Some 350 DuraFlex couplings have been ordered from TB Wood, part of Altra Industrial Motion's industrial couplings division, for a Hungarian steel mill that is expanding its hot strip run out table.
The couplings were selected for their polyether urethane construction, which accommodates misalignment and minimizes vibration, but also their specialized design, claimed to reduces stress at the bonding point with the shoe so preventing failure.
Mr David Proud sales director at Altra Industrial Couplings also said that the couplings' simple radial rather than axial mounting and their split in half design were also key factors, since they make for easy installation and replacement without moving connected equipment or disturbing the shaft connection.
The run out table is being equipped with 337 six foot wide, 12 inch diameter, stainless steel rollers, driven by 7.5kW motors at 900rpm. It is part of the drive to increase steel throughput from 1.8 million tonnes to 3 million tonnes each year.
Each roller has to be fitted with a coupling to transfer the power from the motors efficiently, despite the high temperatures, chemical contaminants and potential small misalignment. The steel mill needed to be able to fit the couplings confident that they would require little maintenance or repair work.
Mr Proud said that "We were approached by the steel mill and asked if we could recommend a product that would function reliably at the heart of its production site. Steel mills are a notoriously harsh environment for any component. The run out table was to be responsible for transferring over 8,000 tonnes of steel every day. A failure would create a bottleneck, which would slow production and prove very costly."
He continues that "We were happy to be able to help the steel mill almost double its annual production facilities. In this case, they needed the couplings at very short notice. We were able to reduce our normal lead time of eight weeks down to four to meet with their required deadline."
Source - Plant Engineer
(www.steelguru.com)
