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The steel sector has provided different solutions to achieve a balance between weight, strength and cost. On the one hand, there are high-strength steels, which have evolved in recent decades and are characterized by their high yield strength. On the other hand, new aluminum alloys have been developed that offer greater resistance to conventional aluminum and their weight is one third of the weight of steel.
In order to face the new challenges that arise and to continue being a world expert in new materials and in the treatment of high strength steels and aluminum, at FAGOR ARRASATE we have been working on different technologies to make our levelers the most versatile, powerful and precise on the market.
The main characteristics of our levelers are:
At FAGOR ARRASATE, we have a wide catalog of levelers to cover the range of materials (latest generation high yield strength steels, aluminum, stainless steels and steels for laser cutting, among others) and working thicknesses required (from 0.2 mm to 25 mm) for any type of lines.
Sectors Steel mills Service Centers Aluminium
Technologies Levelling
The leveler adjustment assistant greatly facilitates the operator’s work and ensures repeatable quality regardless of who operates the line. Our Leveling Setting Assistant, through an intuitive graphical user interface on the PLC of the leveler, suggests to the operator the optimal setting of the rollers to properly process the different work materials, according to their thickness and their yield strength.
An inclined configuration is not always enough to obtain a flat product. Occasionally, the sheets present local defects that require the use of support rollers or a variation in the inclined configuration in order to be eliminated. Normally, the adjustment of the support rollers and the inclination is done manually by the line operator at their discretion. In this sense, Fagor Arrasate is working on the development of a new system capable of measuring the quality of the flatness of the sheet during the process and automatically calculating and adjusting the cassette to eliminate flatness irregularities. The system brings some advantages to the process:
Flatness measurement system to visualize and monitor in real time the deformity of the strip after flattening, in order to have more stable processes and reduce the dependence on the operator’s experience. In addition, the system has a calculation package that makes proposals to adjust the leveler to achieve optimum flatness. The model is able to make proposals to adjust both the leveler tilting and the positioning of the supports, in order to eliminate local defects of the sheet.
Fagor Smart-Connect aims to improve the operational efficiency, or OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency), of the installation, including the leveler. The system is based on advanced IoT (Internet of Things) technologies that enable online acquisition of machine operating parameters.
It allows viewing of values in real time or historical averages of the main parameters that control the correct use of the leveler, as well as creating alarms when an operation does not go as planned.
Learn more about our Smart-Connect solution
The development and rise of new materials, such as high yield strength steels and new aluminum alloys, is a challenge for the industry due to the special characteristics required for their treatment.
The requirements of these new materials have rendered obsolete the levelers of the finishing lines, designed to work much softer steels than the current ones, which can reach up to 1500 MPa of yield strength. Aluminum also presents specific requirements in terms of the difficulty of processing due to the sensitivity and abrasive characteristics of the material.
With this objective in mind, FAGOR ARRASATE, backed by a long experience in the construction of cutting and processing lines for metal strip, offers our customers a service of updating and modernization of the levelers of the lines, both in Fagor lines, as well as in lines of other manufacturers, anywhere in the world.
Correct flattening of the metal coil is a critical step for further processing and determines the quality of the parts obtained. The development and rise of new materials, such as high yield strength steels and new aluminum alloys, is a challenge for the industry due to the special characteristics required for their treatment.
At Fagor Arrasate, we have set in motion various research projects to characterize these new materials and incorporate the knowledge acquired in our levelers.
We wanted to share the results of this research with the publication of our “Guide to roll leveling“. The guide covers the arduous research work carried out by our R&D project engineer Elena Silvestre for the development of her doctoral thesis “Sheet metal roll leveling optimization by means of advanced numerical models and development of new concepts for last generation materials“.
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At FAGOR ARRASATE, our catalog includes a comprehensive range of rollers to cover a range of working thicknesses required for this type of line.
When processing materials with a maximum thickness of 4 mm, as is the case in the automotive sector, mechanical flatteners, the most commonly used, or hydraulic flatteners can be used. The function of the leveler is to eliminate internal stresses resulting from the coil manufacturing process, as well as to eliminate local defects (pockets, waves, etc.).
In the case of the industrial sector of thick materials, the thickness of the processed material is usually from 6 mm to 25 mm maximum and, therefore, mechanical levelers or hydraulic levelers could be used. For the elimination of internal stresses, FAGOR ARRASATE has the specific technology for thick materials to perform a double leveling by means of a simultaneous operation of the straightening and leveling machine.
Among the various applications of lasers, laser cutting is one of the main activities of this technology. Our levelers ensure that the final product is free of defects and internal stresses that may appear in the material after cutting.
Our levelers are at the heart of the feed lines of our press blanking lines, providing optimum leveling results on both high-strength steel and aluminum.
The type of levelers normally used on these lines are 3-high and process materials up to a maximum thickness of 4-5 mm.
Depending on the thickness to be processed, mechanical or hydraulic levelers can be used.
Leveling
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Guide to roll leveling
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Metal parts leveler