Supersize future for Sheffield Forgemasters
THE casting of a giant 300 tonne forging ingot heralds yet more commercial opportunities for Sheffield Forgemasters International (SFIL).
The ingot, which is the largest the Sheffield steel makers have ever produced, will be forged into large steel rolls for use in the huge steel plate producing mills of India and East Asia.
The new mould has significantly increased the size range of Forgemasters' steel rolls.
It can now produce rolls for plates of steel over 4.5 metres wide – more than one metre wider than generally produced – ideal for feeding the ship-building industries in economically developing regions.
Dr Martin Kearney, technical director for the engineering arm of SFIL, said:
"Forged rolls of all sizes are in huge demand but the expansion of plate mills in particular, has driven the need for this development.
"The new ingot size means we will be producing a finished roll weighing approximately 170 tonnes. To do this, the ingot we work from needs to be closer to 300 tonnes."
He added: "The benefits of these large roll sizes are that the steel sheets they produce are wider. This saves massive amounts of welding time on large-scale constructions, but more importantly, constructions using less welding require less inspection for material fatigue along those joints."
Forgemasters' subsidiary design and project management company Vulcan SFM and its skilled staff have been integral to the success of the project, working out the complex process for making the huge ingots.
Dr Kearney said that the shear size of the components that make up the iron mould assembly, its handling and its positioning within the existing vacuum pouring facility had required a team effort right across the company.
The two-year development of ingot sizes has taken Forgemasters' stock production from 2.7 metres in diameter, to 2.9 metres before creating a mould for ingots of 3.3 metres diameter.
Forgemasters said it is aiming to produce twelve of these ingots a year, with the next due to be cast in February 2008.
SFIL is a world leader in supplying total engineering packages to solve industry's needs.
It specialise in a broad range of heavy forged and cast steel products as well as stocking ingot and bar and produces some of the largest bespoke engineered products in the world with capacity for castings of up to 350 tonnes and forgings of up to 200 tonnes.
