Mannesmann Stainless Tubes Relies on Innovative Testing Solutions from ZwickRoell
Mannesmann Stainless Tubes is one the worldwide leading manufacturers of seamless tubes and pipes from stainless steel and from nickel-based alloys. The company has one of the largest product portfolios in this field. Due to their wide range of products, demanding requirements must be met when testing the mechanical tube/pipe properties. To address this challenge the company opted for a testing machine with four system configurations from ZwickRoell.
Salzgitter Mannesmann Stainless Tubes Deutschland GmbH in Remscheid manufactures seamless tubes and pipes from stainless steel and nickel-based alloys ranging right up to pure nickel. To maintain a high level of quality, not only are the production processes and process parameters checked, but also mechanical materials tests are performed on the manufactured tubes/pipes as an essential part of quality assurance.
Several types of tests, including compression tests, folding tests, and tensile tests, must be performed on various specimen shapes at various temperatures in the laboratory in Remscheid. Due to this wide range of tests, the company opted for a testing machine with four system configurations from ZwickRoell. The benefits of the testing machine are obvious. In addition to the considerable savings from not having to invest in multiple testing machines, Mannesmann benefits from requiring less space and from reduced maintenance costs. Another deciding factor was that the testing machine fulfilled the ergonomic requirements of the testing personnel, since all of the system configurations are at one working height and no test tools have to be exchanged when switching from one type of test to another.
The machine is based on a Z600 materials testing machine with Fmax 600 kN. Three system configurations are integrated in the expanded main test area. In addition to a system configuration for flat specimens, there is an integrated system configuration for threaded-head specimens. Both system configurations use the makroXtens extensometers for strain measurement, which can be comfortably moved between both system configurations. A third system configuration is designed for compression testing on various tube/pipe geometries.
Hot tensile tests up to 1200°C can be performed in the side system configuration. To assist, a high temperature furnace can be simply swiveled into the test area. testXpert III testing software is used to operate the testing machine. testXpert III's workflow-based software keeps training time to a minimum. testXpert III's unique System Configuration Builder ensures that the preconfigured test configurations are loaded automatically after switching the test axis, ensuring efficient and reliable testing.
