PRODUCT REVIEWS
An Athader coil-processing line .
Coil processing lines
Athader , part of The Bradbury Group , is dedicated to producing productivityenhancing , metal-processing equipment for customers around the world . Based in Spain , it specialises in the design and manufacturing of slitting lines ; cut-to-length levelling lines ; decoiling lines and coil / sheet automated packaging systems .
Over the last two years , with its partner Leveltek International , Athader has successfully supplied and installed five stretch levelling lines , one in Australia and four in Europe .
“ Due to the sustained increase in the order book , two strategic decisions have been made in 2022 . We increased our manufacturing facilities in the Basque Country with the acquisition of three additional workshops . We also opened a new branch office in North America to assist the customer service and sales support team in the area , due to the significant number of installations on the continent ,” it told ISMR .
Flatness in focus
Athader ’ s stretch leveller eliminates visible shape defects such as edge waves ; centre buckles ; quarter buckles or oil can and mandrel breaks . The Leveltek Process also can eliminate “ Memory ”, the distortion that can occur in cut parts after laser or plasma cutting of visibly flat sheets . The only measurable effect on the coil , it explained , is a slight reduction in material width , and a slight increase in length .
“ Most visible flatness or shape defects occur because of length variations which develop during the rolling process . Edge waves occur when the strip is rolled with edges longer than the centre , for example , and centre buckle happens when a strip has a longer centre than edges ,” it explained .
The stretch levelling process is simple . The coil is decoiled , stretch-levelled and either recoiled or cut-to-length . Through a Leveltek proprietary non-marking process that grips and stretches the unrolled coil , Athader equipment is designed to eliminate shape defects such as edge waves , centre buckle , quarter buckle and mandrel breaks restoring coils that would otherwise end up as scrap metal . It does not mark or scratch the surface being stretched .
“ If significant width reduction has not occurred , as in the roller leveller example , permanent correction of length disparities has not taken place ,” it said .
Leveltek ’ s stretch leveller stretches the strip with the required force to exceed the yield strength and permanently elongate it . Even with materials that can be flattened using other methods , the process can be used for critical or special surfaces that are bright annealed ; polished ; painted ; patterned or plated / coated .
Leveltek can process coils in a wide range of thicknesses and weights . Its stretch levellers can process many different materials including carbon steel ; stainless steel ; titanium ; aluminium ; brass ; copper ; high-temperature alloys ; galvanized steel and other ferrous and non-ferrous materials .
Surface contact
“ Leveltek ’ s proprietary non-marking grippers conform to the sheet metal / plate profile to achieve 100 % total contact , equally distributed across the entire width of the strip contact area . The entire cross-section is uniformly stretched ,” commented Athader .
“ Enhanced surface structures [ are obtained ] due to the uniformly aligned grain structures ( affecting state , heat conductivity and temperature ) and the release / discarding of surface debris / scale from the uniform stretching process ,” it concluded , adding that no scrap is produced via a threading process .
The Leveltek process is suitable for coils that require exceptional flatness in laser cutting ; stamping ; slit mults ; cut-to-length ; perforating and burning . This could be for the manufacture of products such as cathode plates ; pipes and tubes ; architectural panels ; coiled plates ; tread plates ; refrigeration panels ; lithograph plates and food processing equipment etc .
Athader and Leveltek both provide new cut-to-length lines and retrofits of cut-tolength lines . The Leveltek stretch leveller fits into new or existing cut-to-length lines .
Meet Athader on stand H127 , Hall 27 , at EuroBLECH 2022 in Hanover . n
. athader . com