Category: Latest Updates

Neuhof-Dorfborn – Am Mittwoch, 30. Oktober 2019, erreichten die Wissenschaftler des Forschungsprojektes „AM Bridge 2019″ der TU Darmstadt einen Meilenstein: Den Schluss der ersten vor Ort additiv gefertigten Stahlbrücke. Möglich machte das die Cycle Step-Variante des CMT-Schweißprozesses (Cold Metal Transfer) von Fronius Perfect Welding.

Der 3D-Druck ist aktuell eine der spannendsten Technologien und erhält zunehmend Einzug in die industrielle Fertigung. Im Bauwesen steckt er jedoch noch in der Experimentierphase. Das Institut für Stahlbau und Werkstoffmechanik (IFSW) der TU Darmstadt verfügt über zwei Schweißroboter, mit denen die Wissenschaftler verschiedene Möglichkeiten der additiven Fertigung im Stahlbau erforschen können.

ngespornt durch eine niederländische Firma, die eine Brücke mithilfe von Robotern in einer Industriehalle baut, tüftelten die wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiter Christopher Borg Costanzi, Maren Erven und Thilo Feucht an einem Konzept, das den auskragenden Brückendruck direkt über fließendem Gewässer erlaubt. „Die bisher gedruckten Brücken wurden immer vertikal hergestellt, weil das flüssige Schweißgut sonst heruntertropft. Unser Verfahren erlaubt es dagegen, im Schrägen zu drucken”, erklärt Thilo Feucht.

Fronius Perfect Welding unterstützt Stahlbaufertigung von morgen

Bei der Suche nach einem geeigneten Prozess für den horizontalen Materialauftrag stießen die drei Wissenschaftler auf die Variante CMT Cycle Step von Fronius. „Diese erlaubt den Forschern, nicht nur die Anzahl der Einzeltropfen, sondern auch die Pausenzeit zwischen den Schweißzyklen exakt zu steuern”, erklärt Ingo Pfeiffer, Regionaler Vertriebsleiter bei Fronius Deutschland. Die Pausenzeiten sind gerade für das horizontale Auftragsschweißen wichtig, da sie jedem Schweißpunkt ausreichend Zeit zum Abkühlen geben. In Kombination mit dem aktiven Schutzgas – in diesem Fall eine Mischung aus Argon und CO2 – ist das Ergebnis eine wärmereduzierte Schweißraupe mit einem hohen Maß an Reproduzierbarkeit.

Eingebunden ist der CMT Cycle Step in das WAAM-Verfahren (Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing), bei dem die Drahtelektrode als Druckmaterial dient. Mit diesem Verfahren lassen sich auch große Bauteile drucken. Die Brücke in Darmstadt hat eine Spannweite von etwa 2,80 Metern. Sie wird im fertigen Zustand 1,50 Meter breit sein und rund 220 Kilogramm wiegen. Theoretisch schafft der Schweißroboter, die Brücke um einen Meter pro Woche wachsen zu lassen, wenn keine Probleme auftreten würden. „Doch die gehören dazu”, erklärt Fachgebietsleiter Professor Dr.-Ing. Jörg Lange. „Es ist ja schließlich Forschung. Würde alles klappen, wäre es Engineering.” Die Herausforderungen lagen unter anderem in den großen Temperaturunterschieden, die zum Bauteilverzug führten, sowie in der Wahl der richtigen Schweißparameter.

Und das Ergebnis? Ob wirklich einmal Stahlbrücken durch Roboter vor Ort gedruckt werden, ist aus heutiger Sicht nicht zu beantworten. Das Wissen aus diesem Forschungsvorhaben und die Erfahrung mit dem Schweißprozess von Fronius ermöglichen jedoch den zeitnahen Einsatz additiver Fertigungsverfahren im kleineren Rahmen, zum Beispiel zum Toleranzausgeich von Stahlbauteilen – direkt auf der Baustelle.


Über Fronius Deutschland GmbH

Die Fronius Deutschland GmbH mit Sitz in Neuhof-Dorfborn bei Fulda ist eine Tochtergesellschaft der österreichischen Fronius International GmbH. Das 1945 gegründete Unternehmen erforscht und entwickelt neue Lösungen zur Kontrolle und Steuerung elektrischer Energie. Mit seinen drei weltweit erfolgreichen Geschäftsbereichen bietet Fronius ein umfangreiches Portfolio: Die Business Unit Perfect Welding ist globaler Marktführer für Roboter-Schweißtechnik und Technologieführer für Lichtbogen- und Punktschweißprozesse. Fronius Solar Energy hat die effiziente Nutzung und intelligente Speicherung von Energie aus Photovoltaik-Anlagen im Fokus. Mit Perfect Charging realisiert das Unternehmen zukunftsweisende Technologien rund um das Laden von Antriebs- und Starterbatterien in der Intralogistik und im Kraftfahrzeugmarkt.

In Deutschland ist Fronius seit 1992 mit einer Tochtergesellschaft vertreten. Seit 2006 befindet sich die Vertriebszentrale für den deutschen Markt im hessischen Neuhof. Der Standort vereint alle drei Fronius-Business Units Perfect Charging, Perfect Welding und Solar Energy unter einem Dach. Seit Anfang 2013 ist auch die offizielle Landeszentrale der Fronius Deutschland GmbH in Neuhof angesiedelt. Die Kunden werden von mehreren Vertriebsteams und kompetenten Vertrags- und Fachhändlern vor Ort deutschlandweit betreut.

Quelle: Fronius Deutschland GmbH   

OMP announces the expansion of its tech network with the opening of its newest office in Barcelona, Spain. The new tech hub will support OMP’s continued growth by tapping into the region’s talent pool to strengthen the company’s international software development team.

“We have an ambitious, but achievable, product road map ahead of us,” explains Barry Van Landeghem, Senior Manager of Technology at OMP. “Our current rapid growth is supported by highly talented and motivated engineers, who will soon be joined by passionate new colleagues in Barcelona. The location also offers the possibility to deploy other activities in the future, which will strengthen our presence in Southern Europe.”

Barcelona was selected as the location of OMP’s new tech hub thanks to its international reputation for IT excellence, which is supported by the city’s recognized university centers, business incubators, the software industry and knowledge institutes. The new office is strategically located on the outskirts of Barcelona, close to the major highways in the region and well-connected by public transport.

The new team in Barcelona will work in close collaboration with the existing tech teams in Belgium, the US and Ukraine.

OMP helps companies facing complex planning challenges to excel, grow and thrive by offering the best digitized supply chain planning solution on the market. Hundreds of customers in a wide range of industries – spanning consumer goods, life sciences, chemicals, metals, paper and packaging – benefit from using OMP’s unique Unison Planning™ concept.

OMP Spain
Vallsolana Garden Business Park
Camí de Can Camps 17-19
08174 Sant Cugat Del Vallès (Barcelona)
Spain
+34 689 40 23 60

The European Commission may bring forward the review date of the quotas on Turkish steel as close as the first quarter of 2020, according to the Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan, who held negotiations with the EC Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan in Brussels at the end of last week.

According to the Pekcan’s statement published on the Turkish Trade Ministry’s website Saturday, they held useful negotiations with the EU commissioner about the update of the customs union agreement between Turkey and EU and also Brexit. “One of the main subject of our negotiations was the latest practices and trade measures imposed on iron and steel,” the minister said.

As Turkey’s steel exports to the EU region tripled in the last three years, Turkish steel exporters were the most affected by the trade measures imposed by the EU this year, Pekcan said. “We have once again transmitted our documents to the EU commissioner during the meeting. They told us that they will work on it and could bring forward the review date of the steel quotas on Turkish steel even to the first quarter of 2020.”

According to the latest data from European Steel Association Eurofer, Turkish imports declined by 22% month on month in October, amid quotas, but the country remained the top supplier of origin for European steel imports, with 16% market share.

Turkish Trade Minister Pekcan also said that while they are defending Turkish steel producers’ rights on international platforms, they will also use their rights arising from international agreements. “However, while supporting one sector, we shouldn’t harm another,” she noted.

Turkish mills are negotiating with the Turkish Trade Ministry over potential action against the EU, based on the principle of reciprocity, with action expected soon, as Platts reported last week.

Platts reached out to the Turkish Trade Ministry last Wednesday but the department was unable to provide a comment “due to our Minister’s intense working program.”

The Turkish Economy Ministry, which launched a steel safeguard investigation into steel imports a year ago, ended the investigation at the beginning of May 2019 without taking any action

— Cenk Can

Spanish stainless steel producer Acerinox says that has begun a change in its supply chain processes by implementing its so-called Oracle Demand Planning Cloud, the company tells Kallanish.

The project is part of Acerinox’s so-called Excellence 360° plan. This will allow the company to optimise its business in terms of production, supply chain, commercial management and purchases of raw materials by using Industry 4.0 developments.

“At Acerinox we face a global competitive environment in which efficiency in costs and operations is critical,” Acerinox`s ceo Bernardo Velázquez says. The plan, relying on Oracle Cloud technology, will result in a general improvement in terms of competitiveness and efficiency. The technology will also contribute visibility to the business and flexibility to the decision-making throughout the supply chain, aligning itself to the behaviour of the market in real-time, he adds.

The Oracle Demand Planning Cloud is based on statistical algorithms that generate a precise forecast for each customer and makes it possible to plan the demand for all product and regions.

The project is in partnership with Minsait, a company involved in digital transformation and technologies in Spain and Latin America.

German steel service centre company Stahlo has announced the appointment of a new managing director. It is headquartered in Dillenburg in the state of Hesse and is now starting up its enlarged site in Thuringia, Kallanish notes.

The new managing director is Oliver Sonst, who previously headed Austrian profiling group Welser Profile since 2014. Prior to that he had held management positions at Benteler Distribution and at Erbslöh Group. He is succeeding Guido Spenrath, who is leaving the company.

Stahlo has two steel service centres, in Dillenburg and in Gera in Thuringia where it has been investing €45 million ($49m) since the launch of the expansion programme in 2017. The site will have in a new 23,000 square-metre workshop, and the capacity to double the volume of steel processed.

Until recently, the retrofitting and relocation of the existing contoured blanks and slitting line from the old to the new building was still in progress, but projected to be completed by the end of the year. After that, the site will be able to process around 100 coils/day and over 400,000 tonnes/year. The enlarged Stahlo will have a processing capacity of 800,000 t/y, with a staff of over 240 people.

Several of thyssenkrupp Steel’s operations in Bochum may be facing cuts in staff and possible closures, according to German media reports.

At a meeting with the workforce of various plants in Bochum, tk Steel’s ceo Premal Desai gave details about the cutbacks. These could affect between 800 and 1,200 jobs, and the discontinuation of electrical steel production by 2021 as well as the stoppage of the hot-rolling mill by 2024, according to reports by Reuters. Bochum also has lines for hot-dip and electrolytic galvanizing.

tk Steel’s press office would not comment on the details as reported, as they were given at a closed meeting between management and workforce. “That was only a concept presented to the staff. Once a decision is made on the actual plans, we will make them public,” a spokesman tells Kallanish upon request.

Allegedly, tk Steel want to move as many operations as possible to its Duisburg site. Media reports have suggested that this might also affect the electrical strip plant in Gelsenkirchen, and processing sites in the Siegen area.

ArcelorMittal has announced that AM InvestCo, its Italian subsidiary, has signed a non-binding agreement with the Italian government-appointed Ilva commissioners that forms a basis to continue negotiations on a new industrial plan for Ilva. This includes discussions on a substantial equity investment by a government-controlled entity, Kallanish learns from ArcelorMittal.

The new industrial plan would contemplate investments in green technology, including through a new company funded by public and private investors. Negotiations will continue into January. In the meantime, at the hearing today (20 December) the Ilva commissioners and AM InvestCo have requested a further postponement of the Ilva commissioners’ application for interim measures until the end of January.

The Italian government had previously rejected the industrial plan submitted by ArcelorMittal Italia. The steelmaker said in the plan that it would cut almost 4,700 jobs during the next three years. The first cuts would have been in 2020 while the remainder would have occurred in 2023 when the company proposed to idle blast furnace No. 2 and launch an EAF at the Taranto site.

Germany’s total steel sales from stockpiles dropped 5.5% month on month in November as destocking from inventories continued by members of the German trade association BDS AG towards year end, according to data published by the group Friday.

Sales declined for all products in November, and so did inventories, indicating a continuing destocking period with less sales given the time of year.

Long products sales saw the strongest sales drop, by 7.7% month on month to 277,416 mt, followed by flat products by 5.1% to 506,524 mt. Other products sales declined by 1,011 mt to 99,365 mt.

Total inventory balances declined by 83,412 mt to 2,132,743 mt, down 3.8%. Compared with November 2018, total inventory balances were 7.7% lower.

Flat steel stockpiles saw a stronger decline in inventories, by 4.5%, dropping by 60,244 mt month on month. They were 10.8% lower than November 2018, and the lowest in the past three years.

Long steel stockpiles declined to their lowest level since December 2018. Inventories fell by 18,027 mt, or 2.2% month on month. Compared to November 2018, long steel inventories were 2.9% lower.

For other products, inventories declined by 5,141 mt, or 10.2% month on month.

Lower sales from stockpiles and lower inventories are common in the month of November. In November 2018, sales from stockpiles and inventories also declined for all of the above products. December is normally a month where this destocking trend continues.

BDS members include ArcelorMittal Distribution, Jepsen Stahl GmbH and Klockner & Co Deutschland GmbH.

— Charlotte Bucchioni

Elme Metall, a subsidiary of BLRT Grupp, is in the process of implementing multi-million dollar investment projects in Lithuania. In November, construction of the production and logistics complex in the Klaipeda Free Economic Zone (FEZ) began, and the production and logistics complex in Vilnius was acquired.

In mid-November, an agreement was signed on the construction and development of a modern production and logistics complex in the Klaipeda FEZ. The start of production is planned for the second half of 2020. The next stage of development will be the construction of an industrial complex for processing flat and profiled rolled metal products. Over the course of the project, in an area of 7.6 ha, BLRT Grupp will invest about 20 million euros.

“At the moment, all the activities of the company in the Klaipeda region are being carried out on the sites located at the port of Klaipeda. The creation of a modern production and logistics complex, as well as its development in accordance with the strategy of Elme Metall, requires additional production and storage space,” explains Georgy Grigoryan, Chairman of the Board of Elme Metall.

Also, at the end of November, Elme Metall acquired a land plot in Vilnius from Steel Trade with an area of 27,000 m2, which houses a production and logistics complex along with a steel framework and service centre with an area of 11,000 m2.

“Investing in the acquisition and construction of a new complex in Vilnius is another step in implementing the Elme Metall development strategy. Thanks to the expansion of production capacities and the proximity of major highways, we will be able to create more favourable conditions for the development of retail and wholesale trade and increase the overall level of customer service. This will allow us to significantly strengthen our position in the Baltic and Lithuanian markets,” says Georgi Grigoryan.

Elme Metall has been operating in the Lithuanian market since 2004. Today, the company has at its disposal a developed production and logistics infrastructure, consisting of four affiliated branches and three service centres equipped with high-tech machinery.

Elme Metall is engaged in sale of rolled steel and in processing of metal products, holding a leading position in this industry in the Baltic Sea countries. Elme Metall today is an international enterprise with more than 500 employees and companies in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland and Russia.

Umfrageergebnisse zur Frage: Digitalisierung in der Stahlbranche.
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