 to 420mm for all
types of orbital cutting machines, such
as MTM, Otomills, Elmaksan, Kusakabe,
Linsinger and SMS.
Tubes for oil and gas as well as structural
pipes and hollow sections form the
primary market for TubeMaster saw
blades. Even high hardness materials
such as X80 can be cut efficiently thanks
to the type of carbide used.
The PVD coating protects the tips against
the high temperatures developed during
the cutting process.
The USA, south European and South
American countries were the first to
discover the advantages of the new
blade, and the popularity of the flying
cut-off concept is growing
in other countries as well.
In order to optimise its
service Kinkelder offers
worldwide
technical
support on-site to help
tube makers to get the
most out of their production
lines. Kinkelder’s own
subsidiaries in the USA,
EU and China, as well as
its experienced worldwide
network of engineering
distributors,
have
specialised application
engineers available on call.
Kinkelder BV
–
Netherlands
Tubemaster orbital machine
Ductile iron pipe earns
SMaRT certification
The Ductile Iron Pipe Research
Association (DIPRA) has announced
that ductile iron pipe, a durable
and environmentally friendly choice
for water utilities, has earned the
coveted SMaRT
©
Sustainable Product
Certification, an independent rating
system for the sustainability of a
product throughout its life cycle.
Ductile iron pipe is only the second
product in the buried infrastructure
industry to earn this certification. The
Institute for Market Transformation to
Sustainability categorised ductile iron
pipe with its esteemed Gold rating
thanks to the pipe’s rankings in the
following categories: safe for public
health and environment; renewable
energy and energy reduction; bio-
based or recycled materials; facility or
company requirements; reclamation,
sustainable reuse and end of life
management; and innovation in
manufacturing.
Ductile iron pipe is manufactured from
recycled scrap materials, with up to
95 per cent recycled content. It is
designed to last up to a century or
more.
“DIPRA member companies are
dedicated to protecting the health
and wellbeing of its employees, its
neighbours and the customers of the
utilities that use ductile iron pipe,”
said DIPRA president Gregg Horn.
“This commitment to environmentally
sound practices only adds to the long-
recognised value of our product. We
are proud to be a leader in the field
of sustainable water and wastewater
infrastructure.”
DIPRA
– USA
