New from Kuhn Special Steel: Suction roll shells for the paper industry
With successfully tested materials and a special welding process, we take over from Kubota in the production of suction roll shells. Continue reading
There has been movement in the paper industry over the past year. The market leaders Kubota and MetalTek/Sandusky are withdrawing from this segment and paper manufacturers are looking for new suppliers.
As a centrifugal casting foundry, we cover the entire value chain for the production of highly stressed stainless steel components – from casting and heat treatment to complete machining. Our components are used in shipbuilding and the food industry as well as in general mechanical engineering. With this expertise behind us, discussions with the first customers from the paper industry have taken place about the possibilities of manufacturing suction roll shells. The particular challenge for Kuhn Special Steel lies in the length of the components, which cannot always be cast in one piece in the existing production facilities. The outer surface of a suction roll shell has a large number of holes drilled into it during the finishing process. Up to 80% of the material is drilled out as a maximum. This special feature places extreme demands on the quality of the material used and on the weld seam.
Kuhn Special Steel has a team of highly qualified materials scientists and great expertise in casting and welding. Our portfolio includes over 200 materials. In addition to a large number of high-alloy stainless steels, low-alloy tool steels and stainless, acid and heat-resistant steels are also used. In the past, exclusive material solutions have often been developed for special customer requirements. The material quality requirements of the paper industry are met by duplex steels, which account for the majority of our production and with which we have many decades of experience. Under the brand names KUHNPR-70 and KUHNPR-92 the materials from Kuhn Special Steel have already stood the test in use and the circumferential weld seam of the welded joints has also proved to be totally resilient. The primary material supplied for the pilot projects was fully convincing in terms of dimensional stability, external and internal machining options and its excellent chip breaking properties.
Following the successful delivery of the test projects, which were inspected by a neutral body, the first orders are now in production.