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114
N
ovember
2009
www.read-tpt.com›
T
ube
M
ills
and
R
oll
F
orming
L
ines
SOME time ago, a brief article entitled
“Designing Tube Mill Rolls: Turning Art Into
Science” appeared in ITA Member News on
the International Tube Association website.
The piece, contributed by data M Software
GmbH, of Germany, was concerned
principally to validate roll tooling for tube
welding lines. But the discernment of the two
streams in the tube making enterprise was –
and is – pertinent to the industry overall.
In a contemporary tube mill, roll forming
commences when a tailored drafting program
analyses a “flower” custom-crafted on a tube cross-section, then feeds the CAD data to
an analytical program that decides the forming stations. Within seconds, this software
computes the theoretical (elastic and plastic) strain values on the material to be
formed as a function of the influencing variables (ie tube geometry, material gauge, roll
configuration, diameter). The entry equipment comes into play; and, not very much later,
the exit and collection equipment.
Another production run – of simple tubes and uncomplicated shapes; or low
thickness-to diameter ratio tubes and complex shapes; or a combination of both – has
been completed. That is the applied science of roll forming: and very good science, to
judge from the excellence of the product.
But it is also the tube maker’s responsibility:
•
to ensure that every bit of the capability of the roll forming operation is at the
service of the application;
•
to ensure attention to the myriad details of workplace safety and environmental
impact, timely delivery, and cost-
effectiveness;
•
to conduct the producer-
client relationship at all times on
the principle that an educated
consumer makes the best
customer.
Taken together, all this entails
many more imponderables than
the scientific component.
It is, in fact, an art.
Attl a spol has installed
a new tube mill in
Yekaterinburg, Russia
The T&H Lemont dual capacity tube mill