IMS Measuring Systems for Tube Mills

In order to ensure economical and future-oriented production of seamless tubes, it is necessary to know the properties of product after every single one of the typically three forming stages. The ever stricter demands being placed on the finished product „tube“ regarding uniformity and compliance with tighter tolerance limits with simultaneous savings in energy and raw materials necessitate a high degree of process reliability, which can only be achieved with precise, operationally reliable and durable measuring equipment. To verify the quality of the product, also to the users of the tubes, all product parameters measured are archived, monitored and analyzed. In this way it is possible to make information available on every single tube produced, both directly during the production process and months after delivery too.

MEASURING SYSTEMS IN A

MEASURING SYSTEMS IN A SEAMLESS TUBE MILL MEASURING SYSTEMS IN A SEAMLESS TUBE MILL PQF ® - / FQM -Mill PQF®- or FQM-Mill (Premium Quality Finishing Mill or Fine Quality Mill) The flowchart shows an example of the measuring equipment of a modern seamless tube mill. The material is formed in three stages: after heating of the bloom in a rotary hearth furnace in a rotary piercing mill (piercing), a PQF ® or FQM mill (elongation) and a Stretch Reducing Mill (finishing). Characteristic for a PQF ® or FQM mill in comparison to a conventional MPM mill (Multistand Pipe Mill) is use of hydraulically adjustable three-roll stands and a retained mandrel. Thereafter the shells are rolled to the respective finished tube dimensions required in a Stretch Reducing Mill comprising up to 28 stands. Adjustable finishing stands can also be used here. Multi-Channel measuring system at entry walking beam furnace 4-Channel measuring system behind SRM T [°C] T [°C] D [mm] L [m] Optical bloom identification (barcode) Bloom division for optimum finished tube length utilisation Bloom weight measurement Bloom heating in rotary hearth furnace High pressure bloom descaling Bloom centering Piercing of bloom in rotary piercing mill Rolling of hollow bloom to shell in PQF ® or FQM mill Laserscanner Roller table scale Ratio pyrometer Ratio pyrometer CCD camera (infrared) CCD camera (infrared) Takeover data specifications Takeover bloom weight Temperature measurement bloom Temperature measurement hollow bloom Diameter measurement hollow bloom Length measurement hollow bloom S [mm] D [mm] T [°C] L [m] S [mm] D [mm] T [°C] L [m] Surface defects Multi-Channel measuring system (13-Channel system) Intermediate heating of shells in walking beam furnace Stretch reducing of shells to finished tube dimensions 4-Channel measuring system Surface inspection system Air cooling of finished tubes on cooling bed Multi-Channel wall thickness gauge Laser triangulation gauge Radiation pyrometer Laser length gauge Wall thickness gauge Laser triangulation gauge Ratio pyrometer Laser length gauge 4-, 6- or 8-Laser- Camera-system Wall thickness measurement shell Diameter and outside profile measurement shell Temperature measurement shell Length measurement shell Wall thickness measurement finished tube Diameter and outside profile measurement finished tube Temperature measurement finished tube Length measurement finished tube Inspection finished tube 14 15