TPT September 2013

Technology News

Bending process improvements TEBUNUS Tube Bending, The Netherlands, is regularly challenged by customers requesting use of the minimum of the required tube material. Two recent projects resulted in the development of improvements in the company’s bending process. is possible to design very long tube products without welds.

Another customer requested a needle shaped heat exchanger tube for a green energy project. The requirements on the ovality (<8%) and wall thickness reduction (<15%), in combination with the tube material and radius of < 2D, were demanding. To avoid expensive heat treatment after bending, it was important to keep the stress in the material as low as possible. Tebunus designed tooling with which the product could be bent without welds. The tooling was based on a bend block of two parts, which enabled bending of the 180° product with the required accuracy to meet all dimensions. The choice of the bend radius was an optimum of hardness of the tube after bending, minimised tube material, machine possibilities and dimensional requirements. After preparing for six months, the project was a success: on time and within budget. Tebunus Tube Bending can bend pipe and tubes in ferrous and non-ferrous

The company developed the capability to bend copper tube products from a coil on its bending machines. No extra material is required for overlength, and less material is wasted. A customer had requested the company to produce copper tube spirals with a diameter of 8mm, and 0.4mm wall thickness, in large volumes. Instead of loading the bending machine manually or via a buffer, up to 1.5km of material is available on coil. For other projects, coil material is possible with a diameter up to 22mm. Tebunus bends 180° with high values on wall thickness reduction and ovality. This development allows the reduction of costs and lead-time of tube products with a total length of more than 6m. It

180° bends

materials. The company can bend carbon and stainless steel from 2 to 114.3mm in diameter, and aluminium and copper up to a diameter of 168.3mm. Tebunus designs and produces its own bend tooling, and has a wide range of tooling in diameters and radii available on the shelves, enabling immediate production upon request.

Tebunus Tube Bending BV – The Netherlands Fax: +31 72 504 48 00 Email: sales@tebunus.nl Website: www.tebunus.com

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S eptember 2013