(BSOZD.com – News) 270 t (298 US tons) of molten iron for the new straightening press intended for heavy steel plates for Dillinger Hütte
Krefeld – Siempelkamp has successfully cast the world“s largest casting – the upper bolster for the new straightening press for heavy steel plates for Dillinger Hüttenwerke. The bolster is currently being machined on one of the world“s largest portal milling machines.
The world record was broken on May 19 at the Siempelkamp Foundry. For the upper bolster of the press the company poured within two minutes 270 t of molten iron into a mold with a length of approx. 10 m (33 ft) and a width of 3.2 m (10.5 ft). With this casting the Krefeld company beat its own world record from 1998. The project was a technological and logistical challenge. The entire amount of molten iron had to be available in five pouring ladles at the same time with exactly identical properties and the same temperature of 1,350 °C (2462 °F).
The raw casting weight of the upper bolster for the straightening press amounts to 252 t (278 US tons) which corresponds to the weight of nine fully loaded semi-trucks.
Starting with the construction drawings from Siempelkamp Maschinen- und Anlagenbau and the results from simulation calculations, the Siempelkamp casters made a wooden model of the bolster. Within two weeks the mold and the casting cores made of molding sand bonded with resin were formed around the model. After the casting process, the iron required approx. four weeks to cool down to a temperature of approx. 300 °C (572 °F). Not until then were the Siempelkamp specialists able to remove the bolster from the mold and find out whether the casting was successful.
Currently, Siempelkamp is machining the bolster in its own portal machining center at the Krefeld factory. The final length of the bolster is 9,783 mm (32 ft), the height 3,300 mm (11 ft), and the width 3,100 mm (10 ft). Regarding the entire length of the workpiece, Siempelkamp achieves a tolerance of 0.1 mm for the parallelism and 0.1 mm for the evenness of the surfaces. The tolerance for the height dimension is 0.2 mm, the tolerance for the width dimension is 0.1 mm. The final weight of the upper bolster will amount to approximately 220 t (243 US tons).
The new portal machining center which has a gantry design started operation in 2008. With it Siempelkamp is the only company worldwide which is not only capable of pouring castings of such size but also of machining them.
A few facts: The machine which has a milling capacity of 100 kW machines parts with a mounting length of up to 22,500 mm (74 ft), a width of up to 7,000 mm (23 ft), and a height of up to 6,000 mm (20 ft). The diameter of the turntable is also 6,000 mm. Two cranes with a capacity of 240 t (265 US tons) each transport the parts.
Dr.-Ing. Hans Fechner, spokesperson of the Siempelkamp management, is convinced that the company is on the right track: „Our investment in new equipment for the machining of unusually large parts at the factory in Krefeld is paying off: Siempelkamp is the only manufacturer worldwide which can produce and machine parts of this size in its own plant. Furthermore, we are not only capable of pouring these enormous amounts of molten iron but we are also able to transport and machine such castings in our own buildings.“
The new press for Dillinger Hütte operates with a force of 65 MN and will straighten high-strength sheet plates with a thickness of 300 mm which can have a width between 1,000 to 5,200 mm (3 to 17 ft), a length of up to 19,000 mm (62 ft), and a weight of up to 60 t (66 US tons).
Goetz Sondermann, Head of Technology for Metal Forming at Siempelkamp, is convinced that the press will keep the required specifications of the customer: „This is already the third press which we have supplied to Dillingen. We know all about heavy plates. The new equipment operates with a lifting precision of +/- 0.2 mm. Thus, our customer can make sheet plates of which the evenness not only complies with the tolerance class S of DIN EN 10029 for hot-rolled steel plates but also surpasses it.“
Siempelkamp supplies the new press as a complete package including assembly and startup. Siempelkamp straightening specialists will support the startup of the production in Dillingen. The scope of supply also includes the supporting equipment for the manipulating, lifting, lowering, and transversing of the sheet metals. The entire hydraulic and electronic control for the straightening press was designed and built by Siempelkamp.
About Siempelkamp
For decades Siempelkamp has gained vast experience in engineering, design and manufacturing of metal forming presses and supply among others plate bending presses for manufacturing large-diameter pipes and half shells, straightening presses, side-member presses, heat exchanger plate presses, hydroforming presses, rear axle housing presses as well as the complete range of closed-die and open-die forging presses.
Customized presses with high pressing forces are Siempelkamp?s core competence.
The Siempelkamp Group is an internationally active technology supplier with three business branches ? machinery and plant manufacturing, foundry and nuclear technology. As system supplier of presses and press lines for the metal industry as well as turn-key plants for the wood-working industry Siempelkamp enjoys international standing.
The Group employs worldwide almost 2,750 people.
Siempelkamp Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG
Ralf Griesche, Marketing + Communication
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47803 Krefeld
+49.2151.92-4636
+49.2151.92-6583
www.siempelkamp.com
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