04/07/2014

140 Meganewton press successfully handed over to Russian customer

In Russia, Schuler’s largest hydraulic forging press will forge parts from 0.6 to 20 tons from round blanks and sheet metal. A specialty is the forging of large shells for valve bodies in oil and gas pipelines

The dimensions are impressive: boasting a press force of 140 Meganewton and at a height of 22 meters above ground, Schuler launched production on the largest hydraulic forging press in its history. The press line was supplied to the Russian company Oil and Gas Systems for its new facility close to the city of Aleksin, located in the Tula region. At the grand opening of the plant in early February, around 150 invited guests from politics, industry and partner companies marveled valve bodies with a diameter of 2.50 meters that were forged on the large press.

At a total weight of 4,500 tons, the press will be at the heart of the production line of the new plant. Amongst other things, parts for large pipes are produced there – including valve bodies. Besides the size, the flexibility of the press is impressing: The spectrum of workpieces ranges from rings that are forged automatically in three stages over open die forged parts and forged pipe sections, bends and tees to extrusion parts.

With thicknesses of 10 to 150 mm and made from a wide variety of metals and alloys, the blanks for the forging press must be heated just once for the three-stage forming process. This saves energy costs, increases production safety and prolongs working lives. Apart from closed die forging, the press line can also be used for open die forging. The furnaces used to heat the parts were supplied by ANDRITZ Maerz, which – like Schuler – belongs to the Austrian ANDRITZ Group.

Less than one-and-a-half years lay between the receipt of the order and the moment when the 4,000-metric-ton forging press left Schuler’s facility in Waghäusel, Germany. For its long journey to Russia, the machine was dismantled into several units with weights of up to 275 metric tons – most of which were transported by ship. In the fall of 2013, the fully assembled press was then put into operation in the plant Sukhodol heavy mechinal engineering (“Spetstyazhmash”).

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