Offshore Letter 2 2010 - Dillinger Hütte GTS

Dillinger Hütte - a plate producer with a long and proud tradition
Production at Dillingen started with cast
iron, the products being used to meet the
needs of fortresses constructed in the
surrounding area, and for military
equipment. The raw materials for production
were readily available nearby – wood and
water, as energy sources, and low-grade iron
ore located in easily recoverable form close
to the surface. Even then, the mill operated
in an economic environment that
necessitated continuous refinement of the
technologies used and the quality of the
goods supplied to meet market requirements.
Following initial forged plate
products, the first rolled plate was produced
more than 200 years ago. In addition to sheet
iron for further processing to thin plate,
heavy plates for various purposes were
produced. This is now effectively Dillinger
Hütte’s “only” product.
The 3.6 m rolling stand in Dillingen 1913
The input at Dillingen for production of
plates for the most diverse applications is
impressive. The world’s first continuous
caster for steel slabs was installed here more
than fifty years ago, for example. Today,
slabs with thicknesses of up to 400 mm
can be cast, with special benefits for the
production of plate for the offshore
industry. Such heavy slabs can be used
to achieve high plate weights, with
significant economic advantages for the
fabrication yards, thanks to the resultant
reductions in welding costs. In addition,
the high deformations of the material
during the rolling process result in
excellent mechanical properties at half
thickness. Dillingen was also one of the
leading pioneers in production of
thermomechanically rolled plates. Material
produced using this highly
sophisticated process possesses welding
properties significantly superior to those of
conventionally rolled and normalized plates.
Dillinger Hütte was also the first heavyplate
producer to combine thermomechanical
rolling and accelerated
cooling by water in the rolling
process. This innovation modifies
the internal structure of the plate and
improves mechanical properties
even further. Develop-ment and
production of this plate is always
conducted in close cooperation with
the customer. Indeed, Dillinger
Hütte’s 325-year evolution from a
simple iron-maker to a producer of
highly sophisticated plates would
probably not have been possible
without such intensive collaboration
with customers.
A look back over Dillinger Hütte’s 325-year
history is highly instructive. This
retrospective of the AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke
is an inspiration both to the
company itself and to its customers. It
The AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger Hütte)
celebrates its 325th anniversary this year. What does this
mean for the steel user?
Since 1685, Fe - the chemical element iron - has been the
basis of virtually all products supplied by Dillinger Hütte.
The production and use of scarcely any other material have
been so greatly influenced by technological developments
across such a long period as those of iron. What began as
simple cast iron, with high carbon and impurity contents,
has matured into a product which, thanks to the latest
technologies, now meets the highest standards for
mechanical and welding properties.
demonstrates that the company is always
following its vision to develop perspectives
and technologies needed to achieve products
which enable customers to select innovative
and competitive materials in order to
optimize the performance and competitiveness
of their own projects and products.
And also in future you can trust in Dillinger
products to achieve better and more
economical solutions.
Andreas Thieme
(Marketing Manager)
CONTENT
Issue 2/2010
The 5.2 m rolling stand in Dillingen today
Dillinger Hütte - a plate producer
with a long and proud tradition 1
More than just plate! 2
Portrait of Vanessa Di Rosa 4

Since 1804, when the company’s first heavyplate
rolling-mill was commissioned, the
development of high-quality plate in
numerous grades for a large range of
specialized sectors - with ever greater
dimensions and weights - continues today.
Almost from the very start of plate
production, fabrication of this product has
also played an important role, however.
It is only natural that not every customer has
always been (or is) able to process and shape
the plates supplied by Dillinger Hütte,
particularly in the case of dimensions in the
upper range, and especially when these are
combined with elevated requirements for
mechanical properties. In such situations –
when Dillingen’s plate customers’ in-house
manufacturing capabilities approach or reach
their limits, either in terms of plate size (e.g.
thickness, weight) or of production capacity
- Dillinger Hütte GTS can assist by supplying
not just the heavy plate material, but also ready
fabricated structural plates and parts.
The Heavy Fabrication Division exists for
this purpose. The origins of this specialized
sector at Dillinger Hütte can be traced back
to the 19 th century; the decision to invest in
greater forming capabilities –a 10,000 t
steam-hydraulic press to supplement the
5,000 t and 8,000 t presses already in place,
The Heavy Fabrication Division’s possession
of the latest generation of NC flame-cutting
machines and equipment means that plates
from the Dillingen supply range can be
Figure 2: Cut-to shape ring segment for
a hydro power plant, steel grade: S355J0+N,
thickness 305 mm
profiled with a right-angled edge and/or with
edges prepared for welding (see Figure 2).
In addition, they can also be supplied with
enhanced cut-surface quality and waviness
tolerances compared to standard requirements,
as is necessary, for example, in
the case of large cut racks for jack-up rigs
(see Figure 3). Plates cut to shape and/or with
oxycut beveled welding edges are used
mainly in mechanical and structural
engineering. For special tasks, the Heavy
More than just plate!
for example, and further expansion of
welding facilities–was taken in the late 1800s
(see Figure 1).
Figure 1:
Dillinger
history -
year 1904:
press shop
with 10,000 t
steam
hydraulic
press
At that time, the Heavy Fabrication
Division’s range of products and services
focused on the needs of naval shipbuilding,
heavy engineering and power-plant
construction. In the 20 th century,
development of the Heavy Fabrication Division
was influenced, on the one hand, by
the rapid development of Dillinger Hütte’s
plate rolling-mill toward thicker, wider and
heavier high-quality plates and driven, on the
other hand, by plate customers’ requirements
and their market activities, particularly in the
fast-growing energy sector and in the oil and
gas industry, including its downstream
processing facilities.
Plate cutting and trimming shop - cut-to shape and weld-edge beveled plates
Figure 3: Cut racks for an offshore jack-up
rig structure, steel grade S690Q, thickness up
to 210 mm
Fabrication Division can also make use of
the facilities of the plate rolling-mill,
featuring a plasma-cutting machine for plate
thicknesses up to 100 mm and a water-jet
cutting machine for thicknesses up to
150 mm.
Supply of edge-trimmed plates achieved by
machining, for either rectangular, trapezoidal
or annular plate shapes, is one of the Heavy
Fabrication Division’s specialties. All plate
edges, up to thicknesses of 120 mm, widths
of 5,000 mm and lengths of 25,000 mm, can
be machined to the very highest standards
(see Figure 4). This extremely efficient plate-
Today, the Heavy Fabrication Division is a
fully integrated business unit within Dillinger
Hütte GTS, featuring its own sales
organization, engineering team and
fabrication facilities, and maintaining close
ties with the various plate divisions at
Dillinger Hütte GTS and with the company’s
diverse interdisciplinary teams. These links
generate great benefits for new and ongoing
product developments, and therefore for
users of heavy plate, since innovations in
steelmaking and plate production, on the one
hand, and experience in the processing of
these products - especially in forming and
welding methods - on the other, interact and
complement each other ideally.
In addition to its foundry, the Heavy
Fabrication Division also operates three
facilities for plate working - a plate cutting
and trimming shop, a plate roll-bending and
welding shop, and a press shop - enabling
the division to supply a broad selection of
parts and services for a whole series of
industries. The Heavy Fabrication Division’s
range of plate-working machines - many of
them the most powerful of their type in the
world - and its state-of-the-art technology
permit performance of many highly
specialized fabrication operations on
Dillinger Hütte GTS plate.
processing technology is of particular benefit
to fabricators of structural tubulars, such as
are used, for example, in the construction of
offshore piles, for the penstocks of hydro-
Figure 4: Plate edge-milling machine with
trapezohedral and annular-shaped plates
during processing
electric power plants, and for storage tanks
(including rolled-to-radius plates, see
Figure 5). The excellent cut-face quality -
with no undesirable hardening - and high
level of accuracy achieved assure special
advantages for subsequent welding,
particularly where high-performance welding
equipment is to be used (see Table 1 and
Figure 6). This latest-generation milling
machine can also perform special operations,

including de-cladding and tapering, on all
welding edges.
To assure optimized solutions throughout the
supply chain, plates with ready-prepared
welding edges (individually marked and weldedge
coated) can be delivered “pile-wise” and
Figure 6: Weld-edged prepared plates
“just-in-time” for special projects, even in
cases in which the welding-edge section is
not specified when the order for the plate
is placed. This flexibility is possible only
thanks to close cooperation between the
customer and the DH-GTS team, including
Figure 5: Weld-edged prepared plates, rolled detailed tracking and analysis of projects
to radius, ready for shippment
and delivery schedules.
Roll bending and welding shop - cylindrical shell courses
Figure 7: 4-roll-bending-machine during the
cold bending of a shell course welded out of two
plates, steel grade: 20MnMoNi4-5
thickness: 146 mm, diameter: 7300 mm
Figure 9: Cut-back hemispherical head, steel
grade: SA387-22-2 (N+ACC+T),
thickness: 190 mm
The pressing shop operates a number of
hydraulic presses exerting press forces of up
to 4,000 t. Single-piece vessel heads featuring
no welds – simply hot formed by means of
deep-drawing using a ring/mould and die –
can therefore be supplied in a wide range of
geometries, including spherical (up to
Shell courses are produced by means of hot
or cold forming, depending on shell size,
material and/or code requirements. They are
generally supplied fully welded, but are also
optionally available in only tack-welded or
braced form. The Heavy Fabrication Division
also possesses a smaller four-roll
bending machine for shaping of standard
plates and another four-roll bending
machine, which remains unique in the
world, for bending of upper-range plate
sizes and/or materials featuring higher
mechanical strength properties (see
Figure 7). The shell course products are
typically used as structural elements, either
as complete parts or in welded assemblies
(see the example shown in Figure 8).
The pressing shop: single-piece vessel heads and multi-segment shell sections
3,700 mm in diameter, see the example in
Figure 9), torispherical, elliptical and flat
(diameter: up to 4,700 mm).
Where the customer’s requirements exceed
the potentials for production of single-piece
components, the Heavy Fabrication Division
can also supply multi-segment shell
sections (produced using either hot or cold
Figure 10: Conical transition piece and multi
segment sections
Table 1: Tolerances: “macroscopic” on the
beveled plate, “microscopic” on the machined
weld edge
Figure 8: Shell course for an offshore-rig
made of two half sections (tack-welded and
braced), steel grade: S460Q, thickness: 210
mm (cold rolled!)
Figure 11:
“Bell mouth”
for the cable
capture -
offshore
application
forming, see the example in Figure 10).
The available range also includes tailormade
sections, including transition pieces,
tapered segments and inlets for shaft linings,
since there are then no dimensional
restrictions (see example in Figure 11).
Available services include trial assembly for
shop inspection and supply of the finishwelded
component.

Additional processing services, inspection and documentation
• Heat treatment (normalizing, water quenching, tempering or stress-relieving – see Figure 12)
• Inspection by destructive and/or non-destructive testing (within the Dillinger Inspection Dptmt)
• Machining and/or weld-edge preparation (e.g. by vertical-lathe with 6m-diameter, cutting by
hand or by thermal-cutting-robot – see Figure 13)
• Welding (SMAW, SAW, TIG)
The documentation includes an inspection certificate in
Figure 12: conformity to EN 10204. Special fabrication and inspection
Heat procedures, such as quality plans and/or shop drawings, can
treatment also be provided on request, however. The Heavy Fabrication
of heads Division is certificated in conformity to the following
or shell standards: EN 9001, EN 14001, OHSAS 18001, ASMS S,
courses ASMS U, ASME U2. Auditing for accreditation as an
ASME III NPT-stamp holder and MO is currently taking
place.
Downstream fabrication and services
Dillinger Hütte’s Heavy Fabrication Division is the right address if you need tailor-made prefabricated structural plates, individual parts,
or complete packages providing all-in solutions. The Heavy Fabrication Division is a business unit fully integrated into the Dillinger Hütte
GTS organization and located on the same site as the plate-making facilities.
Dillinger Hütte traditionally supports its heavy-plate customers’ outsourcing strategies. Irrespective of the processes involved – cutting,
dishing, bending, forming, welding or machining – Dillinger Hütte, with its world-leading plate-processing technologies, is committed to
top quality and reliable on-time delivery.
Get the benefits of the Dillinger Hütte Heavy Fabrication Division’s professional expertise and comprehensive service, under our guiding
principle of
“More than just plate!”
Patrick A. REGNERY
(Heavy Fabrication Division)
The Heavy Fabrication Division’s delivery program is intended only to provide an impression of the various formats and dimensions
which can be supplied. Please contact us if you require formats, weights, fabrication operations, etc., not expressly included in the
program.
Stavanger, August 24 - 27, 2010
Hall C Stand 342, German pavilion
Vanessa Di Rosa
I studied mechanical engineering at the Saarbrücken
University of Applied Sciences, and
started an internship in a department of the
Heavy Fabrication Division, Foundry
Section, at Dillinger Hütte in late 2006,
subsequently writing my degree thesis on
topics associated with the experience I
gained there. A year later I joined the Health
and Safety department, moving in March
2008 to Marketing, where my activities focus
mainly on the Offshore, Structural Tubulars
and Linepipe sectors, and also on
Earthmoving & Mining Equipment and the
Visit us at the ONS fair
Marketing Department Offshore, Structural Tubulars, Linepipe
Born: 1980 in Saarlouis
Education: Graduate mechanical engineer
Hobbies: Sport, travel, arts
Dillinger Hütte Steel Service Centers. In
addition to the promotion of Dillinger Hütte
products, my responsibilities also
include answering technical and
commercial enquiries, with expert
assistance from DH’s internal specialists
where appropriate. Prompt and
comprehensive support for customers and
close cooperation with colleagues are
vitally important factors in my work:
‘Coming together is a beginning, staying
together is progress, and working together
is success’ is a quotation, from Henry Ford,
that I agree with wholeheartedly.
Figure 13: Weld-edge preparation
of one-piece heads, shell courses
or multi-segment section by robot
Impressum
Editor: Andreas Thieme
Co-Editor: Vanessa Di Rosa
DILLINGER HÜTTE GTS
P.O. Box 1580
66748 Dillingen/ Saar, Germany
Phone: +49 68 3 47 21 46
Fax: +49 68 3 47 99 21 46
E-Mail: marketing-offshore@dillinger.biz
http:\\www.dillinger.de