TPT May 2017

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T UBE M I L L S & R OL L FORM I NG L I NE S
MAY 2017 71
Combined forging/ring rolling line
for titanium alloys
VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation from
Yekaterinburg, Russia, has granted
SMS group the final acceptance certifi-
cate for the supplied ring rolling plant.
The new plant produces jet engine rings
made of titanium alloys.
With the new ring rolling plant,
consisting of a PL 8000-V3 ring blank
press, RAW 400/200-3500/800 DM
radial-axial ring rolling machine and
two RKP 500 and RKP 1350 ring
expanders, the Russian company is
extending its product portfolio for the
aerospace industry, while increasing
its competitiveness with the newly built
production line. VSMPO is one of the
largest producers of forgings made of
titanium alloys, and a strategic partner
of aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing
and Airbus.
A special feature of the ring rolling
line at VSMPO is the combination of
the forging and the ring rolling process.
With this technology developed by
SMS group, VSMPO is able to produce
rings with complex inside and outside
profiles. The material input is lower than
with the conventional forging process
that the company has employed to
date. With the new production line,
VSMPO can manufacture titanium rings
with a diameter of up to 3,500mm and a
height of up to 800mm.
SMS group GmbH – Germany
Fax: +49 211 881 4902
Email:
Website:
The line includes two ring expanders supplied by SMS group
Commissioning of laser tube mill in USA
by Kusakabe Electric & Machinery
TUBE mill builder Kusakabe, which cel-
ebrated its 100th anniversary last year,
has started the next century of operation
with the successful commissioning of an
automotive stainless steel laser tube mill
in the USA.
The tube mill comprises strip entry,
forming mill, laser welder, calibration
mill, cut-off and quality control system.
The Kusakabe-designed strip entry
section is almost fully automated –
unusual for a laser welding or TIG
welding line.
The customer selected the automatic
entry system to provide a safe working
environment and reduce the labour and
operational running costs.
The laser tube mill was designed
and fully manufactured in-house,
giving Kusakabe total control and
responsibility for the quality and
precision of the mill, which is essential
for high quality laser welding.
Each driven roll shaft on the forming
and calibration mills has its own AC
inverter motor.
This provides the flexibility to
achieve a very stable mill speed while
distributing the drive load evenly across
all the rolls.
The cut-off supplied by Kusakabe is
a rotary disc type, providing a swarf-
free cut-off with only minor surface
deformation. The company has
delivered more than 20 rotary disc cut-
offs around the world, mainly to the
automotive industry.
Kusakabe has developed a tube mill
operation data acquisition system over
many years, in co-operation with its
customers. This system was installed
on the mill as part of the overall quality
control system.
Major operation data such as mill
motor power, current, speed, ECT
signals, laser inputs, cut length and
defect tracking are processed by the
PLCs and recorded in a PC in real time.
The system provides immediate
feedback to the operators, as well as
historical record tracking of the quality
and inputs to each pipe, and production
data to assist with managing the mill
operation.
Kusakabe Electric & Machinery Co,
Ltd – Japan
Fax: +81 78 992 9139
Email:
Website: