TWINLAP WELDER SELECTED FOR ADVANCED PROCESSING LINE

This welder can join AHSS materials from 590MPa to above 1100MPa with a single pass of the welding carriage to save cycle time and maximize tonnage throughput.

A TwinLap Welder from Taylor-Winfield Technologies (Youngstown, OH) has been selected for one of the most advanced continuous annealing processing lines in North America. Once completed, PRO-TEC Coating (Leipsic, OH) will use the new line to produce cold-rolled advanced high strength steel (AHSS) sheet for the automotive industry. The welder will be integrated into the process line by SMS Siemag (Hilden, Germany).

“The TwinLap welder has proven itself more than capable of joining AHSS materials from 590MPa to above 1100MPa with a single pass of the welding carriage which saves cycle time and maximizes tonnage throughput,” explains Robert “Bob” Matteson, the director of technology for Taylor-Winfield. “The weld quality and strength is unsurpassed and the ductility allows the weld to be released into the processing line without secondary treatment,” notes Matteson. “Steel producers were led to believe laser welding was the only process capable of joining these metals. This belief has been debunked.”

Steel producers such as ThyssenKrupp Steel, Severstal International, Anshan I&S, Nucor Steel, Wuhan I&S, Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel, Siderar SAIC and others have chosen the TwinLap Welder to join their complex phase and AHSS materials due to the welding process flexibility, weld quality, ease of installation/operation and overall economic solution when compared to other joining processes.

PRO‑TEC Coating Company was established as a joint venture in 1990 by two global leaders in steel technology and production – U. S. Steel Corporation (U. S. Steel) and Kobe Steel, Ltd., of Japan. A joint team of technical experts from both companies designed the original production facility, featuring a 600,000-ton-per-year capacity, state-of-the-art, hot-dip continuous galvanizing/galvannealing line.  This line debuted as one of the largest, most advanced in the world when it began operation in 1993, and its performance quickly reflected the design and technology that went into its creation.  PRO‑TEC has since exceeded the line’s rated annual capacity and set world production records in 1995, 1996, and 1997.

Due to an increased demand for high quality galvanized steel, PRO‑TEC built a second galvanizing line (CGL2) which began operating in late 1998.  CGL2, with a rated capacity of 400,000 tons-per-year of production, also exceeded its rated capacity, bringing the plant’s total production capability to over 1.1 million tons annually.  This established PRO‑TEC as the largest hot-dip galvanizing/galvannealing plant in North America.

The 730,000 sq ft plant, located on a 1,200-acre site, near Leipsic, Ohio, rises above surrounding fields of corn, soybeans, and alfalfa.  This location was chosen for a number of strategic reasons:  access to Midwestern steel markets, access to both rail and motor transportation networks, and its proximity to U. S. Steel’s production facilities in Gary, Indiana, and near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  These plants supply PRO-TEC with the high quality, cold rolled steel coils necessary for the coating process.  Following U. S. Steel’s acquisition of National Steel, PRO‑TEC added the Great Lakes Works in Michigan as a substrate supplier.

Taylor-Winfield Technologies, Inc., PO Box 779, Youngstown, OH 44501, 330-448-4464, Fax: 330-448-3538, www.taylor-winfield.com.