railway-international.com
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ANDRITZ Schuler shows newly developed ring roller in action at Erfurt site
New system rolls rings up to 2,000 mm diameter, 400 mm height, features 200 t radial force, commissioning scheduled spring 2026.
www.andritz.com
The system can be used to roll rings with a diameter of up to 2,000 mm and a height of up to 400 mm
The system is intended for a manufacturer of railway wheels in Kazakhstan, who can use it to produce rings with a diameter of up to 2,000 mm and a height of up to 400 mm. Commissioning at the customer's site is scheduled for spring 2026.
In addition to the ring roller, the entire production line includes a rotary hearth furnace for heating the blanks, forging robots for automation, an upstream 10,000 t press for the production of the ring preform, a marking press, two laser measuring units, a 1000 t open-die forging press for the production of the railway axles and the heat treatment for the various products. All relevant production data is documented with the automation and digitization solution Metris Track and Trace and is available for evaluation and production optimization.
During the demonstration of the newly developed system with a radial force of 200 t and an axial force of 160 t, customers from the forging industry were able to observe how a wheel tire was rolled from a red-hot ring preform. During the rolling process, it was possible to see how the diameter of the rolled part increased – typical for the ring rolling process – and the well-known railway wheel profile including the wheel flange was created on the outer surface.
A special feature of the ring roller from ANDRITZ Schuler is that the upper bearing of the mandrel roller can be locked at different heights. This means that mandrels of different lengths can be used, which can be ideally adapted to the respective ring height. For this reason, thin and short mandrels can be used with high rolling forces.
www.andritz.com
The system is intended for a manufacturer of railway wheels in Kazakhstan, who can use it to produce rings with a diameter of up to 2,000 mm and a height of up to 400 mm. Commissioning at the customer's site is scheduled for spring 2026.
In addition to the ring roller, the entire production line includes a rotary hearth furnace for heating the blanks, forging robots for automation, an upstream 10,000 t press for the production of the ring preform, a marking press, two laser measuring units, a 1000 t open-die forging press for the production of the railway axles and the heat treatment for the various products. All relevant production data is documented with the automation and digitization solution Metris Track and Trace and is available for evaluation and production optimization.
During the demonstration of the newly developed system with a radial force of 200 t and an axial force of 160 t, customers from the forging industry were able to observe how a wheel tire was rolled from a red-hot ring preform. During the rolling process, it was possible to see how the diameter of the rolled part increased – typical for the ring rolling process – and the well-known railway wheel profile including the wheel flange was created on the outer surface.
A special feature of the ring roller from ANDRITZ Schuler is that the upper bearing of the mandrel roller can be locked at different heights. This means that mandrels of different lengths can be used, which can be ideally adapted to the respective ring height. For this reason, thin and short mandrels can be used with high rolling forces.
www.andritz.com
