In a previous blog post, we explored the role our Shrink Discs, Locking Assemblies, and Gear Couplings play in steel mill bridle roll systems, offering ease of installation, removal, and replacement. Now, let’s turn to other applications within steel mills that can benefit from our heavy-duty power transmission components.
Safety Couplings Minimize Downtime Risk
Recently, our engineers were called in to look at a shear head application in a steel mill. At the time, there were no existing torque-limiting solutions in place, and the steel mill company was concerned that overrunning rebar rods from the production line could cause downstream damage.
To overcome this challenge — and reduce this risk of catastrophic failure — the company selected RINGFEDER torque limiters. These safety couplings protect power transmission drives from damage due to torque overload, providing a “mechanical fuse” that prevents broken components, downtime, and costly repairs. Designed to offer overload protection in fast, high-inertia machines, our TNT series accommodates shaft diameters from 25 to 200 mm, torques up to 42,400 Nm, and speeds up to 3,000 RPM.
Playing a Critical Role in Other Steel Mill Applications
In addition to addressing the torque limiter issue, our engineers toured the steel mill and identified other opportunities where our power transmission components could shine. Here’s a quick rundown of what they found:
Robust couplings for the steel mill entry roller. The facility’s existing entry roller incorporated elastomer couplings that were exhibiting wear due to the hot billets running down the line. Our engineers suggested custom steel disc and metal jaw couplings, both of which can withstand high temperatures and other demanding conditions, to eliminate these wear issues.
Friction Springs for the billet reject area. Defective billets — which can weigh 4,000 to 4,600 pounds each — would drop 8 to 10 feet into a designated reject area, slowed only by catcher teeth. Steel mill applications like this can benefit from our Friction Springs, which can safely dampen the impact of the heavy billets.
Friction Springs for moveable shear stops. When equipment lined up the rods for cutting, our engineers noticed the rods slammed together, creating a major impact point. Every 15 to 20 seconds, the rods also impacted the top of the existing shear stop, causing a cantilever motion. Placing two Friction Springs at the top of the shear stop would minimize both the impact of the rods and the resulting cantilever movements.
Locking Assemblies for coil handling equipment. The facility had close to 100 coil handling tables; each table had five to six axles and three locking assemblies per axle — one on each side of the axle roller and one on the sprocket side — for a total of 540 locking assemblies. Our engineers suggested using our 7003 Locking Assemblies to reduce the amount of required bolts, saving valuable installation time while still meeting the application’s high torque requirements.
Friction Springs for billet end stops. To reduce the bounce-back of reheated billets, the facility installed a coil spring and set of shock absorbers. Replacing this solution with our maintenance-free Friction Springs would reduce the amount of spring-back, as well as the need for both the coil and shock absorbers.
To learn more about how our power transmission components can benefit your steel mill application, contact us today.
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