09/17/2012
From billet to railway wheel
Schuler unveils newly developed wheel rolling machine and isothermal forming press for titanium jet blades at in-house fair
High-performance railway networks
crisscross the entire globe and are being continually expanded. Ever
greater speeds and loads mean that railway wheels have to cope with
extreme levels of stress. Only forged wheels can meet such exacting
requirements. The world’s largest press manufacturer, Schuler,
supplies turnkey systems for the forging and rolling of such
monoblock wheels. At the “Rail & Fly” in-house fair of Schuler SMG
in Waghäusel, Germany, in mid September, around 120 visitors were
able to witness the performance of the new wheel rolling machine
with live demonstrations of hot wheels being rolled.
Schuler’s newly developed wheel rolling machine without mandrel
forms the heart of a forging line to be shipped to China in the coming
months. “Highly dynamic servo motors transfer the torque of the
main drives via web rolls onto the pre-forged blank. Together with
the main roll and conical rolls, the web rolls form an almost fully
finished railway wheel from the blank,” explains Dr. Walter Osen,
Head of the Business Unit Forging. “Finally the hub is offset axially
and broached, and the wheel is calibrated.”
The dynamic power of the drive systems means that a railcar wheel
can be rolled in less than 20 seconds. Taking into account the
automation time, the line can reach output levels of up to 75 wheels
per hour.
The new wheel rolling machine enables users to produce a wide
range of different geometries. In addition to railcar and locomotive
wheels with diameters of up to 1,450 mm and rim widths of 175 mm,
the system can also manufacture crane wheels with a rim width of up
to 300 mm.
Simulation of entire process chain
Based on the finished wheel, Job Engineering Software enables the
user to simulate the entire forging process. An integrated FEM
program adapted to the product checks the calculated forming
operations. The resulting data are then transferred directly to the
forming machines.
In addition to the wheel rolling machine, the line also includes three
high-performance hydraulic presses. The preform is forged by two
presses with press forces of 5,000 and 10,000 metric tons. The last
operation is performed by a 5,000-ton crimping and piercing press.
The forging line is fully automated with robots. It is rounded out by a
descaling device, a flexible marking station and a laser measuring
system.
Titanium increasingly important for aircraft construction
At its “Rail & Fly” in-house fair, Schuler also presented an
isothermal forming press which can form jet blades from titanium
blanks. This high-strength metal is becoming increasingly important
as a material for aircraft production as it helps reduce weight. It is
already being used, for example, for landing gear, bleed air ducts,
flaps and doors. Due to its high-temperature strength, titanium can
also be used in the jet engine exhaust area, hot gas pipes, or
pressure- and fire-resistant housings. Schuler developed the
isothermal forming press on the basis of a technology partnership
with the company FormTech. The press will be supplied to a Russian
engine manufacturer in the coming weeks.
Contact
Jaime
Israel
Marketing & Communications
Tel.: +1 734-865-0133
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