Total Construction Supplies reinforces expansion

A manufacturer of prefabricated reinforcement steel has invested £4m in a new 220,000 sq ft facility in Cannock, with 57 new jobs created so far. Total Construction Supplies has seen turnover double after securing major new contracts with HS2 and a host of highway, housing and nuclear infrastructure projects. This growth has driven the need for the new site that has already been fitted with state-of-the-art cutting and bending machinery, welding equipment and overhead gantry cranes. Cannock adds to the company’s six existing production sites in the West Midlands, Ilkeston and France.
For further information www.total-group.co.uk

18th edition of SteelFab set to open

The 18th edition of SteelFab will open its doors at the Expo Centre in Sharjah next week (9-12 January). This international exhibition for metalworking, metal manufacturing and steel fabrication will build on the last event in 2022 when the 12,000 sq m show floor hosted 150 exhibitors from 25 countries. In total, over 6000 visitors from 42 countries were in attendance.

Demand for manufacturing equipment derives from the Gulf region’s steel production sector, with sheet metal fabrication as its largest segment. The sector manufactured 3.3 million tons of steel in 2020 with a value of around US$3.1bn. At SteelFab 2023, special focus areas will include machine tools, tube and pipe machinery, and welding and cutting. The complementary SteelFab Conference will see global leaders, experts and suppliers discuss key challenges and opportunities for the global steel industry.
For further information www.steelfabme.com

Geometry measurements guarantee accuracy

For more than 43 years, IASA Instandhaltungstechnik AG has been a reliable partner in the field of maintenance, mechanical engineering and machining technology. Based in Switzerland, the core expertise of IASA AG lies in the production of precision components and the servicing and overhauling of pumps, fittings and safety valves.

Since 2011, IASA AG has been using a Unisign CNC – a compact, high-performance machining centre for the rapid, precise and cost-effective production of aluminium structural components. Its 100 kW spindle drive with a speed of 25,000 rpm removes aluminium at a rate of more than 10,000 cm3/min.

Thanks to the rigidity specified in its design, the machine remains extremely stable throughout. However, after so many years of operation there is an understandable need to verify machine precision, which is why the production manager at IASA AG, Yannic Zünti, recently contacted Unisign and asked for a geometry measurement.

When checking the TRAORI point (the pivot point of the turntable and swivel table), Unisign identified a small dimensional inaccuracy in the Z axis. The company corrected this discrepancy before carrying out further measurements on the spindle in two temperature scenarios – hot and cold. The result: both measurements were once again comfortably within the machine’s specifications.

The Unisign machine at IASA AG is now back in operation, in a way that is cost-effective and prevents wear; it is once again ready to continue production at an extremely high degree of accuracy for many years to come.

Says Zünti: “Unisign enables us to achieve an ideal balance between high reliability, speed, performance and accuracy. Those values are not only of importance to us, but are also crucially important to our customers.”
For further information www.unisign.com

Ballscrew for ultra-accurate machine tools

NSK has developed a new type of ball screw that exhibits reduced motion errors to deliver higher surface finish quality for machine tools used in mould and die machining and other surface-critical applications. By eliminating or reducing the time needed for secondary burnishing or polishing applications, the new ball screw also contributes to higher productivity, while simultaneously reducing the amount of drive torque to save energy.

In recent years, builders of machine tools such as five-axis milling machines have been demanding increased accuracy to produce higher quality mould and die surfaces, where the ball screws used in these machines must further improve motion accuracy.

When a ball screw reverses direction, sudden fluctuations in friction cause ‘quadrant glitch’ motion errors with two peaks, leaving streak marks on the machined surface and reducing surface quality. Numerous studies conducted on quadrant glitches show that it is possible to correct the first peak through numerical control (software-based servo controller compensation). Although it is more difficult to fully compensate for the second peak due to the combined effects of more factors (compared with the first peak), NSK can now present the machining industry with a solution to this problem.

Using real digital-twin simulation and friction analysis, NSK has developed a new ball screw with an optimised internal design. Key to this outcome was the company’s understanding of the underlying mechanism of friction fluctuations in ball screws.

Among its many features, the new ball screw stabilises drive torque and reduces friction fluctuations when reversing its direction of motion, thereby improving motion accuracy and reducing quadrant glitch motion errors. The result is a near elimination of the second peak. Indeed, up to 20% less friction fluctuations also contributes to reducing the height of the first peak.
For further information www.nskeurope.com

Correa mills cut processing times by 20%

French multinational Alstom has purchased three Correa gantry mills for its Česká Lípa plant in the Czech Republic. The plant produces parts for commuter trains, trams, metro and other rail vehicles. With almost 1300 employees, it is one of the largest employers in the region. The project, worth several million euros, consists of a FOX-40 fixed bridge-type milling machine and two FOX M-80 gantry milling machines, co-produced with TGS, Correa’s dealer in the Czech Republic.

The FOX-40 machine has a travel range of X 4000 mm, Y 3000 mm, Z 1000 mm and an automatic universal UAD head, while the two FOX M-80 gantry machines are equipped with three spindles and have a travel of 8000 mm in the X axis, 4250 mm in the Y axis and 1500 mm in the Z axis. The challenge to optimise the process was met with the new Correa machines, reducing the processing times of the Alstom parts by around 20%.

Alstom’s Česká Lípa plant makes bogies: mechanically welded, large and complex shaped parts with protrusions and projections, adding to the complexity of the machining process. This type of workpiece is very prone to vibration during machining operations, which causes faster wear on the heads.

To suit this type of operation, the Correa spindle technology is very rigid, stable and 100% mechanical, with no delicate elements fitted that can be easily damaged during demanding machining operations. Among other things, six bearings support the main spindle to provide good performance. For the Alstom project, Correa manufactured a head specifically for the application: an ISO 40 angled head directly attached to the ram for increased rigidity and compatible with the automatic head change system. Correa machines are available in the UK from DTS.
For further information www.nicolascorrea.com