Production of large pipes: high precision while maintaining shape tolerances
At the TUBE, Dango & Dienenthal (D&D) will be presenting the laser-assisted calibration of large pipes for the first time. The machines of the PST series achieve an unprecedented level of precision. At the same time, they drastically reduce the time required for straightening and enable complete documentation of the inner contour.
What is fundamentally new about the Pipe Sizing Technology (PST) is that a 360° circular laser measures the inner contour of the pipe during the straightening process and the results are immediately incorporated into the process. The machines of the PST series are generally used for straightening. The PST-PE-EX version is also suitable for expanding the pipe ends, the PST-FB version (full-body sizes) straightens the pipes over their entire length.
The laser in the measuring head projects a line onto the inner wall of the pipe. A camera, which is also located in the measuring head, records the circular line with up to 3,200 measuring points over the entire circumference of the pipe. In this way, the complete image of the inner contour of the pipe is created in real time. This data is the basis for controlling the straightening tools.
For sizing, the PST-PE machines have six expanding jaws that are specifically controlled according to the results of the laser measurement. The result: the tube is not expanded but retains the original inner circumference.
Since measuring and forming are combined in the Pipe Sizer, the systems drastically reduce the time required for handling the pipes. As a result, significantly more pipes can be straightened per shift than was usual with conventional systems. Laser contour measurement makes it possible for the first time to measure each individual tube in a short amount of time and to document the geometry – for example the inner circumference and ovality.
The first PST-PE-EX machine that D&D is currently manufacturing for a German manufacturer of large-diameter pipes will straighten and expand the ends of pipes with a diameter between 270 and 1,016 mm with wall thicknesses of up to 60 mm. Here, too, the circular laser provides the inner contour of the tube end, which is used to control the pressure cylinder.
Denis Albayrak, Senior Sales Engineer at D&D, relies on precise laser measurement: “The demands on the quality of tubes – especially on their optimal roundness – have grown steadily in recent years and pose enormous challenges for tube manufacturers. With pipe sizing technology, we replace “trial and error” with exact measurements. After sizing, the finished tubes have the perfect circular shape, the specified nominal diameter remains unchanged.”
Dango & Dienenthal at TUBE 2022
Dusseldorf, June 20th to 24th, 2022:
Hall 5, Booth 5F08
Background: The technology in detail
The measuring system attached to the front of the Pipe Sizer works according to the laser triangulation principle: A circular laser projects a line over the entire inner circumference of the pipe. A camera records the line with 3,200 points distributed over the circumference of the pipe, which corresponds to an angular resolution of around 0.17 degrees. For pipe diameters up to 1,600 mm (64 inches), the resolution of the contour measurement is 0.1 mm, for systems for nominal diameters up to 1,000 mm it is 0.05 mm.
The software uses the results to calculate the default values for the expanding jaws and transmits them to the process control. When sizing with the PST-PE and PST-FB versions, the six expansion segments distributed around the circumference of the pipe are controlled individually by hydraulic cylinders depending on the geometry of the pipe.
Once the first sizing process is completed, the tube is measured again. With this contour data, the software determines the springback value of the pipe material and includes it in the second sizing process. In this way, the individual material properties of each tube are used for targeted sizing.
About the Dango & Dienenthal group of companies
DANGO & DIENENTHAL is a company with a long tradition: it was founded in 1865 as a non-ferrous metal foundry by August Dango and Louis Dienenthal. Since then, the company has developed into a world-renowned premium manufacturer of special machines and systems for the manufacture, forming and processing of semi-finished products made of steel and non-ferrous metals.
The main points are:
– smelting and forging
– rolling and bending
– the heat treatment
The delivery range includes:
– Tapping and measuring equipment for blast furnaces (e.g. drilling and tamping machines,
– hood manipulators and probes)
– Machines for open-die and die forging as well as ring rolling plants (e.g. forging and transport manipulators, heavy-duty robots and handling machines)
– Automated transport equipment for heat treatment (e.g. transport manipulators, heavy-duty robots and handling machines)
– Transport equipment for melting furnaces (charging, stoking and distribution machines)
– deslagging devices
– Machines for the pipe industry (e.g. pipe sizing tools, expanders and bending machines)
– Systems for liquid filtration (filter systems and separators)
The focus of the work is on thinking in processes so that customers can produce forgings, rings, tubes and sheets that exactly meet their customers’ specifications. This also includes the customer-specific integration of the systems into the increasingly complex, digital data world of the plants.
The machines work with the highest precision, particularly under extreme operating conditions. Their MORE robustness makes them highly available in production day in and day out and thus makes a decisive contribution to the efficient production processes of the customers.
company contact
Dango & Dienenthal Umformtechnik GmbH
Denis Albayrak
Hagen Street 103
57072 wins
+49 271 401-4150
[email protected]
http://www.dds-forming.com
press contact
VIP Communication
Regina Reinhardt
Dennewartstrasse 25-27
52068 Aachen
+49.241.89468-24
[email protected]
http://www.vip-kommunikation.de
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