ArcelorMittal Bremen orders combined sampling and packaging line for high-strength steel grades

ArcelorMittal Bremen has placed an order with SMS Logistiksysteme, both Germany, for the supply of a fully automated sampling station for X-grade line pipe steels, including a connected packaging line. By the new plant, ArcelorMittal Bremen, producer of high-strength steel grades, will be able to boost its production as a result of shorter throughput times in the areas of sampling and packaging and process shipping orders “just in time“. Commissioning is scheduled for the autumn of 2014.

The new line will be the first to incorporate several new developments by SMS Logistiksysteme. The key component will be the high-performance sampling shear for high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel grades. It is able to cut strip thicknesses of 1.5 to 28.3 millimeters. The strapping machine for high-strength steel strip commenced operation in the hot-strip dispatch area at ArcelorMittal Bremen as early as in April 2013. Now, strapping by two to three bands replaces the common practice of wrapping up to 20 circumferential bands around each coil and of manually welding together the outer coil windings to prevent the high-strength steel strip coils from springing open.
The processing stations will be designed for parallel operation and connected by an end-to-end transport system. The coils will rest on asymmetric cradles with a wide support span. These cradles have been specifically developed for high-strength steel grades, to ensure safe handling during transport and processing.

The integrated line concept developed by SMS Logistiksysteme allows steelmakers to take samples of and strap their whole product portfolio from standard to ultra-high-strength steel grades in a single facility. This concept may also be adapted to hot operation with coil temperatures of up to 800 degrees Celsius in order to connect the facility directly to the hot rolling mill and process the coils in the transport line fully automatically.

Layout of a combined sampling and strapping line for high-strength steel strip SMS Logistiksysteme GmbH is a company of the SMS group which, under the roof of the SMS Holding GmbH, consists of a group of global players in machinery and plant construction in steel and nonferrous metals processing. Its workforce of more than 13,500 employees generates sales worldwide totaling EUR 3.3 billion.