STEEL + TECHNOLOGY 04/2019 EXTRACT

24 | NEWS ROUND-UP
CHINA
New high-speed open-die forging press in operation at Western Superconducting
Technologies
Expansion of production capacity and
forging capabilities
Western Superconducting Technologies
Co. Ltd., (WST), headquartered in Xian,
in Shaanxi Province, China, has successfully
put into service a 63/80-MN two-column
high-speed push-down open-die
forging press supplied by SMS group.
The supply also included two integrated
railbound 25-t manipulators and a mobile
eight-ton loading and unloading manipulator.
The Chinese company is now able
to flexibly manufacture various high-quality
products for its customers from the
aerospace industry, for example. The
new high-speed press forges extremely
precisely and reliably, with a maximum
press force of 63 MN and an upsetting
force of 80 MN. Thanks to the advanced
hydraulic and control systems installed,
the new open-die forging press forges
highly demanding and temperature-sensitive
materials such as titanium and titanium
alloys in a technologically perfect
way. The two integrated railbound forging
The new 63/80-MN high-speed open-die forging press in operation at WST (Picture: SMS group)
manipulators handle the forgings weighing
up to 25 t accurately to the millimeter
and perfectly synchronously with the
press stroke, even at very high stroke
rates. The double rail-bound manipulators
enable WST to boost their throughout of
forgings.
• SMS group
Zenith Steel modernizes 10-strand billet caster
World’s first application of Single-Roll
DynaGap segments in a billet caster
Zenith Steel Group Co., Ltd. awarded an
order to Primetals Technologies to modernize
a 10-strand billet caster in its converter steel
making plant No. 3 in Changzhou. The billet
caster will be the first one worldwide to be
equipped with the new SRD (Single-Roll
DynaGap) segments. The SRD segment has
been specially developed for use in the area
of final solidification, and it enables the upper
rolls to be pressed down individually onto the
solidifying strand. This enables the final solidification
point to be followed precisely. Technological
packages like DynaPhase, Dynacs
3D and DynaGap SoftReduction 3D will further
improve the internal billet quality with
regard to center porosity and center segregation.
Start-up of the modernized casting
machine is expected for March 2020.
The 10-strand billet caster of Zenith Steel
in its Changzhou, Jiangsu Province plant has
a rated capacity of 2 million metric tons per
3-D scheme of the withdrawal unit with SRD segments for hard reduction (Picture:
Primetals Technologies)
year. It produces sections with a cross section
of 160 mm x 160 mm at a maximum
casting speed of 2.4 meters per minute.
Steel grades processed include low, medium
and high carbon steels as well as tube,
spring, cold heading and tyre cord steels.
• Primetals Technologies
STEEL + TECHNOLOGY 1 (2019) No. 4