EoW May 2013

News Technology

Profibus DP and Profinet IO industrial fieldbus standards have been used successfully for communication between devices of different manufacturers in automated production lines. With a new update to its Profibus DP interface, Zumbach is raising the usability of its devices to a new level. In addition, Profinet IO Industrial Ethernet is now available for the entire Zumbach family of devices. In industrial production, numerous automation, engineering and visualisation systems are connected to a bus. The Profibus interface enables centralised control of all devices involved in the production process as well as many standard diagnostic functions – and all of this via a secure and fast connection (up to 12 Mbps). The cyclic collection and preparation and reliable evaluation of the measuring data via the interface has a significant effect on the standard of the quality monitoring. Zumbach’s communication via Profibus DP not only significantly improves the workflow between individual production units. It also requires little hardware (one engineering tool for all devices), reducing investment and service costs. Thanks to the bus topology, sensors can be coupled and uncoupled during operation. Practically every Zumbach device is available for use in Profibus DP structures – directly or via a Profibus interface. Through the use of an intelligent Zumbach protocol, the complete functionality of each Zumbach sensor is fully supported from the initialisation step all the way to the actual data exchange. Integration the way forward Second generation from Plasmait Plasmait has introduced a second generation plasma annealer designed for wire, rope and tubes made of stainless steel and nickel alloys and with cross-sections from 20mm 2 down to the smallest fine wire sizes.

▲ ▲ A selection of gauges with Profibus/Profinet interface

The open Industrial Ethernet standard meets the increasing demands of automation reliably and sustainably with optimum flexibility, efficiency and performance. The company has developed a new GSDML file for Profinet. This makes the implementation of Profibus and Profinet easy and practically identical. the compatibility with Profinet and today‘s standards, the communication of the Zumbach device families has been fundamentally revised, making it much easier to integrate them. Zumbach Electronic AG – Switzerland Website : www.zumbach.com Ion bombardment or ion sputtering on the material surface results in fine dry surface cleaning and surface oxide removal, which has proven to be particularly beneficial to applications with demanding surface requirements in sectors such as medical, welding or aerospace. Unlike the traditional tube furnace, the plasma annealer can cold start production in a few minutes and can be stopped immediately. This avoids the lengthy heating-up and cooling-down times and associated energy costs that are symptomatic of a conventional furnace. The gas cooling section in the plasma annealer has a closed loop design to minimise purging gas consumption. Taking into consideration

Specifically, the Profibus firmware has been adapted and the GSD file has been significantly improved. Now it provides for an easier, faster and more cost-effective installation: • Easy drag-and-drop installation: install device-specific language version of the GSD file (DE, FR, EN), then drag the Zumbach device to the user interface of the customer. • Actual value acquisition: operational readiness with two inputs thanks to device-specific parameters, very easy to add measured quantities/modules. Profinet IO – the successor to Profibus DP – is designed for data exchange between Ethernet-based field devices.

This new concept allows for a radical increase of continuous annealing speeds of stainless steels and nickel alloys. In the fine wire sizes it is possible to conduct annealing of austenitic stainless steel wire at speeds up to 15m/s. At such speeds annealing can be performed in-line with drawing or rolling, substituting multiple lines of a traditional tube furnace. Efficient energy coupling in the plasma process allows for a compact design of the plasma chamber and results in high-energy conversion efficiency. Annealing power is controlled instantaneously and with a high degree of accuracy via power supply. This gives the operator the ability to target

mechanical properties with a great degree of accuracy and provides greater flexibility in new product development. Rapid heating and reduced time of recrystallisation result in fine grain size with uniform crystal structure in the longitudinal and transversal direction. This improves the material's susceptibility to cold working and its resistance to surface cracking. ▲ ▲ PlasmaAnnealer for high speed annealing of fine SS wire

Plasmait GmbH – Austria Website : www.plasmait.com

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May 2013