Wire & Cable Applications

CONTENTS

Volume 49 | Number 3 | March 2016

Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

FEATURE

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Industry News. . . . . . . . . . . . 10 !

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Industry Profile. . . . . . . . . . . 17 Patent Report . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Asian Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Fiber Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Fastener Update . . . . . . . . . . 27 WAI News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Chapter Corner . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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Products! . . in wire 2016 update Technical Papers . . . . . . 74-85

wire Düsseldorf update . . . . . . 38 This update includes additional and updated booth listings and Products Showcase entries of some of the equipment that will either be displayed or able to be discussed at wire Düsseldorf.

Wire & cable applications . . . . 50 This feature presents a tiny sliver of wire and cable elements, some direct, some indirect, but all part of the incredibly huge and diverse collective known as “end uses.”

Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Career Opportunities . . . . . . 86 Advertisers’ Index . . . . . . . . 87

Next issue

April 2016 WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo 2016

TECHNICAL PAPERS Fines measurement and analysis: part 2 Gil Baker and Horace Pops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Economic and chemical comparisons of hydrochloric acid recovery technologies for iron pickling operations Jared Cullivan and Bryan Cullivan.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Cover: A fired wire-guided TOW missile atop a “creative movement” of Germany’s FATZER AG heavy equipment to supply wire rope in the Swiss Alps provide stark contrast to a serene view of the urban gondola project (the Emirates air line) it supplied in downtown London.

MARCH 2016 | 3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE CONTENTS CONTENTS

THE PILGRIMAGE WILL SOON BEGIN . . 38

SHAKE ON VALUE OF NEW IDEAS . . . 50

Update It won’t be long before the industry gathers for the biennial return to the Messe Fairgrounds for wire Düsseldorf. This update includes additional/ updated booth listings as well as more Product Showcase elements of technology that will either be displayed or able to be discussed. It’s a long week, but a good one.

THE buttwelding company since 1933 We are ready!

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4 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

There are countless thousands of applications for wire and cable, and just as with life, change is a constant. Products get phased out, new ones emerge, material costs go up and down and competition emerges from new places, but the industry’s focus remains: to find ways to meet the new demands that most surely will come.

Innovation meets Tradition

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EDITORIAL EDITORIAL

The industry story is not about to fade away Working on the feature on wire and cable applications in this issue, I found myself remembering an old favorite toy that I suspect very few kids today use: an Etch A Sketch. It was the simplest of toys: you twist the two knobs to “move” a line to create whatever form you want, and when you’re done, you just turn it upside down and shake, and all the lines disappear. You’re ready to do something else. I spent many an hour trying to draw a perfect circle, but never came close.

What I mean by the above is that while there are 10 companies in the feature, with a shake of the editorial wrist, it could easily have been 10 different companies. It is hard to appreciate the breadth and depth there is to the wire and cable industry. Yes, there are a lot of commodities, but even there, some companies just find ways to do it better, and while that’s not the essence of an exciting story, it’s a very meaningful one.

Often, you start out a feature with a few ideas and see where it goes. In this case there were some really good elements that did not work out. It happens. Not for this feature, but I once had a corporate executive who declined to take part in a story put it this way: “I’d talk to you if you were from The Wall Street Journal, but you’re not.” I got it. So, when I look at the 10 stories in this feature, a part of me is less than thrilled because some issues were missing. I’m still irked at losing a really good medical wire story because the doctor decided at the last minute to pass, and a lack of cooperation getting details about the wire used for the $400,000 helmets used by pilots of the new F-35 jets that will be deployed on the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.

Yet the proverbial “closed doors” and a few no-gos are not a horrid thing. Far from it, it just means you have to look down more hallways for other possible stories, and what you do find is surprising, in a good way. I see Michel Robert of Numesh, who wants to convince customers why his welded wire is better than rebar; I see the altruistic approach of Minas Liarokapis, a Greek roboticist who is a cofounder of OpenBionics, which is developing low-cost robotic hands; and I see the remarkable fervor of companies with diverse new products, applications and advances.

Most companies understandably focus on their particular niches, so it’s easy to underestimate the collective value of the industry.

There is no shortage of determined people from which will flow new products and ideas. You could shake that Etch a Sketch a hundred times and the industry stories would never run out.

Mark Marselli Editor-in-chief

6 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

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Visit us from April 4-8, 2016 at the wire/tube in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Hall 9, Booth A41

CALENDAR

CALENDAR April 4-8, 2016: wire Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Germany. This biennial event will be held at the Messe fairgrounds. Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America, tel. 312-781-5180, info@mdna.com, www.mdna.com.

May 11-12, 2016: Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. To be held at the Wisconsin Center. Contact: Expo Productions, tel. 800-367-5520, www.electricalwireshow.com.

June 7-9, 2016: WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo Uncasville, Connecticut, USA. This WAI event, to be held at the Mohegan Sun, will include its trade show, operational programs and WAI’s 86th Annual Convention.

June 12-14, 2016: 17th Guangzhou International Platemetal, Bar, Wire, Metal Processing & Setting Equipment Exhibition Guangzhou, China. To be held at the China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou.

Contact: Julang Exhibition Co., Ltd., tel. 86-20-3862 0771, expo@julang.com.cn.

June 6-8, 2016: Wire & Cable Guangzhou 2016 Guangzhou, China. To be held at the China Import and Export Fair Complex, this event is organised

by Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co., and Guangzhou BoYou Exhibition Service Co. Contact: Ivy Wong, ivy.wong@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com.

Sept. 26-29, 2016: wire China 2016 Shanghai, China. The 7th All China International Wire & Cable Industry Trade Fair will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC).

Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America, tel. 312781-5180, info@mdna.com, www.mdna.com.

Oct. 2-5, 2016: 65th International Cable & Connectivity SymposiumM Providence, Rhode Island, USA. To be held at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Contact: Pat Hudak, IWCS, tel. 717-993-9500, phudak@iwcs.org, www.iwcs.org.

Oct. 5-7, 2016: Spring World 2016 Rosemont, Illinois, USA. To be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Contact: CASMI Office, tel. 630-359-4273, info@casmi-springworld.org.

Oct. 5-7, 2016: Wire & Cable India Mumbai, India. This event will be held at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Center. Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America, tel. 312-781-5180, info@mdna.com, www.mdna.com.

WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL EVENTS June 7-9, 2016: WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo Uncasville, Connecticut, USA. See main listing.

May 9-11, 2017: Interwire 2017 Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This WAI event, which will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center, includes its trade show, technical programs and 87th Annual Convention, www.wirenet.org.

June 17, 2016: Midwest Chapter 14th Annual Golf Tournament West Chicago, Illinois, USA. To be held at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club. Contact: Steve Fetteroll, tel.

203-453-2777, ext. 115, sfetteroll@wirenet.org.

Oct. 3-5, 2017: Wire South America, São Paulo, Brazil. To be held at the Imigrantes Exhibition & Convention Center. Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America, tel. 312-781-5180, info@mdna.com, www.mdna.com.

Oct. 18-20, 2016: ITC Monterrey Monterrey, Mexico. See pp. 35, 47.

Oct. 8-11, 2017: 66th IWCS International Cable & Connectivity Symposium Orlando, Florida, USA. Contact: Pat Hudak, IWCS, tel. 717-993-9500, phudak@iwcs.org, www.iwcs.org.

May 9-11, 2017: Interwire 2017 Atlanta, Georgia, USA. See main listing.

8 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

INDUSTRY NEWS

INDUSTRY NEWS Millcon Steel forms JV with Kobe Steel Thailand’s Millcon Steel has formed a 50-50 joint venture in the country with Japan’s Kobe Steel to produce steel wire rod for the automotive field.

An article in the Bangkok Post said that the joint venture, called Kobelco Millcon Steel, was formed because of future market potential. “We are shifting our core business to special-grade steel to meet rising demand in the automotive industry,” said Millcon Steel President and CEO Sittichai Leeswadtrakul. “By 2020, the (Thai) auto industry expects to produce 3.3 million vehicles, a huge increase from last year’s 1.91 million. ... The new JV ... is our key cornerstone.”

Millcon Steel Chief Executive Sittichai Leeswadtrakul (seated right) and Kobe Steel Chief Executive Officer Hiroya Kawasaki sign the agreement to form their new 50:50 joint venture to produce steel wire. Photo Bangkok Post.

The article said that the formation of the joint venture took more than 1,500 days and 31 meetings from the first meeting to the day the memorandum of understanding was signed. Millcon, it noted, had taken over an ideal plant for the purpose, acquiring the assets of Thai Special Steel Industry (TSSI) from entrepreneur Prachai Leophairatana.

Jiruss Rianchaiwanich, executive vice president for business development at Millcon Steel, said three key factors helped persuade Kobe Steel to enter the collaboration: the Japanese steelmaker wanted to expand its production base in the region; to enhance its cost management; and to improve its inventory management and logistics. The JV will produce and sell wire-rod steel and special steel with a total annual production capacity of 480,000 metric tons, he said.

The release said that production of special-steel wire rods is scheduled to commence in May next year, while production of ordinary-steel wire rods began last September at Millcon Steel. The overall investment will be about US$190 million, including the assets of Thai Special Steel Industry. Sittichai described the JV as “a

game-changer” for his business, as its new partner had a strong relationship with major automotive companies.

Apart from the tie-up with Kobe Steel, Millcon Steel is also putting more emphasis on downstream steel or advanced and high value-added products, such as industrial wire, CO2 wire, bead wire, automotive fasteners, and coil springs for sofas, the release said. Kobe Steel, it added, also aims to capture growing demand for wire rods in Southeast Asia by enhancing the local supply chain, from wire rods to secondary processing, and supplying high-quality steel products, the CEO added.

New steel company to be formed in U.S. by Japanese venture Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) announced that it plans to establish a U.S. company based in Shelbyville, Indiana, to manufacture steel wires for cold heading and forging for automobiles.

A press release said that the venture, to be called Nippon Steel & Sumikin Cold Heading Wire Indiana Inc. (NSCI), is being established through joint investment from Toyota Tsusho Corporation, 12%; Nippon Steel & Sumikin Bussan Corporation, Metal One Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation, all 10%; and others, all 5% or less, including Matsubishi Metal Industry Co., Ltd., Nippon Steel & Sumikin Steel Processing Co., Ltd.; Miyazaki Seiko Co., Ltd.; and Sanyu Co., Ltd. The plant will require an investment of approximately US$50 million, and include a pickling and coating line, four wire drawing machines and two heat-treating furnaces, with capacity of 39,000 tons a year. Production is scheduled to start in January 2018.

“As NSSMC foresees continuous and stable growth of the automobile market in North America, in addition to our plants in Thailand and China we have decided to establish this third plant in the USA to meet the demand for Japanese automobile and parts manufacturers,” the release said. It noted that NSCI will be the 12th member company ® of NSSMC’s bar and wire rods business brand SteeLinC .

Steel wires for cold heading and forging are mainly used for automobile fasteners and other kind of parts, and they are produced by adding secondary process (pickling, coating, wire drawing, heat treatment, and so on) to steel wires. Most uses are for important safety related parts and therefore the quality requirements, such as materials and dimension accuracy, are extremely high. In order to satisfy these requirements, strict quality management is necessary for wire rods and secondary process.

Got news? E-mail it to the WJI at editorial@wirenet.org.

10 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

General Cable Corporation report: the restructuring work continues

South Korea’s LS Cable & System has been awarded a major cable contract for the Bergen-Linden Corridor Project, a U.S. project in New Jersey that will require a new 345 kV underground cable system between Bayway and Bayonne, a distance of about 10 miles.

During a discussion of its first quarter financial results, General Cable Corporation President and CEO Mike McDonnell updated the company’s efforts to strategically reduce its company’s global footprint as it seeks “to achieve long-term sustainable growth, clear competitive advantage, a leading competitive cost position, and operating margin improvement.”

With the backdrop of a gloomy quarterly earnings report of a loss of some $48 million, McDonnell—who said that he expects to present a new strategic plan in March—provided his assessment of where the company is today. “As the company grew over the past, some of our businesses were sub-scale, and introduced substantial complexity into the company. We’ve already identified and taken action in Asia-Pacific and Africa regions, where it doesn’t make sense for us to continue to operate. At this time, we’ve also identified businesses currently representing about 20% of our portfolio that may not be able to achieve our criteria.

We’re now looking at plans to either sell these businesses or to determine if they can be improved in the near-term with the addition of modest resources. We’ve also completed an analysis of product profitability, and identified opportunities for further complexity reduction by rationalizing low-volume and low-margin products.” Further, he reported during the discussion, an agreement has been signed to sell General Cable Zambia (Zamefa) Plc, which makes copper and aluminum cables.

McDonnell said that change has taken place in the Americas, including the closure of plants in Malvern, Arkansas, and Franklin, Massachusetts, as well as a planned shutdown of operations in the Honduras, which follows previous consolidations in Brazil and Colombia.

The company previously has written off the value of its operations in Venezuela. In Europe, workforce and other cost reductions will take place in Germany and France.

“Our end goal is to achieve scale, a leading cost and efficiency position, and a more nimble, streamlined company. These actions are the first steps in the new road map.”

The collective restructuring measures being taken should make it possible for the company to achieve its goal of annual savings of $80 million to $100 million, McDonnell said.

During the presentation, the company also reported that it has increased by $4 million the $24 million it had set aside for potential fines for alleged bribery related to some of General Cable’s operations. It added that the company identified other activity—which it has voluntarily disclosed to the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice—that could raise the total fines exposure an additional $33 million. The investigation included sales made between 2002 and 2013.

LS Cable will supply 345 kV cable for a U.S. project.

A press release said that the order, from the Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G), the largest electric and gas service provider in New Jersey, is worth approximately $57 million. The 345kV underground cable system will deliver electricity to northeast New Jersey.

Some of key challenges for this project, the release said, are manufacturing, transporting, and installing new underground cables across the Newark Bay through conduits installed by the horizontal directional drill method. “This entails manufacturing continuous cables longer than 7,000 ft, well-planned logistics for transportation from the manufacturing facility to the work site, and special care and handling of large reels at the site.”

Per a report in South Korea’s NewsWorld, the contract was won based on the capabilities of LS Cable. LS Cable said it competed with cable manufacturers from Japan and Europe in the bidding and won. “Only a few companies were granted licenses from the bidding. We won the contract with our capability to manufacture continuous cables 2.2 km in length. So far, LS Cable is the only company in Korea to produce 2.2-km cables.”

The news follows the company’s November 2014 completion of the Southern Maryland Reliability Project, a 230kV Patuxent River Crossing Project, with Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative. “Our successful experiences in the past and customers’ trust accumulated through previous projects played a decisive role in winning this (latest) contract,” said Jae-In Yoon, president of the business unit in LS C&S. The project is scheduled to be operational by June 2018.

MARCH 2016 | 11

INDUSTRY NEWS

LS Cable & System reports winning $57 million cable contract in U.S.

INDUSTRY NEWS

REDEX opens U.S. equipment division The REDEX Group, a France-based supplier of equipment, has created a new subsidiary, REDEX of America (RofA) to serve the North American market.

A press release said that REDEX, which designs and manufactures cold rolling mills, tension leveling lines, slitting lines and laser-closed flux-cored welding (FCW) lines used in metal strip and wire production, has located its subsidiary in Swedesboro, New Jersey, 25 miles from Philadelphia. The goal, it said, was to provide faster customer service, develop new business opportunities throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and strengthen partnerships with suppliers and sub-contractors.

“We want to offer more efficient service than ever to our North American customers,” said Gilles Ruffinoni, president of RofA and a member of REDEX’s board of directors. “North America is a strong market for us and we believe in its outstanding potential. Through RofA, we can begin to take advantage of opportunities to better serve our customers.”

RofA will focus on the engineering and servicing of metals production finishing equipment and systems, the release said. The company employs technical sales and electrical and mechanical engineering professionals to serve customers and promote its equipment throughout North America. “By establishing a U.S. presence, REDEX is enabling its customers to take advantage of the company’s breadth and depth of technical expertise, and of solutions to improve finishing line process operations.”

Per the release, REDEX has three manufacturing plants in France and Germany. From those facilities, the company exports more than 90% of its products. In 2012, REDEX acquired BUHLER to strengthen its rolling mill capabilities. The company now has subsidiaries in China, England, Germany, India, Italy, Spain and the U.S. Founded in 1949, REDEX employs 300 people worldwide and is headquartered in Ferrières, France.

Nexans to supply range of power cables for Istanbul Metroline project Nexans reports that it will supply Dogus Construction Group with the company’s low- and medium-LV and MV Alsecure cables for Istanbul’s new Metroline.

A press release said that as a result of the initial specification study, Nexans will supply both low voltage and medium voltage Alsecure cables for the 563 million euro project, commissioned by the Istanbul Municipality (IBB). Nexans will provide cables with enhanced mechanical protection, including rodent-proof outer sheathing, and be able to pass robust fire testing. Cables deliveries will be scheduled throughout the year in installments, with each lot being delivered within six weeks.

The project, to be done by 2017, will include 16 additional stops to the existing Metroline network, and allow the system to carry 65,000 passengers an hour in each direction, serving the city’s growing suburban districts.

12 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

In other news, Nexans reported that it will supply 140 km of high temperature conductor cables to carry renewable energy from EnergoBit’s new Babadag III Wind Farm, Dobrogea, southeast Romania.

A press release said that the contract from EnergoBit S.A. calls for it to supply the cables and accessories to the 30 MW Babadag III Wind Farm in Romania, which will use it to send energy to the grid. The existing BabadagTulcea Vest 110 kV power line does not have enough capacity to carry power from EnergoBit’s new wind farm, and Nexans’ high temperature ACSS/TW BRANT conductors will double the line rating without adding mechanical loads, it said.

Primetals to supply combination mill Chinese producer of stainless steel U.K.-based Primetals Technologies reports that it has been asked to supply a combination mill for Yongxing Special Stainless Steel Co., Ltd., (Yongxing) a Chinese manufacturer of special stainless steel.

A press release said that the contract calls for a combination bar, bar in coil and wire rod mill in Huzhou City that will meet growing demand for higher grade stainless steel products. The new mill will annually produce 250,000 tons of different products for the aerospace, energy, medical, automotive and petroleum industries, among others.

To be commissioned this year, the mill will generate 62 tons per hour at speeds up to 80 mps, making straight bar (30-130 mm), bar-in-coil (14-40 mm) and wire rod (4.516 mm), the releases said. Yongxing, a top 500 private enterprise in China, specializes in special stainless steel rod and wire, it noted. Primetals Technologies is a joint venture of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siemens.

Wiedenbach will lead a new industrial sector within the Domino Group Wiedenbach GmbH announced that it has been appointed to lead the “Industrial Sectors” division within Domino’s Global Sector and Solutions organization (GSS-Industrial), which serves the wire and cable, and other industries.

A press release said that the deal was a “strategic step forward” in Domino’s relationship with Wiedenbach, which will see the creation of a global network of industrial sector specialists within Domino’s channels. “We will be able to respond quicker to future market trends and developments, as well as meet our customers’ requirements by offering more up to date solutions,” said Frank Dubbins, an Authorized Officer of Wiedenbach,

CanGen is now part of Milacron U.S.-based Milacron reports that it has acquired CanGen, a business that was formed from Canterbury Engineering and GENCA. A press release said that Milacron, a supplier of plas-

“This win would not have been possible without the active participation of our AWPA member company representatives, and Janet Kopenhaver, AWPA Director of Government Affairs, who participated in numerous meetings (in DC) with lawmakers and agencies,” the release said.

“The passage of ENFORCE is such an exciting accomplishment for AWPA and the members who began this battle eight years ago,” said AWPA Executive Director Kimberly Korbel. “We are looking forward to working with the Administration on implementation of this important legislation.”

ENFORCE bill drafted by wire industry is one legislative step closer to becoming law On Jan. 12 by a vote of 75 to 20, the U.S. Senate approved the Customs Reauthorization Bill, which includes the ENFORCE Act that was drafted eight years ago by members of the American Wire Producers Association (AWPA).

A press release said that the ENFORCE Act, which on Dec. 11 passed in the House by a 256 to 158 vote, provides measures to enable the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to better enforce U.S. trade laws to stop evasion of duties. Past WJI issues have cited stories about offshore product being shipped to the U.S., sometimes by way of a third country, to either avoid paying duties and/or to get around existing trade actions intended to block such shipments.

The AWPA coalition that drafted the bill included Joe Downes, who was President of Industrial Materials at Leggett & Platt when the coalition was formed. He was helped out by company colleagues Wendy Watson and Amy DeArmond. Other coalition members include Milton Magnus of M&B Metal Products Company; H.O.Woltz of Insteel Industries; David Libla and George Skarich of Mid Continent Steel & Wire; Bill Upton and Alan Logan of Vulcan Steel Products; and Tim Selhorst of American Spring Wire. The coalition members put in many hours of visits, calls and coalition meetings to bring this legislation to passage by Congress.

MARCH 2016 | 13

INDUSTRY NEWS

tics processing technology, “recognized the opportunity to purchase and add CanGen to its already strong portfolio of businesses in our industry, which now includes: Milacron, Ferromatik, Mold-Masters, Milacron Co-injection, DME, TIRAD, and CIMCOOL Fluid Technology.” Each product brand, it noted, focuses on the unique, value-added solutions they provide to their respective customers while leveraging the tremendous synergies that exist among all the Milacron product brands.

The release said that CanGen will operate as part of the Milacron Extrusion business unit. “Both Milacron and CanGen see the strong value in continuing to run CanGen in the way it has always operated, with openness and willingness to work with all companies in our industry.

We will continue to enhance how we serve our customers through the CanGen sales and service teams.”

INDUSTRY NEWS

Report: the South African market looks very good for wire and cable A report from Transparency Market Research predicts good things for the wire and cable industry through the year 2020.

A press release said that the report, “Wire and Cable Market - South Africa Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014-2020,” projects that this market, propelled by infrastructure investments, will to reach US$834.5 million by 2020. In doing so, the market will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% from 2014 to 2020.

Per the release, “This market was valued at US$355 million in 2013 and is expected to reach US$834.5 million by the end of 2020.” The South Africa wire and cable market is being driven by an infrastructure boom in both residential as well as commercial sectors. This high rate of activity in the two sectors has created major scope for the use of wires and cables in the country. Another driver highlighted by the report is the growth in the nation’s telecom industry in terms of the number of connections available.

Of the various materials used in the South Africa wire and cable market, copper wires and cables outstripped all others and held a share of 38.17% in 2013. The second-largest segment, under types of wires and cables, was fiber optics. Both segments are expected to maintain their relative positions over the forecast period, according to the report. Increasing demand for both segments stems from big investments by South African companies and the government into the South Africa wire and cable market to meet the demands of a rapidly growing economy.

A large part of the copper wires and cables segment goes into power generation, power distribution, telecoms, and electric and electronic circuits. The South Africa wire and cable market is also segmented by the report according to voltage type (low, medium and high). Of these, the South Africa wire and cable market was dominated by low voltage wires and cables in 2013.

In terms of the various applications, the South Africa wire and cable market was led by the buildings segment. This segment comprises both residential and commercial buildings, both of which are showing high rates of development.

A sample of the report, ID 3645, can be obtained by going to www.transparencymarketresearch.com.

General Cable reports 2 utility orders that will use its new E3X™ Technology U.S.-based General Cable reports that it has been awarded contracts from two utilities that call for the application of the company’s new E3X™ Technology.

A press release said that the orders—from Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) and Avista, a utility company in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region—each call for General Cable to supply conductors for the projects. The OG&E order is for a 345 kV transmission line for the state’s largest urban region while the Avista order is for a 4.5 mile 14 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

General Cable Corporation has high expectations for its E3X™ Technology that is applied to conductors.

115 kV transmission line rebuild.

What’s noteworthy about the projects is that both customers have asked for General Cable’s E3X Technology, a patent-pending thin, durable coating that the company describes as “groundbreaking.” The coating, which can be applied to the surface of any General Cable overhead conductor, is engineered to improve grid efficiency by lowering operating temperature reducing power losses and increasing power carrying capacity, allowing greater efficiency and lower total system costs without compromising on safety and compliance.

For more details about this technology, see p. 60.

New name, outlook for New York Wire New York Wire, a storied U.S. wire producer that last year went into bankruptcy, is now operating as IWM International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Phifer Incorporated, based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

There had been some issues over certain assets involved in the acquisition, but those were resolved, and per reports in the York Daily Record, the company, based in Hanover, Pennsylvania, is positioned for a rebound. Company CEO Guy Fritz said in the article that the company, which employs some 250 people at three locations in York County, Pennsylvania, is poised for growth as it works to “re-shore” jobs to the U.S. after a failed overseas manufacturing operation that led the business to bankruptcy.

“The company has now passed the low point in its history and has a very bright future ahead of it,” he said.

The name change presents an opportunity to re-brand the 127-year-old manufacturer on the global market, Fritz said. In recent years the company has shifted its focus from residential wire mesh products, as used in screen windows and doors, to wire mesh filtration products for the heavy equipment, mining and agricultural sectors, he said, adding that IWM stands for Industrial Wire Mesh.

“We’re very specifically focusing around industrial products,” he said. “This gives us a chance to identify with our customers directly around the industrial products.”

“We are fully committed to supporting and accelerating our company’s growth and innovation on an internation-

 Visit

us at wire Düsseldorf stand 11 B03  Visit our stand #1806 at — Interwire 2015

INDUSTRY NEWS

al scale, both organically and through acquisitions,” said Phifer President Brad Cork. “We believe IWM is a perfect fit to meet Phifer’s objectives.”

Per the news story, the company paid $8.8 million for the business.

SAMP acquires Cortinovis do Brasil SAMPSISTEMI, a company of Italy’s SAMP S.p.A. part of the Maccaferri Industrial Group and a global leader in drawing and extrusion technology, announced its the recent acquisition of Cortinovis do Brasil.

A press release said that Cortinovis do Brasil is a wellknown and trusted player in the Brazilian and South American market that has been active for more than four decades. “By means of this, SAMPSISTEMI strengthens its presence in a strategic market like South America, and Brazil in particular, broadening the company’s product portfolio and allowing the Italian company to achieve an important competitive advantage.” The representative office, based in São Bernardo Do Campo, São Paulo, will continue its activity in the same location and with the same skilled and experienced staff that local customers have known for a long time, it said. The continuity of the actual product portfolio will be ensured and the local offer will be increased by the complete production range of SAMPSISTEMI. The two companies will be present at wire Düsseldorf.  Visit

Clifford Welding has a new name Clifford Welding Systems, a South African supplier of machinery for the wire and steel industry, has undergone a name change to Clifford Machines & Technology (CMT).

A press release said that the name was changed to better reflect the diversified range of machinery that is now being delivered to customers and express the capabilities and ambitions of CMT to produce machines and solutions in the industrial equipment space. “We increasingly find ourselves receiving enquiries to build capital equipment for customers not in our traditional wire and steel industries, customers that recognize (our) world-class engineering, design, development and project capability,” said CEO Craig Markham.

“The new name is a good fit for the type of projects that we find ourselves involved with; delivering machinery and services to exciting new markets where our core capabilities allow us to deliver solutions to challenging problems.”

“The name change is effective immediately but may take some time to filter to all areas as we roll out new our branding and image. ... CMT is not deserting the traditions and historical markets that have become the bed rock of our company, but rather ensuring that our customers can better identify and relate to us as providers of capital equipment, services, technology and projects,” said Michael Webber, company sales manager. For more details, go to www.cliffeng.com

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 9 E6-5 

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16 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

2/12/16 3:58:07 PM

COMPANY PROFILE PASCOAG RHODE ISLAND COMPANY

Foisy Braiding Specialties (FBS) President Rob Foisy Tel 401- 824-6215 rfoisy1@gmail.com FOCUS Founded in 2010, FBS provides braiding technical expertise, service, training and more to manufacturers. The company also provides rebuilding as well as serving as a liaison between manufacturing and engineering. Customers include the Bell Helicopter, Sikorsky Aircraft, Caterpillar and the U.S. Government.

OF NOTE An ISO 9001 auditor, Rob Foisy has always been a mechanically inclined person.

He enjoys working with his hands and figuring out how to make things work. He has had that mindset since he was young.

A graduate of Bryant College, where he studied business administration and management, he enjoys fishing in his spare time and has served as a fall recreational and select soccer coach for a local youth soccer association.

WJI: You didn’t set out to start your own company: what happened?

Foisy: I started working for Wardwell Braiding in 1990, and was customer service parts manager. I got promoted to technical sales and service engineer in 2001. I traveled all over the place repairing Wardwell braiders. Then, in 2009, the company went into receivership and was bought by a German company, Spirka, which eliminated a number of positions, including mine. At the time, the recession was well underway and jobs were scarce.

I’d been in the wire and cable business for many years and had good working relationships with so many companies, so I decided to start my own business.

Rob Foisy, President/Owner Foisy Braiding Specialties

WJI: You went from being a long-time employee to a sole proprietor: what was the toughest part of that transition?

Foisy: I would say that it was getting my name out there and letting people know that I had opened Foisy Braiding Specialties. That I was still the same guy, doing the same thing, but for me.

WJI: Was your first year a period of highs and lows? Did you ever think you might have to do something else (and if so, any idea of what that might be?)

Foisy: My first year was a learning period with some uncertainties, including not making a weekly paycheck. I’m sure everyone feels this way when they start out. This industry has always been cyclical but everyone I have dealt with has encouraged me to stick with it. I cannot see myself working in any other industry.

WJI: How much of your business is regular maintenance? Do you travel much?

Foisy: I would have to say about 90% of the business is from existing customers. As for travel, I go anywhere in the U.S., but the majority of my travel is in New England. I have been to just about every state and have traveled to several European countries.

WJI: Is your schedule fairly constant?

Foisy: My schedule varies all the time.

In this business it is not uncommon to go from feast to famine. When things slow down I always hit the road and try to visit

as many customers as possible, and send out mailers.

WJI: How important is your electronic presence to your business?

Foisy: My electronic presence is very important. It is impossible to visit everyone personally, so anyone looking for service to repair their braiders, or training personnel, or just looking for replacement parts can find me on the web at www.foisybraiding.com. I get inquiries all the time from people and companies I have never heard of. I always ask how they found me, and it seems to be split equally between word of mouth and the internet.

WJI: Has it worked out for the best?

Foisy: Once I got the business going, I never looked back. I realize now that losing a job, even one that I enjoyed a lot, was for the best. I’m still enjoying all that, but now I’m doing it for me.

I wish I had started out this direction years earlier.

MARCH 2016 | 17

PROFILE

A lost job leads to a new business

PATENTS

Patent REPORT Technical advances are a necessity for any industry, and to that end, companies invest considerable resources in R&D. This monthly section will list the abstracts of recently approved U.S. patents. Most are direct to wire and cable while a few may be more indirect/downstream.

Wire harness 9,258,933 Feb. 9, 2016 Filed: Dec. 26, 2013 Hitachi Metals, Ltd., Japan Masaaki Imahori A wire harness includes an electric wire, a braided shield covering the electric wire, an annular electromagnetic wave absorption component that includes a through-hole for inserting electric wire and absorbs electromagnetic wave emitted from the electric wire, and a movement-restricting member for restricting the electromagnetic wave absorption component from moving in a direction of inserting the electric wire in the through-hole.

U.S. Patent No.: Patent date: Assignee: Inventor:

Cable stripper U.S. Patent No.: 9,257,821 Patent date: Feb. 9, 2016 Filed: May 21, 2013 Assignee: Changzhou Amphenol Fuyang

Communication Equipment Co., Ltd., China Inventors: PengjinWang, Tingxing Sheng A cable stripper having a stripper body having at least one hole and opposite first and second ends, a cable stripper guide having a connection part and a guiding part, the connection part engaging the first end of the cable stripper body, at least one marble located within the at least one hole in the cable stripper body, and at least one spring having first and second ends and being located within the at least one hole in the cable stripper body and engaging the at least one marble.

18 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

High speed bypass cable for use with backplanes U.S. Patent No.: 9,257,794 Patent date: Feb. 9, 2016 Filed: Aug. 18, 2015 Assignee: Molex, LLC, U.S. Inventors: Christopher Wanha, Brian Lloyd, Ebrahim Abunasrah, Rehan Khan, Javier Resendez, Michael Rost A cable bypass assembly is disclosed for use in providing a high speed transmission line for connecting a chip, processor or circuitry mounted on a circuit board to other similar components. The bypass cable assembly has a structure that maintains the geometry of the cable in place from the chip to the connector and then through the connector. The connector includes a plurality of conductive terminals and shield members arranged within an insulative support frame in a manner that approximates the structure of the cable so that the impedance and other electrical characteristics of the cable may be maintained as best is possible through the cable termination and the connector.

Star quad cable with shield U.S. Patent No.: 9,257,215 Patent date: Feb. 9, 2016 Filed: March 5, 2012 Assignee: Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik GmbH & Co. KG , Germany Inventors: Michael Wollitzer, Gunnnar Armbrecht, Helmut Reiter A star-quad cable for transmitting electrical signals with at least two pairs of electrical conductors, wherein each conductor has an electrically conductive core and a conductor sheath of an electrically insulating material which surrounds the core radially, the conductors being arranged at the corners of a square in a cross section of the star-quad cable, wherein the conductors of a pair are arranged at diagonally opposite corners of the square, and in each case the four conductors are twisted with one another in accordance with a star-quad arrangement with a predetermined stranding factor, wherein an electrically conducive shield surrounds the two pairs of conductors radially on the outside. An additional insulator sheath (of an electrically insulating material is arranged between the conductors and the shield.

Optical fiber cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,256,041 Patent date: Feb. 9, 2016 Filed: Jan. 8, 2015 Assignee: Sumitomo Electric

Industries, Ltd. , Japan Inventors: Yuya Homma, Itaru Sakabe An optical fiber cable comprises a plurality of optical fibers, tensile strength fibers that accommodate the plurality of optical fibers, and a sheath formed with a thermoplastic resin and covering the tensile strength resin. In this optical fiber cable, when a Young’s modulus of the sheath at 0.degree. C. is E [MPa], a cross-sectional area of the optical fiber cable is S [mm.sup.2] and an inner diameter of the sheath of the optical fiber cable is Di [mm], ES (0.degree.

C.) [N] which is the product of the Young’s modulus E at 0.degree. C. and the cross-sectional area S, and the inner diameter Di [mm] satisfy: .function..times..degree..times.. times..ltoreq. ##EQU00001## .

Winding tester for composite wire rod-type specimens U.S. Patent No.: 9,255,868 Patent date: Feb. 9, 2016 Filed: May 3, 2012 Assignee: Zhejiang Huadian Equipment Testing Institute, China Inventors: Rui Li, Minbo Yu, Guoyong Li, Zhihua Zhu, Hongyun Yu, Qun Yuann It is provided a dedicated winding tester for composite wire rod-type specimens for effectively measuring the minimum winding radius of the wire rod-type specimens being made with carbon fiber or glass fiber reinforced composites in various diameters or textures via automatically gripping specimens, tightly winding, and sequentially proceeding sustained load in time, thereby supplying test data and design consideration in actual use and transport of the wire rod-type specimens being made of carbon fiber or glass fiber reinforced composites that comprises a shield, a specimen receiver and a winding device being arranged within said shield, as well as a programmable controller being arranged outside the shield.

Patent Facts Below are some tibits from assorted sources.

By any name, Samsung is the patent leader

IBM led U.S. patent activity over any other single patent assignee in 2015...kinda, sorta, but maybe not reallky. Samsung—which published patents under several entity names including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display and Samsung SDI, among others—racked up a total of 20,810 U.S. patent “documents” in 2015. It also had 9,588 patent grants, some 3,000 more than IBM in 2015.

To not patent ‘twas a nobler decision

In 1955, for the sake of humanity, Jonas Salk chose not to patent his polio vaccine. Per one report, if he had patented it, he could have earned as much as $7 billion.

The movie industry fled to California to avoid iconic inventor Thomas Edison

The movie industry is based in Hollywood today because it wanted to avoid Thomas Edison, who over the course of his career held over 1,000 U.S. patents. Edison had a role in the invention of the Kinetoscope, an early movie camera, and during the late 1800s and into the 20th century, he held many of the patents needed to create movies. He convinced holders of other movie-related patents to join his consortium, the Motion Picture Patent Company, which gained a near monopoly on the production, distribution, and exhibition of all things film. It was also known for taking extreme steps to enforce their collective patents. To avoid Edison, certain companies moved to Hollywood, where the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was less friendly to the patents held by Edison and company.

MARCH 2016 | 19

PATENTS

Strength member system for fiber optic cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,256,0433 Patent date: Feb. 9, 2016 Filed: March 20, 2012 Assignee: Corning Cable Systems LLC, U.S. Inventor: Daniel Haymore A fiber optic cable includes a strength member, a layer of polyethylene contacting the exterior of the strength member, and a yarn wound around the strength member. The yarn is between the strength member and the layer of polyethylene.

PATENTS

Method of wrapping elongate material, especially cable harnesses, with a sheath U.S. Patent No.: 9,252,583 Patent date: Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: Aug. 14, 2006 Assignee: tesa SE, Germany Inventors: Andreas Wahlers-Schmidlin, Thomas Friedrich, Frank Lange A method of wrapping elongate material with a sheath having first and second single-sided adhesive tapes the tapes laminated to one another with an offset, a free edge of the first adhesive tape aligned parallel to the center axis such that, relative to the center axis of the material, the adhesive of the first adhesive tape lies outwards, the first adhesive tape of the sheath guided by the free edge onto the material, and wound around the material so that the first adhesive tape essentially completely envelopes the material, the second adhesive tape also wound around the material, the exposed adhesive of the second adhesive tape bonding to the exposed adhesive of the first adhesive tape, so that the material is surrounded by at least two plies of adhesive tape.

Non-halogen flame-retardant insulated wire U.S. Patent No.: 9,251,929 Patent date: Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: Aug. 23, 2013 Assignee: Hitachi Metals, Ltd., Japan Inventors: Segawa Kentaro, Motoharu Kajiyama A non-halogen flame-retardant insulated wire includes a conductor and an insulating coating layer including an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer includes a composition in which 50 to 95 parts by weight of a polyethylene with a density of 0.930 g/cm.sup.3 or more and 5 to 50 parts by weight of an ethylene copolymer are mixed. The outer layer has a composition including a base polymer in which 60 to 95 parts by weight of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer containing 60% by weight or more of vinyl acetate and 5 to 40 parts by weight of a maleic acid-modified ethylene-.alpha.-olefin copolymer are mixed, and including 80 to 200 parts by weight of a metal hydroxide. The outer layer resin composition is crosslinked.

Flexible cable 9,251,928 Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: Nov. 19, 2013 Taiyo Cabletec Corporation, Japan Naoki Taniguchi A flexible cable has a conductor formed by twisting a plurality of annealed copper wires and a plurality of alloy wires, an assembled conductor formed by twisting a plurality of the conductors, an insulated wire core formed by covering the assembled conductor with an insulator, a cable core portion formed by twisting a plurality of the insulated wire cores, and a sheath covering the outside of a single or a plurality of the cable core portions.

U.S. Patent No.: Patent date: Assignee: Inventor:

Fiber optic cable with electrical connectors at both ends, wall plates and control boxes U.S. Patent No.: 9,250,405 Patent date: Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: Feb. 25, 2014 Assignee: Celerity Technologies, Inc., U.S. Inventors: Xiaolin Tong, Junxing Cao A connecting device for a fiber optic cable includes a first part having first and second electrical connectors located on its housing, and a second part having a third electrical connector located on its housing. The second and third electrical connectors are adapted to be mechanically and electrically connect with each other or disconnected from each other.

The first part has electrical components disposed within its housing and electrically connected to the first and second electrical connectors. The second part receives end portions of optical fibers of the fiber optic cable; it has optical transceivers within its housing but no other electrical circuitry.

Also disclosed is a cable device employing an optical fiber cable and two connecting devices at its two ends, at least one of which having a structure described above. Various form factors can be adopted for the first part, including a plug, wall plate, standalone box, etc.

Optical fiber and optical cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,250,387 Patent date: Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: Nov. 21, 2014 Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Japan Inventors: Itaru Sakabe, Yuya Homma The present invention relates to an optical fiber and an optical cable which can be used for a long term even under environments in which an oil content migrates into them, and the optical fiber has a glass fiber extending along a predetermined axis, and a coating. The coating is composed of a plurality of layers each of which is comprised of an ultraviolet curable resin or a thermosetting resin, and swelling rates of the respective coating layers are set so that they increase from an outer peripheral surface of the glass fiber to an outer peripheral surface of the cable jacket. (section cont’d. on p. 70)

20 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

ASIAN FOCUS

ASIAN FOCUS Wire & Cable Guangzhou returns to CIEFC for 3-day event this June Organizers of Wire & Cable Guangzhou 2016, which will be held again at the China Import and Export Fair Complex (CIEFC), expect that there will be much interest in the event that will be held June 6-8, 2016.

A press release said that national infrastructure projects will bolster growth in the domestic wire and cable industry, creating many industry demands. “The new energy sector as well as the infrastructure in China are undergoing rapid changes,” said Emeka Hu, general manager of Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co. Ltd. (Messe Frankfurt). “This, in turn, is creating endless opportunities (for) the green construction and green tech industries in China and across the globe. As an industry powerhouse, China ranks among the top producers and exporters of wire and cable related products.”

Per the release, China is pouring money into its railways, smart grids and intelligent buildings, and these investments are creating an upward trend in domestic wire and cable market growth. The demand for wires and cables, especially high-end cables, is expected to remain strong for the next five years and the country’s wire and cable production output is projected to exceed US$257 billion by 2020.

On a global scale, the market size for power cables has grown in both value and volume, the release said.

The incessant demand for power cables shows no signs of slowing down given the need for the integration of solar and wind energy into grid systems, particularly in European and Asian economies. According to statistics published by BCC Research LLC, the global wire and cable market is anticipated to surge to USD 297.4 billion by 2019, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 7.7%.

Messe Frankfurt, joined by Guangzhou BoYou Exhibition Service Co Ltd, Wire & Cable Guangzhou, a leading South China wire and cable trade platform, note that they are hoping to see improvement over the numbers for the 2014 event. That staging, they reported, saw the fair welcome 283 exhibitors and 18,867 visitors from 25 countries and regions including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Italy, Russia, Turkey and the Middle East.

To address the current market trends, the upcoming 2016 edition will include the most in-demand products covering all sectors of the industry, the release said. The product groups to be highlighted at the event include: wires and cables; optical fiber cables; wire and cable equipment and materials; optical fiber cable equipment and materials; detection instruments, observation and control technologies; and production and testing machinery, components and accessories.

The release cited a range of observations from past exhibitors. “We returned to the fair because we believe that this is an effective platform for promoting our company brand, especially to key buyers in the real estate and electronics industries,” said Pan Yi Nan, the brand manager of Guangdong Xinyi Aluminum Alloy Cable Co., Ltd., which has six production facilities across China. “We were thrilled that seasoned buyers from the power and electrical industries came forth and expressed great interest in what we offer.”

Another return exhibitor is Jiangsu Handing Machinery Co. Ltd., which provides smart, energy-efficient and cost-effective equipment and machinery for wire and cable manufacturers. “We came back here for the second year to promote our new products and company image as well as search for new wire and cable manufacturers,” said Sales Manager Nie Hua Jun. “We are able to reconnect with our old clients as well as obtain a number of new contacts here who have expressed interest in our products.”

For more information, go to www.wire-cable-china.com or email wire@china.messefrankfurt.com.

Attendees at registration. Photo Messe Frankfurt/Wire & Cable Guangzhou.

Attendees at the staging of the last Wire & Cable Guangzhou. Photo Messe Frankfurt.

22 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

A photo essay by Arkaprava Ghosh/Barcroft India captures both the dangers and challenges related to wire and cable that snarls India in places such as Old Delhi.

Ghosh shot dozens of photos of tangled electricity cables hung over the sprawling metropolis of Old Delhi that pose a problem both for residents as well as electricians who face a mammoth task whenever they are asked to fix something.

In his report, Ghosh collected comments from locals who voiced the following concerns. Power theft is common in the walled city, meaning the area is prone to power outages and blackouts. And, when the monsoon season strikes the density of wires can be dangerous, with broken electricity cables falling into pools of water.

A total of 22 were made two tracks.

“If people stoppresentations stealing electricity, thereinwould be less power cuts and even less wires hanging over our heads the company’s success. all the time,” one local Probst reported thatlamented. electrical systems for vehicles According to World Banknew data,features more than a fifth by have evolved to support demanded (22.3%) of people in the India still have no for access eleccustomers.

Today, wiring system the to average tricity.

It has been reported that the Delhi government vehicle includes 3,000 meters, with 1,500 single cables aims relocate the wires underground, therepresent physicala andto3,000 contacts.

Those products, hebut said, work is yet to get assembly underway.business, and as result, they now labor-intensive have 70,000 employees in 82 plants worldwide.

The ferrous track was a collection of outstanding, com Visit

EVENT WRAPUP ASIAN FOCUS

Tangled wires posing multiple dangers still plague parts of India

CabWire offered a combination of education and marketing opportunities in a congenial setting.

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MARCH 2016 23 DECEMBER 2015 || 41

PEOPLE

PEOPLE Jersey Strand and Cable, Inc., has named George Mazur as the company’s new sales manager. He has a strong background in manufacturing and quality from his 19 years as technical staff member at AT&T. Most recently, he was an entrepreneur and corporate executive with a 10-year track record as CEO and president, developing markets and driving profitabiliMazur ty. He has experience taking an enterprise from start up to profitable business in the manufacture and sale of high-tech equipment into the photovoltaic and materials marketplace. He holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State University, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA from Lehigh University. Based in Phillipsburgh, New Jersey, USA, Jersey Strand and Cable manufacturers fine diameter custom strand and cable.

Bruno Fankhauser has joined Leoni AG’s Management Board for a term that runs through the end of 2018. The company’s Supervisory Board has assigned responsibility for Leoni’s Wire & Cable Solutions Division (WCS) to the Swiss national, who has been with the Group for 10 years. He took over management of the Swiss cables company Studer in 2004 and joined the Leoni Group via its takeover of

24 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Fankhauser

Studer in 2006. Since 2008 he has been in charge of a business group that specializes in the development, production and sale of cables and cable systems for various industries. Based in Nuremberg, Germany, Leoni AG is a global provider of wire, optical fiber, cables, cable systems and related services to the automotive industrry as well as other sectors.

Maguire Products, Inc., has named Brian Sampson as sales manager for the U.S., with management responsibility for sales agents and OEM distributors and direct sales responsibility for the company’s full line of auxiliary equipment for plastics processors.

He has 36 years of experience in plastics machinery sales, including 23 selling Maguire systems.

Sampson He previously worked for L-R Systems, Inc., as eastern regional sales manager. Based in Aston, Pennsylvania, USA, Maguire Products, Inc., is a global supplier of extrusion-related technology.

Richard Smart has joined Montalvo Corporation as an electrical engineer, well versed in new software development, product support and technical expertise.

He previously worked in that same role for Fairchild Semiconductor. He holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering, with a minor in computer science, from the University of Southern Maine. Based in Gorham, Maine, USA, Montalvo Corporation supplies a wide range of tension control products.

George Kepes, the founder, president and owner of Tensor Machinery, Ltd., died Jan. 28, 2016, at age 86.

Born in Miskolc, Hungary, where he earned an engineering degree, he survived the Holocaust when most of his family perished. He escaped to Kepes Austria and made his way to Canada, where he eventually settled. He had a long career at Nortel, and in 1984 he opened Tensor Machinery, Ltd., a global supplier of wire, cable and fiber optic machinery in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The company specialized in fiber optics, and its customer base included companies in China. A brilliant engineer, he had an incredible work ethic and was busy throughout his career, still at his office until two weeks before he passed. He is survived by his wife, Kati; sons Robert (wife, Jennifer Martin-Kepes) and Benjamin; and two grandchildren.

 Visit

Tensor Machinery, Ltd., announced that Robert Kepes, the son of the late George Kepes, the company’s founder and president, has assumed the position of president.

“My father was a brilliant mechanical engineer and machine designer who helped make Tensor Machinery a global success,” said Robert Kepes.

“I am happy to bring my 30 years Robert Kepes of experience in business to the company, and look forward to working with the senior management team, our employees, and our esteemed customers from all around the world.”

Asked about his role as president, the attorney said that he saw his role at Tensor as being akin to serving as the captain of a ship: to provide leadership, direction and guidance for the company going forward. “I will be working with the current heads of operations, engineering and sales to implement our business plan, which was in the works before my father passed away. During this transition period, it will be business as usual. Going forward, we will review the existing product line and look for improvements and efficiencies, as well as look to R&D for new products.

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FIBER WATCH

FIBER WATCH Researchers at London college report achieving the highest-ever data rate A team of researchers working out of the University College London (UCL) report that they have achieved the highest data throughput ever reported—1.125 Terabits per second/(Tb/s)—for a single coherent optical receiver.

A press release at the college’s website said that their results represent a 12.5% increase over the previous record of 1Tbps, which harnessed a spectrally sliced transmitter and a digital coherent receiver with an optical bandwidth of 125 GHz. The latest achievement, it said, made use of a 15 sub-carrier 8 GBd DP-256QAM super-channel (15 channels of data) and the total bandwidth of this “super-channel” came out as 121.5 GHz, which was within the 125 GHz capability of their digital coherent receiver.

had to finely optimize both the modulation format and code rate for each optical channel individually to maximize the net information data rate. That ultimately resulted in the greatest information rate ever recorded using a single receiver.

“Granted, the improvement of 12.5% over the last record might not seem all that huge, although when multiplied via a bigger network it could become much more significant and even on a single receiver you’re still talking about pushing an extra 125Gbps (Gigabits per second), which is nothing to sniff about,” Maher said. He added that there appears to be room for “significant future increases,” although that is reliant on the continual development of Digital-to-Analogue Converters (DAC), Analogue-toDigital Converters (ADC) and implementable capacity-approaching FEC codes, he said.

The next approach, Maher said, will be to test all of these improvements and measure the achievable data rates in a long distance transmission scenario, where optical signals can become distorted as they travel through thousands of km of optical fibers (e.g., international sub-sea fiber optic links).

DSM and Corning enter into multi-year agreement for supplies for optical fiber

The release said that the results are a record, but acknowledged that in terms of raw results, “we have seen significantly faster fiber optic networks before, such as the effort in 2014 by Dutch scientists to push an astonishing 255 Tb/s over a single 1 km long link,” However, it noted, that incredible result “required a completely new network and a 7-core fiber optic cable.”

“While current state-of-the-art commercial optical transmission systems are capable of receiving single channel data rates of up to 100 Gigabits per second (Gb/s), we are working with sophisticated equipment in our lab to design the next generation core networking and communications systems that can handle data signals at rates in excess of 1 Tb/s,” said Dr. Robert Maher, UCL Electronic & Electrical Engineering. “For comparison this is almost 50,000 times greater than the average speed of a U.K. broadband connection of 24 megabits per second (Mb/s), which is the current speed defining ‘superfast’ broadband.”

The key to the results was using high-bandwidth super-receivers to receive an entire super-channel in one go, the release said. Super-channels are becoming increasingly important for core optical communications systems, which transfer bulk data flows between large cities, countries or even continents, it noted.

Maher said that using a single receiver varies the levels of performance of each optical sub-channel so the team

26 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials, reports that it has entered into a new multi-year agreement between Corning Incorporated, a world leader in optical fiber, and its DSM business, the world leader in cutting-edge optical fiber coatings, that will provide best in class fiber solutions to the telecommunications industry.

“We are pleased to renew our strategic relationship with DSM,” said Barry Linchuck, Corning’s Division Vice President, Optical Fiber Marketing and Product Line Management. “The combination of our advantaged optical fiber and an exclusive coating technology provided

by DSM solely to Corning will deliver high performance optical fiber with low attenuation and microbending resistance to the telecommunications industry.”

“Our business has always been focused on enabling new and innovative products for our customers and the telecommunications industry,” said Rob Crowell, President DSM Functional Materials. “Developing and enabling intellectual property is a key component of our strategy and we are excited to advance the telecommunications industry with Corning.”

DSM’s products for wire and cable include Arnitel® XG, a thermoplastic copolyester based elastomer (TPC-E or COPE), a unique solution combining the strength and processing characteristics of engineering thermoplastics with the flexibility of thermoset elastomers (rubbers).

Arnitel XG is a halogen-free material that complies with the industry standards in safety and reliability. The Arnitel XG portfolio offers a range of grades, suitable for most wire and cable solutions.

MW Industries reports the acquisition of the USA Fastener Group, Inc. MW Industries announced that it has acquired USA Fastener Group, Inc., (USAFG) a manufacturer of various fasteners, including studs, nuts and other precision machined parts.

A press release said that USAFG, located in Houston, Texas, was established in 2002 and is recognized for having a wide range of fastener products and machining capabilities and a dedicated focus on quality and customer service.

It also offers comprehensive machining capabilities, such as CNC machining and milling, drilling, tapping, sawing, threading, and hot forging.

Per USAFG’s website, the company is located in Houston, Texas, where it has nearly 100,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehousing space. It has positioned itself to provide customers with quality products in a timely and efficient manner. In addition to its manufacturing capabilities, USAFG also offers customers a wide variety of coatings and platings.

Some of these include PTFE ® ® coatings (Xylan , Fluorokotel , ® ® SC1 , and Sermagard ), zinc plating, cad plating, hot-dipped and mechanical galvanizing, ® Dacromet and others.

“The USA Fastener Group brand has an excellent reputation for quality, customer service, material flexibility, engineering expertise and on-time delivery,” said MW Industries CEO Bill Marcum. “The company’s products and workforce are highly complementary to our existing business base, and as part of the MW integrated family of companies, we believe that USA Fastener Group is better positioned to utilize their robust distribution model to service a wide variety of industrial markets and applications.”

At its website, MW Industries notes that the company has

completed a number of acquisitions to strengthen its product offerings and customer base and is currently evaluating a strong pipeline of possible transactions.

Its full line of industrial springs, fasteners, machined parts, and flat-stamped spring-related products are engineered for peak performance and made from the world’s best materials, including advanced carbon composite materials that show promise in the motorsports industry. 

Visit us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 12 A30

MARCH 2016 | 27

FASTENER UPDATE

FASTENER UPDATE

WAI NEWS

WAI March 2016

MEMBERSHIP

SPOTLIGHT This section introduces a new WAI member each issue.

Walter E. Wieser CEO Schmale Machinery USA LLC

Q: What does your company do?

A: Schmale Machinery USA supplies wire processing machines, engineered and built in Germany, customized for the U.S. market. We offer complete solutions, from modular-designed machining centers to tailor-made special machines. Our core competencies include the intelligent automation of different work steps. Our systems are used by suppliers for sectors from automotive to packaging to DIY products.

Q: What is your role there?

A: I’m called CEO, but I consider myself a kind of a connector between our U.S. customers and the main plant in Germany, the bridge builder, or simply “the man who makes it happen.”

Q: What do you like best about your position?

A: Problem solving and organizing stuff are my favorite activities as well as interacting between people of different cultures and using my language skills on different levels.

Keeping up and developing new technologies is a huge challenge, but seeing a new product rolling out the plant that is fast, precise and reliable and in ways never seen before is incredibly rewarding.

Q: How does your company remain competitive?

A: We analyze a customer’s individual manufacturing needs and compile a tailor-made package for our wire, pipe and strip production systems. We do not simply select a standard machine. The technology can be modular or combined with others, and is not restricted by an existing concept. This sets us apart from our competitors: we just work differently.

Q: Why did you recently join WAI? A: We joined because WAI is by far the best networking possibility in the wire processing field. We appreciate WAI’s input and all the information we are provided with.

28 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

The following individuals either recently joined WAI or became Platinum Members through their companies.

Kivanc Altun Ph.D. Materials Engineering, Gebze Technical University Lisa Chen Sales Deputy Manager Copartner Tech Corp Todd Chikodroff Manager of Quality Southwire Co Samer Hamdan Plant Manager Southwire Co

Christian Kloeckner General Manager IDEAL Welding Systems LP David Kreh Marketing Director Arkema Inc Rupa Subramanian Industrial Engineer Southwire Co

Steven Tomko President/Owner, ButtWelders USA Inc Rich Tremblay Southwire Co

Walter E. Wieser CEO Schmale Machinery USA LLC Michael Willoughby Process Engineer General Cable Davide Ziegler Vice President of Sales P & R Specialty, Inc

(Section cont’d. on p. 33)

MARCH 2016 | 29

WAI NEWS

MEET YOUR PEERS. ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS. JOIN WAI TODAY.

CEO o PLT MGR o ENGR

Ace Metal Inc. AIM Inc. Amacoil Inc. Amaral Automation Associates American Kuhne Inc. Anbao Wire & Mesh Co. Ltd. AW Machinery LLC Aztech Lubricants LLC B & H Tool Co Inc. Balloffet Die Corp.

Bekaert Beta LaserMike Products (NDC Technologies Breen Color Concentrates Inc. BWE Ltd. Cable Consultants Corp.

Canterbury Engineering Co. Inc. Carris Reels Inc. Ceeco Bartell Products, Bartell Machinery Systems Cemanco LC Chemetall Clayton Industries Clinton Instrument Co. Collins & Jewell Commission Brokers Inc. Condat Conneaut Industries Inc. Davis-Standard LLC Die Quip Corp.

Direct Wire & Cable, Inc. ERA Wire Inc. Esteves Group USA Etna Products Inc. Eurobend GmbH Eurowire Magazine George Evans Corp.

Fabritex Inc. Facts Inc. Fenn LLC FIB BELGIUM SA Filtertech Inc. Fisk Alloy Inc. Flymca & Flyro FMS USA Inc. Foerster Instruments Inc. Fort Wayne Wire Die Inc Frigeco USA Inc/ MFL USA Service Corp.

Gauder Group Inc. Gem Gravure Co. Inc. W. Gillies Technologies LLC GIMAX Srl Guill Tool & Engineering Co. Hangzhou JR Exhibition Co. Ltd. Heany Industries Inc. Heatbath Corp.

HENRICH Maschinenfabrik GmbH

E C

Houghton International Inc. Howar Equipment Inc. Huestis Industrial IDEAL Welding Systems LP Integrated Control Technologies International Wire & Cable Symposium (IWCS) Joe-Tools Kalmark Intergrated Systems Ltd. KEIR Manufacturing Inc. King Steel Corp.

Ernst Koch GmbH & Co. KG Friedr. Krollmann GmbH & Co. KG Lamnea Bruk AB LaserLinc Inc. Leggett & Platt Wire Group Leoni Wire Inc. Lesmo Machinery America Inc. R. Lisciani Trafilerie SpA Lloyd & Bouvier Inc. Loos & Co. Inc. M+E Macchine+Engineering Srl Magnetic Technologies Ltd. Mathiasen Machinery Inc. Metalloid Corp.

MGS Manufacturing Inc. Micro Products Co. Microdia USA Morgan-Koch Corp.

Mossberg Associates Inc. NDC Technologies (Beta LaserMike Products) Niehoff Endex North America Inc. OMCG North America Inc. P & R Specialty Inc. P/A Industries Paramount Die Co. Parkway-Kew Corp.

Phifer Wire Inc. Pittsfield Plastics Eng. Inc. Plas-Ties Co. Precision Die Technologies Inc. Premier Wire Die PrintSafe Properzi International Inc. QED Wire Lines Inc. Queins Machines QuickLabel Systems Raajratna Stainless Wire Inc. Radcliff Wire Inc. Rainbow Rubber & Plastics Refractron Technologies Corp.

RichardsApex Inc.

Rockford Manufacturing Group FELM  Rosendahl Nextrom Roteq Machinery Inc. S&E Specialty Polymers SAMP USA Inc. Schlatter North America Shuster-Mettler Corp.

Sikora International Corp.

Sirio Wire Srl Sivaco Wire Group Sjogren Industries Inc. SKET Verseilmaschinenbau GmbH Joe Snee Associates Inc. Sonoco Reels Stolberger Inc. (DBA Wardwell Braiding) August Strecker GmbH & Co. KG T & T Marketing Inc. Takikawa Taubensee Steel & Wire Co. Teknikor Thermoplastics Engineering Corp.

Toner Plastics Tubular Products Co. Ultimate Automation Ltd. United Wire Co. Inc. Vandor Corp.

Vinston US Corp.

Vision Engineering Inc. Vollmer America Inc. WAFIOS Machinery Corp.

Weber & Scher Mfg. Co. Inc. Windak Inc. Wire & Cable Technology International Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp.

Wire Lab Co. Wire Machine Systems Inc. Wire & Cable Manufacturers Alliance Inc. The Wire Association International, Inc. Wire Journal International, Inc. WireWorld WiTechs GmbH Witels Albert USA Inc. Woodburn Diamond Die Inc. Zumbach Electronics Corp.

Wire | Cable Supplies | Equipment

&

&

WAI OPERATIONS SUMMIT T W WIRE EXPO 2016 ADVANCE REGISTRATION FORM Mohegan Sun Casino Resort | Uncasville, Connecticut, USA | June 7-9, 2016

1. COMPLETE & MAIL OR FAX THIS FORM TODAY

3. EVENT REGISTRATION (REQUIRED)

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FULL REGISTRATION PLUS NEW WAI MEMBERSHIP (BL/AEM) Includes WAI Operations Summit program & online conference proceedings, Wire Expo exhibits, Production Solutions, Welcome Reception, Mobile Classroom, management workshop, and one year WAI Membership.

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2. BUSINESS INFORMATION (REQUIRED) A. Which ONE of the following best describes your company’s type of business?

PLEASE CHECK ONLY ONE. WIRE END-USER WIRE MANUFACTURING 11 ❏ Appliance 10 ❏ Aluminum & Al. Alloys (Rod/Bar, Bare Wire) 12 ❏ Communications (Voice/Data) 20 ❏ Copper & Copper Alloys (Rod/Bar, Bare Wire) 13 ❏ Computer 30 ❏ Steel & Steel Alloys (Rod/Bar, Bare Wire) 14 ❏ Construction/Building 40 ❏ Other Metal (Rod/Bar, Bare Wire) 15 ❏ Electrical (Equip./Components/Power) 50 ❏ Electrical (Insulated Wire) 16 ❏ Transportation/Vehicular 53 ❏ Communication (Insulated Wire) 17 ❏ Wire Formed Durable Goods 55 ❏ Fiber Optics OTHER FASTENERS, WIRE FORMING, FABRICATING 80 ❏ Service Cntrs, Distrib. & Warehouses 61 ❏ Fastener Manufacture 90 ❏ Consultants 62 ❏ Four-Slide Forming 92 ❏ Govt., Library, Others Allied to Field 64 ❏ Hot and/or Cold Forming and Heading B. Which ONE of the following best describes 66 ❏ Spring Manufacture your primary job function? CHECK ONLY ONE. 68 ❏ Wire Cloth Mesh Screening 10 ❏ General & Administrative Management 69 ❏ Other Forming and Fabricating 20 ❏ Engineering and/or Operations and/or SUPPLIERS TO THE WIRE INDUSTRY Production 72 ❏ Machinery 30 ❏ Technical and/or Research & Development 74 ❏ Process, Accessories, Materials and/or Quality Control 40 ❏ Purchasing 50 ❏ Sales & Marketing 90 ❏ Other Please Specify ____________________________ ________________________________________

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The Wire Association International, Inc. 71 Bradley Road | Suite 9 | Madison, CT 06443-2662 USA | Telephone: (001) 203-453-2777 | Fax: (001) 203-453-8384 | www.wirenet.org

... From the WAI webinar archives Optimizing adhesion of inks and coatings in wire and cable

TITLE:

BY: Rory A. Wolf, Enercon Industries Corporation, USA SUMMARY: Thermoplastics, thermosets, or fibrous coatings all have low levels of polar functional groups on the surface and have poor adhesion properties, making it difficult to apply other functional layers such as inks, adhesives, and coatings. This webinar discusses current atmospheric surface activation systems, appropriate measurements of adhesion, over-treatment effects and surface analysis techniques relative to optimizing the adhesion of inkjet inks, coatings and adhesives to these polymer and fibrous surfaces.

WAI NEWS

Each month, WAI will present a webinar from its archives. The webinars, presented by a diverse group of industry experts, cover a wide range of wire and cable manufacturing topics as well as operational subjects. They can be accessed for free at wirenet.org by WAI members.

What are the differences among the three primary types of atmospheric surface activation systems: air plasma, flame plasma and atmospheric chemical plasma?

The answer to this question, and other information can be found in the WAI/Enercon Industries webinar online at www.wirenet.org.

Willing to share your expertise with the industry?

If so, consider doing a webinar with WAI. It’s easy to do from your office, and Association staff can guide you through the process. Contact WAI Dir. of Education & Member Services Marc Murray at tel. 203-453-2777, ext. 121, mmurray@wirenet.org, and let him know the topic you’d like to discuss.

EDUCAT

MARCH 2016 | 33

DIA

CHINA

WAI plans to return to Monterrey, “the growth of any country is possible only if the number Mexico, stage ITCison Oct. 18-20 of employedtopersons grows” satisfi ed, India will be Thenext WAI will return Oct. 18-20, 2016,with to our the territory that to weMexico must serve intensively equipment andbe technology.

Of course, Technical the basic infrastage what will its fifth International Conferstructures presently cient and not adequate ence (ITC) are in the country.not Thesuffi Crowne Plaza Monterrey to permit theconference. harmonious growth of this giant. Carmelo will host the Maria Brocato, Continuus-Properzi.

Planners have issued a Call for Papers for the event, seeking technical papers to be presented in both the Chinaand is and will remain the most BRICS ferrous nonferrous segments.

Theimportant deadline to submit member country, despite slowing growth.

Brazil is lookan abstract for consideration is May 2. See p. 34. The proing more like India, mired in corruption scandals, while gram will feature prominent industry guest speakers. The India at this point under a new regime holds the most first confirmed speaker is Sergio Valdez, Directorby General promise.

Again, whether the reforms promised the ofnew Viakable. government in India lead to rapid growth remains ITCwill willcontinue mark thetothird that WAI toThe be upcoming seen. Russia havetime problems and it has held the event in Monterrey, Mexico.

The prior events, will take several years to recover from Western-imposed held in 2010Not andmuch 2008,has as well a fourth held in sanctions. beenas heard fromevent South Africa, Querétaro 2004offi andcially a fiftha member. in Mexico City in 2000, though it in is now allI proved to be WAI’s ITC traditionally think that thesuccessful.

BRICS are The going to continue to be relevant.

While the pace of presentations, GDP growth may slowtour, for atabletop few years includes technical a plant due to political and socio-economic factors or sanctions, displays, and a social event. etc., these remain temporary roadblocks at best. As 40% of the world’s population resides in these countries, it is WAI Operations Summit thisthey June inevitable that at some point in the future will produce and consume majority the world’s output.

Rahul will again the focus onofsuccess stories Sachdev, Wire & Plastic Machinery.

WAI’s Operations Summit and Wire Expo will once again feature Operational Excellence sessions to highlight Russia faced economic and political distresses in 2014 but now the situation may be back to normal in a very  Visit

SOUTH AFRICA individual success stories in the wire and cable industry.

This year short time.features India istwo a presentations on Wednesday, June a place 8,huge fromcountry, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Entitled “Understanding the with aExpectations multitude ofofreliValue the Various Wire and Cable Market gions/cultures, andsession from is from Bill Barrett of NexChannels,” the first an industrial pointIt of ans Energy USA. discusses how the electrical wire and view it’s not possible to base has evolved into various cable historical customer generalize into a single segments with distinct product and value-added service evaluation. What cer- presentation, “Transforming requirements.

The is second tain is that India is a land and Managing Talent for an Operator-Led Culture,” is that has thousands of opfrom Ava Pogue of General Cable Corporation. As process portunities, as does—to management transitions from traditional supervision to a lesser extent and all the operator-led natural work differences considered teams, it is important to have a tool for creating communicating expectations.

—South Africa.and CompaBellina Operational nies in SouthExcellence African aresessions are part of the general conference open to all focusing onprogram quality and and are innovation andparticipants our Group with is laying registration. the groundwork for a big market development there. full Brazil, the world’s sixth largest economy—even though it is very far from Italy and presents some customs clearPoints WAI trade ance and Meeting trade policiesfor issues—is a marketshow increasingly for our strategic framework. isimportant scheduled for March 17, 2016 One Points other thought: acronym was originally The Meeting the for BRICS Interwire, where exhibitors can used to defi ne countries characterized by a first select booth space per the Points System,developing will be economic situation, a strong in Connecticut, GDP, a large on popheld at WAI’s headquarters in growth Madison, ulation, a vast territory and abundant natural resources.

Thursday, March 17. Expectations are that some 150 to In 2015, we can’t talk of them any more as “developing 200 companies take part in the process.

Contact sales@ countries” but will as superpowers that, together with the G7 wirenet.org for more details. countries, dominate the worldwide market. Fabio Bellina, TKT Group.

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 11 D77 

MARCH 2016 | 35 MAY 2015 | 37

WAI NEWS FEATURE

N

CHAPTER CORNER

CHAPTER CORNER 2 past scholarship winners get high grades at New England Chapter meeting The New England Chapter introduced its new officers and reviewed the past year, but the highlight of the annual meeting on Jan. 28 were brief presentations by two past scholarship winners.

Speaking at the Mohegan Sun Resort, Hillary Reichert, the daughter of Bill Reichert, president of Champlain Cable Corp., and Liz O’Shaughnessy, the daughter of Kevin Buchanan, president, Fluoropolymers Resources, Inc., talked about what had happened since they won their scholarships.

Travel and Tourism. “So where did I end up? Back in Burlington.” Today, she is a sales manager in hospitality sales for Homewood Suites, a Hilton property. “I deal with corporations planning events and crazy brides,” she said, then ever-so-slickly sneaking in a sales pitch for anyone who may have business in the area. “I thank you for the opportunity to figure out what I wanted to do,” she said.

David Fisher spoke about a good year to come.

Chapter President David Fisher, l, and 2015 President Robert Srubas with past scholarship winners Hillary Reichert and Liz O’Shaughnessy.

Hillary, a 2009 recipient, said that while she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, she knew that she wanted to get far away from her home town of Burlington, Vermont. She attended Clemson in South Carolina. There, she focused on language and business classes, ultimately graduating in 2014 with a degree in Language & International Trade,

O’Shaughnessy, who graduated from Quinnipiac University in 2010, asked the audience how many knew what they wanted to do when they were a senior in high school. She admitted that she had an image of a corporate career in finance. She could see herself wearing a white power suit in a setting right out of a movie. Only that didn’t happen. She started at James Madison University but ended up transferring to Quinnipiac, where she graduated magna cum laude with a marketing degree. She worked as a media planner at various advertising agencies before becoming the media strategist for American Cruise Lines. Looking back, the scholarship meant more than

Scholarship update: all applications must be postmarked by March 31 It’s not too late to apply for scholarships from one of the WAI’s three participating chapters—the Midwest, New England and Southeast—but applications must be postmarked by March 31 for consideration.

“The volunteer boards of each Chapter are dedicated to these scholarships and know the importance of providing a valuable connection with the membership,” said WAI Executive Director Steve Fetteroll. Each chapter produces a networking event for their region that funds the program, and to date, 65 scholarships have been awarded to member families. “We are quite proud of how seriously the chapters have taken this activity over the years,” he said. “Even if you do not have a son or daughter going to college anytime soon, everyone recognizes how important it is to find such help.”

36 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

For full details, go to the appropriate chapter’s webpage at wirenet.org or ask the contact cited for the different chapters. One must be a chapter member in good standing to apply, but one can join this month and qualify. Below are a few updates.

New England Chapter: The scholarship amount has been increased from $1,500 to $2,000. Contact: Anna Bzowski, abzowski@wirenet.org.

Midwest Chapter: The number of scholarships has been increased from two to three, with eligibility extended to any college student. Contact: Steve Fetteroll, sfetteroll@wirenet.org Southeast Chapter: The number of scholarships has been increased from two to three. Contact: Steve Fetteroll, sfetteroll@wirenet.org.

OMCG SpA Italy Erik A. Macs has been named

At Interwire, OMCG NorthofAmerica director sales forshowcased Wire and the company’s technology for wire, tube and strip forming Plastic Machinery Corp (WPM). projects in the formsHe of has systems morewith thanmodular 25 yearsServaxis of and Multislide forming capabilities thatand provide experience in wire cablesolutions to reduce costsmachinery critical to profi salestability. at previous The company displayed its CNC Minimalist 6 model. sales and marketing positions ItGem features a feed that is very close to bend tools, which Gravure’s Derekfor Olsen with ErikMachinery, Macs, who is all Progressive Inc., reduces wirewinning torsionthe effect.

The model, which uses smiles after raffle for Red Sox tickets that Fine International Corp., and were simple multi radii bend capability. donatedtooling,

by Gemhas Gravure.

Thermoplastics EngineeringThe CNC unit was shownCorp. with Prior CAD to to that, machine capability he had been Macs Group, which noted were very gracious hosts, even that allows easyheprogramming while the machine is in involved with ebeam crosslinked allowing competitors to visit its facility. production.

It also uses IGES and STEP fi le importwire materials research at Judd Wire; blown film packPast chapter leaders recognized and ing to machine and machine controllers, viathe the2016 “Easy aging manufacturing atwere Union Camp; extrusion and board, and officers, introduced.

In addition to Fisher, Program” that creates the program and can simulate injection molding processing at Dennison; and Teflonthe officers for 2016 include: Derek Olsen, Gem Gravure, forming 3D animation on the screen.

It can indicate film heatwith sealing and thermoforming research with vice Rich Goyette, EIS Wire & Cable, Co., ifAmerican therepresident; is any interference between part and machine, Durafilm. He has a degree in mechanical all part of the simple and effective “WhatCollege. youCable, seeAis treasurer; and Michael Crouchley, Champlain engineering from Central New England what youof get” Other pluses include secretary.

Srubas is the past1991, president.

The board member thephilosophy.

WAI since he was theother 2013remote wininternet machine diagnostics and controller program members are: Brian Holden, Carris Reels, Inc.;honors David ner of its Donnellan Memorial Award, which updating.

Braun, Teknor Apex; Nick Roth, Pittsfield Plastics; an individual’s contributions to the Association.

HeLori  Visit

also received the WAI’s President’s Award in 2014 for extraordinary volunteer service. He served two terms on the Association’s board of directors, and is still a member of its education, member relations and paper awards committees. A former member of the board of directors of the New England Chapter of WAI, he served as that body’s president in 2000. He has also chaired the WAI’s Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing program since 2007, frequently serving as a course moderator and presenter. Based in Bristol, Connecticut, USA, Wire & Plastic Corp. is a major supplier of used wire and cable equipment that operates out of eight warehouse locations in North America, including the Northeast, North OMCG Bob Sears with the It was a North magical time atPresident the event...courtesy of a magician Carolina andAmerica Texas. company’s CNC 6 system. card tricks. with a bagfull of Minimalist seemingly impossible WAGO reported two personnel OMCG offers CNCMark systems forQuirk processing wire Parent, Breen Color; Long, Wire Company; additions.

Juliano Matias was forms from 0.040 in. to 0.700 in. with its unique, and Jim Stocking, Hitachi; Harishnational Panchal,sales Lloyd & Bouvier; named manager for standard, eccentric bend head.

Complementary options Mike Canterino, Fluoropolymer Resources, Inc.; Grant Canada.

He previously was nationavailable: welding, grooving,John coldRivers, heading, Campbell,robots, Multi/Cable Corporation; al marketing manager for Phoenix chamfering, threading, stamping and forming, Fluorogistix LLC; and Pat Harper, Hueson Corp.assembly Contact, where he instrumental and Multislide operations. For progressive strip forming “I am looking forward to serving as the chapter presiin developing projects, OMCG’s Servaxis and Multislide machines dent this year,” said regional Fisher, who talked about the value have blanking capacities up todeal120 ton and strip width of the chapter’s scholarship program, and the return to er networks to +80 mm. www.omcg.com. the Mohegun Sun infor June for WAI’s a range of Operations Summitt industrial & Wire Expo 2016. “Being thecomhost chapter, we are SAMP U.S. ponents hopingMatias forUSA, a greatInc. turnout to and showcase the talents and electronics.

The as well as the SAMPSISTEMI Italy information of all the event participants company also named Joe Stirpe function and great things WAI doesdivision for the of industry At Interwire, the SAMPSISTEMI Italy’s and as its regional manager for including the its members.”

SAMP exhibitedsales several machines, upstate York.

He has a diverse Fisher New also thanked the following event sponDM80.2x8.22 (16 wire, 22 dies) multiwire line, the background in technical sales and Monroe BM-630-D + SV800 pay-off, the latter will sors: Platinum: Carrismotorized Reels, James Wire & be Stirpe business development with Also aCable focus in operation during the show. a and single PVC horizontal Cable, MultiCable, Specialty PolyOne; on control andTE60-25 electricalforproducts extruder model automotive Gold: Quirk Wire, T&T Marketing, Wireapplication & Plastic will be and applications.

Over the last several decades, he has displayed.

Machinery, Fluorgistix and Chemours; Silver: Breen held position in business development The leadership DM80.2x8.22 represents the latest generation and of Color Concentrates, Fluoropolymer Resources management at Siemens, Invensys Eurothermand and KJ SAMP multiwire design to improve production versatilS&E Specialty Polymers; Bronze: Amarak Automation Electric Corp.output Based in reduced Germantown, Pennsylvania, ity, increased and energy consumption.

Associates, NDC Technologies, James Monroe, Joe as USA, WAGO suppliers spring pressure connection The line offers increased energy effi ciency and with a Snee Associates; Mossberg Associates and W. Gillies well as interconnect, interface and automation solutions power factor ≥ .95 enables the drawing line to have lower Technologies. n technology.

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 11 D52 

50 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

MARCH 2016 JANUARY 2016| |37 25

CHAPTER PEOPLE CORNER

FEATURE

This timely innovation will benefi t customEuropean household care busiers who high and complex parts, as he just the make money, shevolume said.

“It meant that people who had ness in Switzerland.

In 2002 NUMALLIANCE is was the in sole CNC wire bending no obligation to believe me, did.”

It was as if, beyond Director Internal Audit of machine manufacturer ableand toshe offer aancomplete range family, friends and mentors, had additional sup- of P&G was appointed Director equipment from simple 2D feed and form and hard tool port team. “That’s really who (Europe, you are, and it made Treasury Middle East,a huge bending solution for wire, tube, spring and fl at-stock. impact on my life.” Africa) in 2004. He joined Bekaert There no need to produce high volume and130 simple Theispresentations wowed approximately attendas Chiefthe Financial Officer and memshape parts at exotic destination.

Jobs are coming ber of the Bekaert Group Executive ees. They also applauded heartily for 2015 Presidentback, and multi-slide are the solution. inMicrowave 2006, andpreferred took on additional Robert Srubas, benders Times System, who said it was Until now, Italy had OMCG, America had Nilson, responsibility for the Specialized a pleasure to lead the chapter through a year that saw a Germany had Biehler and France had Latour.

All those films activity platform.

As of 2013, highly successful tour of the Marmon Group R&D as well Humblet cam-driven mechanical multi-slide come with a major he combines his responsibilities as as yet another good chapter golf outing. He introduced drawback: set up time.

That is why NUMALLIANCE CFO with those of Regional Operations Management the 2016 chapter president, David Fisher, James Monroe came with aLatin concept of servo driven camless multislide, ofWire Bekaert America.

Hewho holds a commercial engi& Cable Corporation, also thanked the Marmon able to harbor most of existing tooling in an all-electric neering degree from the Solvay Business School of the environment.

The NUMASLIDE is yours to discover.

Brussels University.

The Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group is www.nummalliance.com. a joint venture between Bekaert and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan that combines the ropes and advanced cords businesses of Bekaert and Bridon.

OMCG North America U.S.

FEATURE FEATURESSELDORF WIRE DÜSSELDORF DÜ DÜSSELDORF ÜSSELDORF

e t a Upd Below are additional and updated booth listings of exhibitors for wire 2016, as well as a series of Product Showcases, as in February, of technology that will either be displayed or able to be discussed at the event, April 4-8, 2016.

Acciaierie Valbruna Stainless Steel Italy Hall 12 C-67 Acciaierie Valbruna Stainless Steel is a privately owned company which produces over 170,000 tons of high quality special steel, maintaining the original business strategy of serving niche markets of providing customers top notch services and dedication.

Production is focused on stainless steel and special alloys that are able to satisfying the most sophisticated market demands. valbruna-stainless-steel.com.

ACM A/B Sweden Hall 9 F-40 Tools designed to save insulation compound usage and $$$ by means

of controlling wall thicknesses.

Cable cross-section measurement and data acquisition equipment form ACM will be displayed and operated for all to see the extremely precise and quick method of performing all two dimensional cable measurements. The KSM model also allows quality control departments to track the efficiency of products or equipment with its sophisticated database and graphing + trending capabilities and analysis of data. BRING YOUR SAMPLES TO THE SHOW: Customers are invited to do this so that our experienced staff can help customers experience the innovative measurement system first hand. acmab.com.

AEI Machines India Hall 11 D-06

With 45 years of continuous presence in manufacturing and design of rigid stranding machines, AEI Machines (Associated Engineers & Industrials Ltd.) has taken power conductor stranding to the next level. The rigid strander specialist, known for superior quality and performance of its machines, emphasizes design innovation, materials, process, workmanship and after-sales support. Another key

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

SKET Verseilmaschinenbau

Hall 10 G-10

Per Germany’s SKET Verseilmaschinenbau GmbH, the company will introduce a range of its latest developments at wire 2016. Showcased will be the SKET tubular strander/closer, model SRW, 18x630+1x1600, with a tube section that includes a large payoff designed as a bull head for paying off the core rope and covering it by maximum of 18 steel wire strands to produce a rotation resistant rope as alternative to a slower planetary closer. It will also present units of the new SKET drum twisting line, including a rotating caterpillar and a vertical payoff for the production of medium-voltage cables and special cables meeting highest quality requirements. Further, the company will depict its range of specialized tubular stranders, double

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twist bunchers, planetary closers designed for the production of steel wire strands and heavy ropes, central stranders and rigid stranders and drum twisters for making conductors. Finally, large planetary closers, vertical laying-up machines and planetary stranders for manufacturing and armoring submarine cable will also be shown.

SKET’s world-wide success is the result of sustained market activity and testimony to the high-degree of acceptance of the company’s products by the users. www.sketvmb.de

Ajex & Turner Wire Dies Co. India Hall 11 C-O3

2015 was a year of achievement for Ajex & Turner, which will highlight our new developments with product demonstrations, technical discussion and video of working products. Our biggest recent achievements include: VNT Nano-Conform metal dies; lubricants; pressure dies; PCD and TC busbar dies; extrusion tools; ultrasonic die polishing machine in 150, 200, 250, 300 watt; and die polishing from 10 micron to 10 mm. Ajex & Turner can be a one-stop shop for major consumable requirements for any wire and cable manufacturing plant. Replacing the traditional ways of wire drawing and compacting, our revolutionary VNT Nano dies for copper, aluminum, aluminum alloy, stainless steel,

MIG/ CO2 and high/low carbon wires can be provided per client specifications for efficient production.

With advanced diamond coating technology, they hold a 0% tolerance throughout their working life and can achieve good wear resistance with accurate surface properties.

We can offer new generation wire dies as well as Fuchs wire drawing lubricants for copper, aluminum and aluminum alloys that have the lowest consumption rate, eliminate copper blackening and have better lubricity with low viscosity. These dies are excellent for drawing a wide cross section of pure copper and aluminum. We also offer advanced inserting and grinding technology for a more accurate as well as consistent insulation. Our automatic, highspeed, in-house carbide die polishing and grinding machine TCD-10 can grind and polish angles and bearings in one operation, reconditioning dies in a very short time period with accurate and precise angles. From house wiring to HT conductors, our company has developed extrusion

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Wheelabrator Hall 9 B-34 Per Wheelabrator, the company’s FL range is very popular, with over 200 machines in operation for wire and rod production worldwide. Over the last decades, shotblast machines have almost completely replaced chemical descaling methods in wire and rod production. A common feature of all FL machines is the focusing of the abrasive via guide plates, which can be adapted to suit different workpiece diameters. With Wheelabrator’s latest model, FL-4-37/55, the guide plates are adjusted automatically, resulting in a more efficient operation of the drawing line. With FL blast machines, wire, bar or sections with an envelope circle range of 5 to 130 mm diameter can be descaled by longitudinal blasting. Blast machines of the FL series are flexible and efficient. Designed as 3, 4 or 6 blast wheel machines, they not only meet different capacity requirements, but can be ideally adapted to changing product runs. They are easy to integrate into modern drawing lines operating at speeds of up to 240 m/ min or can be used as stand-alone machines for autonomous descaling. The surfaces of commercially available wire and bar of different shapes and cross sections (round,

square, hexagonal or flat bars) can be uniformly descaled by shot blasting. Guide elements allow for smooth passage of the wire and bar through the blast zone. The descaling speed is generally set to suit the type of scale, the material being processed and the degree of surface cleanliness desired. Applications include: descaling of round, square, hexagonal or flat wire and bars. Benefits include: a ‘greener’ solution for wire and bar descaling; a better surface before cold drawing; fewer die failures; high descaling efficiency; maximum energy utilization by use of adjustable abrasive stream guide plates; remote control of the abrasive throughput permits easy adaptation of the shot blast process to changing production requirements; a blast housing made of manganese hard steel; and high sustainability with reduced production costs. wheelabratorgroup.com.

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factor is the in-house parts manufacture, fabrication and assembly of the complete machine. The company will showcase one of its high-speed rigid stranders that offer the latest technology, robust construction and minimal maintenance needs as well as heightened operator safety. The highly automated machines offer higher energy efficiency and ease of operation with reduced workforce.

The systems deliver accurate back tension, smooth strand deviation and precise lay control to produce a superior quality compacted conductor for low, medium and EHV power cables and for high production speeds of overhead conductors. Enhanced cage speeds and use of fully automatic bobbin batch loading systems further ensure higher production efficiencies and uptime. It will also display a redesigned heavy-duty compacting head for high-tolerance Milliken conductors, and other heads, including the recently developed TW head for manufacture of latest generation HTLS/trapezoidal wire overhead conductor. www.aeimachines.com.

WIRE DÜSSELDORF

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Lamnea Bruk AB Hall 9 A-06 Per Sweden’s Lamnea Bruk, which specializes in the design and manufacture of machines for the wire industry that offer the latest designs and technology, the company will exhibit its fast and precise No Twist Coiler for spring wire with a speed of up to 40 m/s.

This model will be equipped with straightening units to make the wire completely straight and twist-free prior to the coiling. When coiling, the machine will put a pre-twist in the wire, one per loop wire. When un-coiling from the drum, the twist will be reversed and the wire will come out twist free and straight. As the wire is uncoiled twist-free and straight, there is no need for a driven payoff unit or straightening units by the

tooling to meet customer demand and centricity. We believe in selling on value, not price, and are open for free trials. ajexturner.com.

A Appiani Italy Hall 11 G32 Appiani has a world-wide presence in the manufacture of standard and custom build steel reels made to DIN specifications or to customer requirements. It will exhibit a comprehensive selection of: structural and corrugated flanged reels for cable, rope and strands; single- and double-flange, pressed steel reels; composite reels; solid flange and double-flange processing reels, machined and dynamically balanced; spools for steel cord and saw wire applications; and steel pallets. Also, a complementary line of take-apart reels (hydraulic, mechanic, pneumatic), tilting units, steel baskets and machinery for B type spool reconditioning. appianigroup.com.

Effegidi International SpA Italy/Canada Hall 10 B-33 Laminated shielding tapes from Effegidi International SpA, represented in North America by Howar Equipment Inc., will be showcased.

Effegidi specializes in manufacturing of foil-laminated tapes such as

40 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

spring coiling line, which means a much more compact line. Additionally, we also get a constant back tension that has proved beneficial in the producing springs that are of consistent and even quality, with less wire consumption per spring. With these new innovations you now also have the possibility to run the No Twist Coiler machine in line with a drawing machine.

During the show we will demonstrate the machine four times each day at our booth: Monday through Thursday at 9:45 am, 10:45 am, 1:45 pm and 3:45 pm, and on Friday at 9:45 am, 10:45 am, 1:45 pm and 2:45 pm. lamnea.se.

aluminum/polyester, copper/polyester, PVC, PE, annealed copper and aluminum, aluminum/PE and copper/PE. Single layer tapes such as polyester (Mylar) are also supplied in spools and pads cut to custom widths.

The tapes are supplied in multiple thickness arrays depending on customer application requirements, and may be laminated in various layer configurations. Packages are available as pads, coils or traverse wound spools in customizable sizes.

Customized packaging includes itemized identification and material description labels which clearly note all product parameters and manufacturing date for complete traceability.

For over 40 years, Effegidi has maintained a focus on repeatable high quality and consistency while also ensuring environmentally conscious manufacturing techniques.

Effegidi welcomes all North American visitors to the booth. info@ effegidi.it, howarequipment.com.

ENKOTEC A/S Denmark Hall 15 C-22

ENKOTEC A/S continues to make headlines with its high-performance machinery for nail production, with the largest-ever booth of operating ENKOTEC machines. The company will have a special area, “ENKOserv for best performance,” where staff will show customers how they can get improved production efficiency on existing machines. ENKOTEC and BAUSSMANN Collated Fasteners GmbH will jointly exhibit two high-speed, in-line nail manufacturing lines; one ENKOline 2,500 npm (28 mm), including an ENKOllator wire coil collator, an ENKOnail+ machine and an ENKOroll thread-rolling machine; the other an ENKOline featuring BAUSSMANN’S new high-efficient plastic stick collator paired with another high-speed ENKOnail+ machine. ENKOTEC will also show its ENKOllator paper stick collator for making collated sticks of nails with many new features for reliable and cost-efficient production.

Expertise, Customer Driven, Service – in Good Hands with NIEHOFF

Visit us at the wire 2016 tradeshow 4-8 April 2016, Hall 10 Booth 10 C 06

Maschinenfabrik NIEHOFF GmbH & Co. KG Walter-Niehoff-Strasse 2, 91126 Schwabach, Germany Phone +49 9122 977-0 / Fax +49 9122 977-155 info@niehoff.de www.niehoff.de

WIRE DÜSSELDORF

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Q.E.D. Wire Lines Inc. Hall 12 A-30 Per Canada’s QED Wire Lines, the company has developed a dual-loop, pressure control combustion system that maintains a steady output with precise air-gas ratio with a view to improved efficiency and to minimize environmental impact. We now use this patented combustion control system on all our multiple burner furnaces. QED has recently upgraded our proven fluidbed technology with proportional, closed-loop feedback and mass flow controls.

The Siemens PLC-based system provides much higher thermal efficiency and lower fuel costs than previous systems. Our fluidbeds operate from DV=120 to DV=240 and from 1.5 t/h to 8.0 t/h production with satisfied customers on six continents. Our latest development in galvanizing furnaces is the Advanced Recuperative Technology Mark 4 Immersion Burner. This burner offers dramatically higher combustion efficiency from a double pass, pre-heat design with extended heat-transfer area. Constructed of stainless and high nickel alloy steel, this modularly constructed

The three set-ups will all include the \new high-speed ENKOfeed nail feeder, which comes in in a clockwise or counter-clockwise version, as well as the new magnetic ENKOveyor for transportation of nails, which is available in different sizes and with different size hoppers. Also, an ENKOnail machine for small/midsize capacity needs that will run with the movable ENKOpack nail-counter packaging machine. enkotec.com.

HENRICH Maschinenfabrik Germany Hall 9 B-33 Experience and know-how, developed for decades, certify HENRICH among the leading suppliers in the international wire and cable industry. More than 3,000 wiredrawing units are well established worldwide. The product range covers entire drawing-lines and single-action machines for conductor cable, installation and special cable, telecommunication cable, trolley and enamelled wire. The production range is completed by cooling and cleaning devices for drawing and cooling solutions, drawing tools and payoff devices. The complete

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burner offers an extended operating lifespan and reduced maintenance. In addition to the fuel savings, our new burner runs with a cooler skin temperature, providing a more pleasant working and maintenance environment. The company also supplies the latest developments in HighTurbulence® pickling and Galvanizing technology.

Our multiple-stage cleaning systems have high turbulence acid that greatly accelerates the pickling process, now with computer control and nitrogen wiping in galvanizing.

Galfan offers significant savings and accurate coating weights. QED is the technology leader in galvanizing lines. qedwire.com.

program is available at our website.

HENRICH designs, manufactures, supplies and installs custom-made and on demand. henrich.net.

Lamnea Bruk AB Sweden Hall 9 A-06 See p. 40!

Lamnea Bruk AB specializes in the design and manufacture of machines for the wire industry. We have a wide range of high quality machines with the latest designs and technology and this year we will show our No Twist Coiler for spring wire with a speed of up to 40 m/s, our straightline drawing machine, a fully automatic precisions layer winder and the new innovative sandpaper grinding machine. Our journey in the wire drawing industry started more than 100 years ago which has given us a tremendous amount of experience which we incorporate in the design of our machines and equipment. This long experience have also taught us how important service and support is in the business. Therefor we have developed a first class passion

for service for our customers. To meet every need, we supply payoff systems, mechanical cleaning equipment, drawing machines and take-up units for stainless, solid welding and low/high carbon wire industries.

For tubular wire or flux core wire, we supply strip rewind lines, strip payoffs and forming/filling/closing machines. lamnea.se.

METAVAN N.V. Belgium/Canada Hall 11 B-41

METAVAN N.V., represented in North America by Howar Equipment Inc., will display steel reels from 12 in. to 49 in. (305 mm to 1250 mm) that are made to the highest quality and consistency. METAVAN of Belgium has had a longstanding philosophy to offer a specialized product mix of pressed steel reels using highly advanced machinery in order to offer only the highest quality reels and spools for stranding, bunching,

Schlatter Industries AG

Hall 16 A-04

Per Switzerland’s Schlatter Industries AG, the company’s MG 950, its newest mesh welding machine, is designed primarily for the production of industrial mesh. The aim was to broaden the product portfolio with a welding machine that is flexible in relation to various mesh geometries, achieves high production speeds and exhibits the highest quality right from the first mesh. The MG 950 presents an economical way to produce complex meshes. More functions, such as plug-in connectors for the connection of meshes, are integrated into the welded mesh during that production. As a result, the mesh manufacturing process has become increasingly complex, with growing demands for accuracy, especially for the graduation tolerances of the functional wires. The MG950 provides line wire feeds for these purposes, which are rigid and quickly adjustable. Another concern today is that lot sizes continue to shrink, making waste during production of the first few meshes & more expensive.

T. FUKASE CO., LTD The MG950’s

 Visit

measuring system remedies this situation. It enables the line wire to be precisely positioned according to the mesh that been programmed, so with the system’s built-in * Accurate welding assistant pre-sized T/C Nib it is *possible to Reliable T/C die Machines Accurate produce the desired quality right from the first mesh. The * Long Life Shaving Die result: significantly higher productivity for small lot sizes Stainless Steelmesh Wire than can for be done on traditional welding machines.

For recurring products, a new computer system is available for the line wire feeds so that only those line wire magazines that are in a different position must be removed in case of similar products. www.schlattergroup.com.

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 10 C52-02 

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FROM T. FUKASE TO STEEL CORD AND UCT SHOWCASE PRODSTAINLESS STEEL WIRE DRAWERS

WIRE DÜSSELDORF

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Spirka Schnellflechter

Hall 9 B-33

Per Germany’s Spirka Schnellflechter GmbH, the company will exhibit one of the its braiding machine, Type DF, used for screening of coaxial cables and other conductors and cables with copper or galvanized steel wires in diameter range between 0.05–0.3 mm. The DF 16 A model to be shown will be configured for braiding of fine wires in a 4 x 0.05 mm range. It will be demonstrated with a new control system that provides the following features and advantages: a new generation of PLC, HMI and drives; an optimized and more user-friendly operating system; an expanded pitch range; an optional energy and temperature measuring system; optional remote control and diagnostic system; and an upgraded empty bobbin detection system.

It will be presented with options for payoff and take-up to demonstrate the flexibility of the system for different application ranges and cable specifications. This braiding line offers a wide range of applications and increased flexibility in screening processes. The integrated concentric taper features optimized regulation for precise pre-setting of tape

and cabling. Using automatic machinery, all reels are able to be produced to the strictest standards at valuable costs. All products are then powder coated in any RAL color providing the customer with a highly wear-resistant finish, and are available in extremely fast manufacturing times due to the specialized equipment employed. metavan.com, howarequipment.com.

MGS Group (MGS, Northampton, Hall) U.S. Hall 9E-06/3 The MGS Group, which consists of MGS Manufacturing, Hall Industries and Northampton Machinery Co., is an international supplier of automation and technology solutions for product handling and twisting systems.

Its technology is customized to optimize your application through comprehensive design and engineering capabilities, the result being ruggedly built systems able to reliably produce for decades, all supported by personalized service.

Our collective products include our Fully Automatic Dual Takeup with the unique Robot Handling System; various dual-reel takeups for fiber 44 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

tensions and a harmonized brake system for fine tuning. The company’s single-position, fine wire re-winding system, W8-901, is ideal to wind super fine wire and flat ribbon wire on spools for the DF 16A and RS 16 models. The traversing spool is driven by a servo motor on a travel plate with dual THK linear slides. The traverse reversal limits are set digitally via operator interface in 0.001 in./0.025 mm increments, and a spool code saves the information for easy storage and retrieval. The payoff is connected electrically to the winder and provides constant tension in a range of 0.3-3N through a pneumatic cylinder and dancer arm. The spindle accepts reels up to 130 DIN with acceleration and deceleration of 15 sec. and 10 sec. respectively. spirka-schnellflechter.com.

to 1000 mcm cable; Northampton twisting machines; and our standard product range of payoffs, takeups, rewinders, dancers, accumulators, capstans, length counters, air wipes, double-twist bunchers, twinners and cablers. themgsgroup.com.

NEPTCO Inc. U.S. Hall 9 E-41 Since its founding in 1953, NEPTCO has engineered materials for commercial, industrial and military applications, including advanced polymeric coatings, and laminates of films, foils, fibers, composites, papers, non-wovens and customer-formulated adhesives.

NEPTCO offers contract manufacturing and product design services, and has the in-house ability to provide product coating, lamination, extrusion, printing, slitting and weaving at its ISO 9001:2000certified plants. neptco.com.

Newtech Srl Italy Hall 9 B-75 Newtech supplies wire enamelling and insulating machines. Its enamelling machines cover all the sizes of round magnet wires, copper or aluminum, from 0.08 mm to 1.2 mm, with

horizontal equipment, and from 0.70 mm to 6.0 mm, as well as square and rectangular from 4 sq mm to 64 sq mm, with vertical equipment.

Its fiberglass insulating machines cover flat wire from 5 to 80 sq mm and from 1.0 to 5.0 mm round, with concentric and tangential heads, and with air recirculating openable ovens, unique in this type of technology. A B stage insulation dedicate oven can be added within the same frame. Low energy consumption, high productivity, high quality materials and low pollution level are among the features that Newtech guarantees, knowing how important it is for its customer to optimize production cost and keep scrap under control at minimum level. newtech-machinery.com.

Niagara Composites International Canada Hall 9 B-21 Niagara Composites stands out as an industry leader, and global supplier of leading edge bow products.

We are committed to innovation and continuous improvement, offering outstanding customer service and competitive prices on premium quality flyer bows to the global wire twisting and bunching industry. In fact, our many innovations in bow

design have had a significant, positive impact on the production of wire and cable. Known for our custom work, our in-house draftsman can create engineered drawings for your new flyer bow design prototype or to modify your existing designs, enhancing your equipment’s performance. Currently, we are developing flyer bow prototypes based on new technology for one of the world’s largest manufacturers of communication cable. This new design will be among the lightest and most efficient ever offered in the wire and cable industry. niagaracomposites.com.

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 9 B06 

WIRE DÜSSELDORF

 Visit

OMCG SpA Italy/USA Hall 12 D-72 See p. 46!

OMCG will introduce its new “next generation” wire bender, a CNC controlled integrated work cell (pictured) for railway clips and its SD Minimalist bender as well be ready to discuss the company’s full line of equipment. omcg.com.

Pan Chemicals S.p.A. Italy Hall 9 B-05

Pan Chemicals, represented in North America by Howar Equipment Inc., has become one of the world leading manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech drawing lubricants and coatings to the wire industry.

Its production program includes: PANLUBE S DRY DRAWING LUBRICANTS, a full range of calcium, sodium and combined products for low and high carbon steel and stainless steel; PANLUBE L WET DRAWING LUBRICANTS, a complete range of oils, greases and pastes for wet drawing of low and high carbon, welding wire, stainless steel and nonferrous wire; PANCOVER LUBRICANT CARRIERS, phosphates and nonreactive coatings; PANFLUX FLUX FOR GALVANIZING, especially developed to improve the efficiency of the galvanizing process by a uniform control of the reaction between the two metals, reducing operation costs and improving the quality of the zinc coating; and PANCHEM AUXILIARY PRODUCTS, which includes degreasing agents, pickling inhibitors, protective products, activated charcoal, wiping pads and more. The company has a close technical collaboration with its customers and focuses on R&D of new products and soluMARCH 2016 | 45

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE

OMCG SpA Hall 12 D-72 Per Italy’s OMCG SpA, the company will premiere its next generation of the company’s legendary C31E CNC wire bending machine with eccentric head. The successor sets a new level in terms of quality, speed and variety of parts. The new control software ‘Easy Programming 4’ makes the difference in terms of productivity and operating confidence. The range of wire sizes extends up to 18 mm. The company will also highlight its XRC, a CNC controlled integrated work cell, specifically designed for producing railway clips with a cold bending process.

Compared to traditional ones, this system provides enormous advantages in terms of space (save up to 25%) and energy consumptions (save up to 30%). Another attraction

tions, such as ecological products that meet new international regulations, such as borax-free lubricants and coatings. panchemical.com, howarequipment.com.

Plascoat Systems Ltd. U.K. Hall 16 H-07 Plascoat provides thermoplastic powder coatings that offer advantages over PVC and polyamides, such as long-life corrosion protection, no cracking, no hazardous chemicals, heavy metals, low toxicity and more. plascoat.com.

Plasmait GmbH Austria Hall 10 C-52/03 Plasmait, represented in North America by Howar Equipment Inc., will exhibit its latest technology in plasma surface treatment for the wire, cable, tube and strip industry. These advances will transform the economics of in-line wire processing. The plasma system provides advantages by allowing annealing and cleaning processes to be conducted in-line with wire drawing of stainless steel, carbon steel, and copper wires at process speeds. Our solutions are built around a plasma treatment process that offers great advances in wire production efficiency, wire surface quality and process ecology and is designed for applications with demanding mechanical and surface requirements. Plasma treatment is 46 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

will be its best seller bending machine, the Minimalist 6, the world’s fastest 3D CNC bending machine for sizes up to the 6.35 mm, featuring OMCG’s proprietary front feed system. Attendees can also ask us about our other equipment, including mechanical multi-slide machines with single or double feeder (1 to 14 mm), CNC single-head and double-head feed and form machines and dedicated work cells for lot of industrial applications. omcg.com.

conducted in controlled atmosphere to ensure distinct surface cleanliness and un-compromized surface quality.

PV Ribbon wire is a great application with Plasma cleaning prior to plating being on the forefront of technical achievement. Medical tubing and wire applications are a specialty for the plasma processing equipment. plasmait.com, howarequipment.com.

Q.E.D. Wire Lines Inc. Canada Hall 12 A-30 See p. 42!

Q.E.D specializes in equipment for heat-treating, cleaning and coating of steel wire. Custom designed and built, our high speed ® lines are for galvanizing, Galfan , patenting, annealing, and oil tempering processes. Combining innovative design concepts with 30 years practical experience, we have developed a range of products and equipment that is both technologically advanced and ruggedly dependable. Stop by so we can explain some of the advances we now offer. qedwire.com.

QUEINS Machines GmbH Germany Hall 9 B-06 Besides numerous photographs and video showing machinery in produc-

tion, the QUEINS/STOLBERGER stand will present a newly manufactured heavy-duty, chain-type caterpillar capstan with a pulling force of 20 kN and furthermore a belt capstan with extra large belts. At our factory in Monschau (about a 1.5 hour drive from the exhibition) there are several new machines being manufactured, such as components of taping heads and a rigid strander as well as a new triple-extrusion line and a large number of pre-owned machines can be seen. queins.com.

SKET Verseilmaschinenbau GmbH Germany Hall 10 G-10 See p. 38!

SKET machines and equipment are designed to manufacture steel wire ropes and cables. SKET’s world-wide success is the result of sustained

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WIRE DÜSSELDORF

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

SETIC/Gauder Group Hall 10 E-40 Per France’s SETIC, the company’s new “TC 2000” double-twist machine is the result of Gauder Group long experience in machine designing. It offers high performances compared to the same category of equipment, i.e. a wide range of productions by using the machine stand alone or together with an additional external capstan. The TC 2000 is a very interesting alternative for the cable makers for stranding large bare conductors from 7 to 61 wires, copper and aluminum, round or straight sector (61 wires unilay production (compressed and compacted) up to 400 sq mm copper and 500 sq mm aluminum. The line can also strand class 5/6 flexible conductor up to 240 sq mm and lay-up insulated conductors up to 4 x 70 sq mm.

market activity and testimony to the high-degree of acceptance of the company’s products by the users. It will introduce its latest developments as well as present details on its full line of equipment. www.sketvmb.de.

August Strecker GmbH & Co. KG Germany Hall 10 A-21 See p. 49!

August Strecker GmbH will present new developments at its 1210 sq m booth, where it will display 22 machines. There will be live demonstrations of welding, operator training, welds carried out live, welders for steel, copper, aluminum, brass, for solid and stranded conductors, cold welders, welders with automatic deburring function. STRECKER welders are use in many renowned national and international wire and cable factories and enjoy an excellent reputation for their reliability and performance.

Most production is exported to more than 110 countries. Sales activities as well as customer-service is supported by 40 representative offices worldwide.

Through participation in European and many overseas exhibitions the trademark of STRECKER buttwelders has become a well-known symbol of quality. strecker-limburg.de.

Tensor Machinery Ltd. U.S. Hall 9 F-39 Tensor Machinery has designed and built equipment for the wire and cable industry since 1984. Our focus

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The machine presents a compact and very modern design: all AC motor (bow, capstan, bobbin, traverse), single bow, Bluetooth transmission, large pulley for machine and capstan with 850 mm diameter. The new machine includes some outstanding features with capacity of the 2000 mm take-up bobbin up to 14 tons, main shaft driving the bow from both sides. Also, the machine integrates a baseplate and loading device allowing light foundation and easy installation thus reducing lead time and costs. gaudergroup.com, pourtier-setic.com.

has been mainly on fiber optic cable equipment but with the demand for higher speeds and better tension controls, our equipment is also perfect for other cable designs such as signal wire, control cable and power cable.

In addition to payoffs, take-ups, accumulators and pulling equipment, Tensor specializes in areas such as UV coloring, SZ stranding, tape armoring, yarn serving and jacketing processes for a variety of tubes and cable designs. We can provide you with a complete processing line to manufacture your cable or provide individual pieces of equipment that you can easily integrate into your existing line. Using the latest in electronics and software, we design our equipment to be modern and fast at a price that fits most any budget. We pay special attention to make sure that our equipment is designed to last for years of production without worrying about breakdowns or unreliable components. Companies looking for the competitive edge in lines peed, quality and overall cost should look to Tensor. tensorfiber.com.

UNITEK Crossheads Austria Hall 10 C-52/02 Unitek will exhibit its high precision/high concentricity fixed center single and multi-layer crossheads for thermoplastic and Fluoro-polymer thermoplastic materials. The high precision designs can achieve the highest concentricities and hold them for

extended service life. PVC heads are documented to last up to 50,000 hrs.

Unitek manufactures a complete line of fixed center crossheads capable of producing up to 120 mm over-insulation cable diameters. With special tool designs, a variety of materials and applications can be handled. In addition to the crossheads, peripheral equipment such as bypass valves are offered for the efficient purging of material and changing of product.

This keeps the head clean during tool changes. Unitek is also a leader in automatic color change technology, which allows production lines to change colors within 50-100 feet while at full line speed. More than 16 systems are available for various applications in automotive, building wire and communication cables. unitek.at.

Wheelabrator Group Hall 9 B-34 See p. 39!

Blast technology expert Wheelabrator will present latest machine concepts and developments for the wheelblasting of wire, rod and springs. The line-up includes the tried and tested FL machine series for the mechanical descaling of wire and rod, ranging from stand-alone machines to fully integrated high-performance equipment for high-speed drawing lines. Our team will be ready to discuss specialist shot peening equipment for leaf and coil springs, particularly for automotive applications.

August Strecker GmbH

Hall 10 A-21

Per Germany’s August Strecker GmbH, the company’s vertical SS welding machine offers clear and important advantages: exactly reproducible, same-diameter welded joints of the highest quality, even with difficult materials, that form a solid, reliable foundation for further manufacturing processes and contribute to quality assurance. Further, automatic flash removal is integrated into the process. For some products, especially with the main dimensions of hot-rolled ribbed concrete steel, it is difficult to pull the wire ends to be connected far enough out of the line so they can be positioned horizontally for joining in a conventional welder. Additionally, the large wire loop resulting from welding must then be forcibly pushed back, which frequently presents great problems - often the loop jams and continuous operation is interrupted. The SS model’s vertical configuration allows the welding head to be positioned very close to the wire ends to be welded, a great improvement to the entire work process. The machines are designed so that

 Visit

the wire ends do not need to be straightened for welding, but instead the wires can be hydraulically clamped into the clamping device in the radius of the coil. The machine offers simple, user-friendly operation, even for personnel without special qualifications. This makes it possible to staff this position with just one man, allowing for a reduction in production personnel capacity. Machines from the SS series for vertical welding are also available in various configurations. Whether mounted on a pillar thqat can be swivelled at the horizontal payoff or motor-driven on flanged wheels, every option is available to ideally fit the welding machine to the most diverse on-site requirements of the end customer. strecker-limburg.de.

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 16 E48 

MARCH 2016 | 49

WIRE DÜSSELDORF

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

FEATURE

wire & cable applications This feature presents the tiniest of industry visual slices, including: a major deployment; two new cable products and one phased out; two end-use customers taking different approaches to cable technology; a company reporting a significant product advance for power cables; and three success stories, one that had a stink factor, an ongoing one that seeks a greater good, and one that sometimes is found at heights not for the feint of heart.

Carrier is home to 75 planes…and lots and lots of wire & cable The Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), which represents the first new U.S. aircraft carrier design in 40 years, is the first of a new class of aircraft carriers that over time will replace the Nimitz class of carriers. The carrier, which is being built at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division, also is a classic example of just how stunning advances in technology can be. The $12 billion ship has the same size hull, but the all-electric powered vessel will be far more effective in terms of its capabilities as well as to control costs. The U.S. Navy projects that its advanced technology, which will also enable planes to be launched by electric power instead of steam, has made it possible to reduce the ship staffing to approximately 4500 sailors. It projects that over the ship’s projected 50-year service life, the savings will top $4 billion. Below, Dave Brookman, Newport News Shipbuilding lead general foreman for new carrier construction, discusses the wiring of the ship.

Brookman

WJI: How much total wire and cable was used?

Brookman: The Gerald R. Ford uses approximately 10 million feet of electrical cable and 3.5 million of fiber optic cable.

More than 600

50 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

cable types were used for apps from supporting communications to lighting and to launching ships.

WJI: Which cable companies were key suppliers?

Brookman: The two heavy hitters were Monroe Cable, which supplied the bulk of our new construction and overhaul conventional cable, and General Cable, which supplied

the majority of our fiber. Draka also supplied some of our heavier power cables. SeaCoast is our distributor that stores, cuts and ships cable to all contracts at Newport News Shipbuilding.

WJI: How does all the wire and cable translate to improvements?

Brookman: The ship has three times the electrical generation capacity than

(CVN 78)

Building an aircraft carrier is a monumental task that REQUIRES THOUSANDS OF

SKILLED SHIPBUILDERS

with generations of

enough materials to build

FEET of installed electrica l cable FEET

Enough fiber optic cable to

lift.

times

Station approximately 7.6

reach the International Space

tons

the equivalent of lifting 986 Liberty Bells in a single

reach the International Space

performed by 1,050-ton gantry crane over 3.5 years

Station approximately 3 times

of installed fiber optic cable

www.thefordclass.com

 Visit

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 11 D52 

MARCH 2016 | 51

54 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2016 | 11

FEATURE NEWS INDUSTRY

ing aircraft faster olderInc., carriers. grows inthe complexity aswire we upgrade WJI: How challenging the U.S.-based Carristhan Reels, has purchased forming and welding machine, whichwere incorpoThe biggest single advance has to be to include today’s technology.

As the cable-installing logistics, especially remaining interest in J. Hamelin Industries, a Canadian rates faster drives and control systems. switching from a steam to closely an technology designs power,can be ascombined this ship was so the different? reel company that it haslaunch worked with sincegrows, it TheforUMW with UCW-100 electric launch.

Brookman: In addition to the sheer bought half of business in 2008. model to create an integrated forming and welding volume of cable we were dealing A press release said that addition of J. Hamelin, cell for the production of shelving products. The with and the schedule pressure we WJI:has How important theand cable customers GER ALD R. FOR which been servingare wire frames are produced on the UMW-100 and then D were under, there were a lot of new cables in reducing throughout Canada ownership and northeast U.S. for 77 years, transferred into the UCW-100, where the frame supBUILDING A GIANT hadcoil, to consider—things iscosts? a major plus for both companies. “We welcome port/brace wire is fedfactors directwe from and welded like having air conditioning to Brookman: An electrical J. Hamelin to the Carris family, and look forward to into the frame. Further options include press stations experience and support the electronics onboard and ship inherently reduces cost for future growth and operating at a ‘best ofAindustry’ forHamelin’s post-forming andStotland, secondary bend headsReels for formJ. Harold l, with Carris CEO SMALL the power distribution monitoring mechanical maintenance (PM, 10,000,000 (level),” said Carris Reels CEO David Ferraro. ing loops and eyes.

Dave Ferraro.

CIT Y system. This is the 11th ship I’ve grease, parts,toetc.).

In addition, reels, J. Hamelin 4,000,000 In addition manufacturing operAtjust the like Shanghai HOSN booth at Interwire, Dean Zhang, l, ing our geographic footprint North worked on,across and Ford willAmerica. have elecat our houses, central ates an extensive recycling and Edison repair Qin, network chief of North American sales, and chief throughof South Hamelin has a tracktrical record of delivering value capacity that we’ve never seen remote operating stations using out Canada, with facilities in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta 2 American point to machines enhanced packagingbefore programs innovation in on anthrough aircraft carrier. complexsales, control systems allow sold to the Americas. 16 superlifts and Saskatchewan offering wood and steel reel repair/ HEAVIEST LIFT process, automation and reel tracking systems. We have for fewer operators controlling recycling, said the release, noting the following. J. 1,026 more the ship. servicing the U.S. and Withintegration its specificofpersonnel an exciting future as WJI: we leverage our shared How does it feel whenexperience you Hamelin also has U.S. assembly facilities in Marion, other markets in the American continent, HOSN is and knowledge to drive profitable growth.

As part of complete a project of this immense Indiana, and Enfield, Connecticut. In 2010, the compacommitted to extensive supplyingis high-effi ciency drawing and the negotiation, Harold will have an equity position in scope?

WJI: How the ny launched a significant investment and now operates stranding equipment to the wire and cable industry in Carris, further aligning our future objectives.”

Bookman: It took an enormous ship's computer network? a highly efficient and automated nailed wood reel plant theBrookman: Americas. When the ship is Stotland described the about deal as win-win for both team, 850 electricians, to parin St. Jerome. In addition to automated production At Interwire, HOSN displayed photos of its JLK ties. “We saw an opportunity to better alignaccomour comaccomplish what we have finally ready for deployment, it lines, unique material handling practices have been series rigid3,000+ stranding machine panies to achieve shared he said. plished.growth There isobjectives,” huge satisfaction will have LAN drops. with bottom loading or employed, yielding a state-of-the-art facility. side loading system.

Thisand unique machine is suitable “Together we are stronger and dealing can leverage when you’re with a new first- opporThat’s 3,000+ monitors Ferraro said that J. Hamelin CEO Harold Stotland of-class ship, but also when you’re displays. for producing large-length, compact/round bare Al/Cu tunities.” will remain actively engaged in the organization, both dealing with so many people.

For wire, ACSR and aluminum alloy wire. The machine is Carris Reels, based in Proctor, Vermont, manufacas a stakeholder in Carris Reels and as vice president of Ultimate Automation Sales Director Martin Smith by a me, it’s not about how difficult theand driven byHow individual motors for the rotating cage and the tures plywood, nailed wood, wood/metal, plastic, WJI: many specialists will manufacturing for three Carris nailed wood manufacUMW-100 model control, and monitor components in build was, it’s about the people you in stranding pitch can adjusted freely. Another featured stamped metal reels and spools, with 550 employees monitor/upkeep thebe electric systems? turing sites (St. Jerome, Quebec; Enfield, Connecticut; today’s systems use state-of-the-art work with to do it.

We brought on a product was an aluminum breakdown machine used for 12 locations in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. Gerald R.He Ford has that Stotland, who andBrookman: Madera, California. noted Ultimat manufactures the UMW 2D wire forming & methods to ensure reliability, redunlot of new people who brought with drawing aluminum alloy, and all kinds of shaped wires 187been electrician’s (EMs)Board of Directors for the has active onmates the Carris welding machines,them UTW Automatic Ring Machines dancy (where required), and adapnew ideas and questions, which from 9.5 mm down to 1.8-5.0and mm. Many customers also assigned to air, engineering General Cable lands largest portion past six years, “will continue in that governing and UCW T-Welders.

The a machine tation forrole.” continuing forward spiral in the endcompany improveshas production andto showed interests in HOSN’s drum twister which reactor strong departments.

“Harold and his teams complement ourdevelopment. talented This includes suit everyone’s requirement from the manufacture improveof 3-year Canadian contract tooling. Thatcable fresh perspective wasofa is used for cabling low, medium and high voltage power employee-owners, as our collective experience and will to mounting, ments and changes POP displays, lampshades, supermarket shelving and great shothas in the arm. General Cable Canada’s Hydro-Québec named as cables and for applying armoring and screening wires. assure we are meeting our customers’ needs for custom automotive components, etc. www.ultimat.com. its main cable supplier for the next three years, awardwww.hosnglobe.com. packaging and solutions,” Ferraro said. “This acquisiing it a contract valued at an estimated $108 million. tion strengthens our competitive position by expandEnough electrical cable to

FEATURE

connectorization, and methods previous carriers. That capacity helps WJI: Are all ships wired the Ultimate Automation, Ltd. U.K. for Carris Reels buys interest cable installation. in many areas, from makingremaining it possisame way?

At Interwire, Ultimate Automation displayed the latest to better load weapons to launch-Industries Brookman: Each design of ship inbleCanada’s J. Hamelin version of the company’s ULTIMAT UMW-100, 2D

FEATURE

'Mining' the potential of technology ... with a new rope Bridon, a global manufacturer and supplier of steel wire and fiber rope solutions for the world’s most demanding applications, recently reported that it has installed Bristar, the company’s “revolutionary hybrid core rope,” at a South African gold mine. Following comprehensive internal testing at the Bridon Technology Centre, a 42-mm triangular, six-strand rope, with a load-bearing hybrid fiber core, has been successfully manufactured and installed.

The Bristar rope was used on an electrically coupled Blair multi-rope (BMR) man/material hoist that became the first one to hoist to a depth of 3,150 m in a single wind. Below, the company discusses its new product.

WJI: How has the Bristar hybrid core rope done in its trial run in a gold mine in South Africa?

Bridon: The rope is performing extremely well, with little change in rope diameter and lay length over the 3,137 m depth of wind and very limited plastic deformation on the drum section.

WJI: When was the concept of a fiber center being more than just a support for the outer strand first considered, and how long did it take to get to the test stage?

Bridon: Bridon has been developing the concept of composite ropes for almost a decade, but the real breakthrough came in a partnership with DuPont in 2012, which led to the use of a specific grade of Kevlar, which was developed with elongation characteristics similar to steel. This enables the concept of load sharing to take place effectively between the fiber and the steel across the whole

52 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

load range, ensuring both the rated breaking load and safe working load performance in service when the safety factors are applied.

WJI: How big an advance is this rope? Is the technology now ready to be commercialized or will tests continue?

Bridon: Our hybrid rope is set to revolutionize the industry. There are

so many benefits to the new hybrid core and our customers will in the future have the option to increase payloads at their mines and thus increase productivity, or maintain existing payloads and significantly extend the working life of their ropes. Hybrid

ropes are as strong and robust as steel, but have improved bending and weight saving benefits of fiber. Hybrid ropes can also be deployed on existing systems with the same operating parameters, enabling these benefits to be achieved on existing systems. Bridon is continuing to evaluate field trial opportunities with key clients prior to full commercial roll out.

WJI: How much does a traditional 2,000 meter rope and one made with Bristar weigh?

Bridon: Hybrid ropes will be available in various options from six and eight strand with a fiber core, along with ropes utilizing fiber in the outer strands for maximum weight saving. Weight savings over a conventional steel rope range from 18% to 40%, dependent on construction and configuration. In comparison to a traditional fiber core, the rope weight would remain the same, but an increase in strength of up to 20% is realized from the hybrid core.

WJI: Is it any harder or easier to determine when the useful life of the new rope is nearing an end?

Bridon: The discard criteria for steel ropes is established by the number of visible wire breaks. Certain mines also employ the use of in-line NDE equipment for real time inspec-

 Visit

tion. This is unchanged with a high strength fiber core rope, as in testing the core retained over 80% of its original breaking strength at the point of reaching visible discard criteria.

FEATURE

WJI: What would the expected life be for a traditional rope used in deep mines? What are your expectations for this rope?

Bridon: In lab testing at the Bridon Technology Centre, on full-scale bend fatigue machines, the hybrid ropes have achieved up to 80% more cycles than a steel rope and up to 40% more cycles than a traditional fiber core rope.

WJI: Is there any other aspect not covered above that is worth noting?

If so, please do so here.

Bridon: One of the main challenges with hybrid ropes is the limitations of some fiber types with respect to creep and temperature (HMPE can be limited as low as 60°C). The selected grade of fiber in the Bridon rope has no melting point, only chars

at 450°C and can be employed in long-term use at temperatures up to 160°C, without significant loss in performance. It also has virtually no creep (creep rate of 0.02% per decade), which ensures continuous load sharing throughout the life of the rope.

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 9 E6-5 

Huestis Industrial Cable Jacket Strippers Who do you call when you’ve just run a rush order, the jacket has defects, and there isn’t enough time to remake the entire job?

Huestis Industrial, of course! Our cable jacket strippers will save you time and money salvaging the valuable core, allowing you to re-extrude the job fast to keep your customers happy and your remake costs down. In many cases, one job provides the payback for your investment.

For more details or to place an order, call us at 800-972-9222, or email us at sales@huestis.com

Model CJS 1000

Model BJS 1000* Strippers can be customized to meet your specific requirements. * Model BJS 1000 is bench mounted.

All other models are free standing.

ISO9001 REGISTERED

www.huestisindustrial.com Air Wipes, Pay-offs, Take-ups, Buncher Pay-offs, Accumulators, Spoolers, Cable Jacket Strippers, Custom Machinery 2C_HUESTIS_CJS_JustRunARushJob_WJI_halfHoriz_VariousCombos_ShowInfo_v8_02122016_press.indd 1

2/12/16 3:58:07 PM

MARCH 2016 | 53

FEATURE

Award-winning robotic hand is noteworthy on more than 1 level The accomplishments are imThis feature looks at the use of wire pressive to date for the four team and cable in applications, and this members: Minas Liarokapis, a Postentry about OpenBionics is of interest doctoral Associate, Grab Lab, Yale for two reasons: its robotic hand can University, U.S.; Agisilaos Zisimatos, be built from parts and materials that Graduate Research Assistant, NTUA; weigh less than 200 grams and can Christoforos Mavrogiannis PhD Stucost less than $200, while its anthrodent, Sibley School of Mechanical & pomorphic prosthetic hand weigh Aerospace Engineering, Cornell Uniless than 300 grams and can cost less versity, USA.; and George Kontoudis than $300. The second reason is that Graduate Research Assistant, Control neither of the robotic hands currently Systems Lab, Sch. of Mechanical use wire…but they could.

Engineering, NTUA. The company’s First, a little about the company. design won one of the three 2015 OpenBionics, a Greek-based enterRobotdalen Innovation Awards. It prise, was founded in 2013 by four also placed 2nd out of more than a Greek graduate students, with the hundred entrants vying for the 2015 help of Prof. Kostas J. KyriakopouHackaday Prize (its slogan: We want los, National Technical University of The latest version of the robotic hand. you to build the future—not fit inside Athens (NTUA), Greece. It serves as of a tiny box made of disqualifying an open-source initiative for lowrestraints). Below, Minas Liarokapis discusses the techcost, light-weight, underactuated robot hands and prosthetnology with WJI. ic devices.

WJI: Your group is basically sharing all your research for free: why?

Liarokapis: By keeping our design open/ free, we allow everyone interLiarokapis ested to actively get involved and help us accelerate the development of our hands. An open-source design allows us to reach out to literally everyone (e.g., hobbyists, researchers, enthusiasts) that shares our passion and just wants to contribute to our project, either by replicating our current devices and providing feedback on them, or even by adding new features to them. At the same time, our open-source philosophy allows people in need—which typically cannot afford the existing commercially available solutions—to build their own customized prostheses, regain their lost dexterity and improve their quality of life.

54 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

WJI: Q1. What type(s) of wire is used, and how did you come to choose that type/gauge?

Liarokapis: At this point, we do not use wire. We use two types of Dyneema fishing line, one for tendon routing and one for stitching the flexure joints on the rigid phalanges. For the tendon routing we use UHMWPE fiber, 0.4 mm thick. We chose this because it has very low elasticity and it is strong enough for our application (40 kg).

WJI: Had you considered metal wire?

Liarokapis: No. We didn’t because it is typically too heavy for our applications and it damages the ABS of the 3D printed parts.

WJI: Did you contact any wire companies that specialize in medical wire for this project?

Liarokapis: One of our main concerns for the design was to come up with materials that can be easily found in hardware stores all over the world, so in our early stages we have not really made any inquiries to specialized medical firms.

WJI: How many meters are needed for each hand?

Liarokapis: For our four-fingered robot hand, we use about 2.5 meters of fishing line, while for our five-fingered prosthetic hand we use about 3.2 meters. For stitching, we need about 7.2 meters for the robot hand and about 12.5 meters for the prosthetic hand.

WJI: What characteristics are most vital?

Liarokapis: Tensile strength and almost zero elasticity are two important properties for our project. A low friction coefficient is also a desirable property for our tendon-routing mechanism.

WJI: What has been the most challenging parts of your research?

Liarokapis: Tendon fixing and termination are time consuming and require careful handling.

WJI: How long does it take to assemble one of the new hands?

Liarokapis: The creation of a new prosthetic hand consists of two

FEATURE

stages: building all the required parts and then assembling them together with the supplementary materials to conclude the hand. The whole process requires one day. For now, we have only designed and assembled prototypes and therefore we cannot exactly estimate a potential mass manufacturing rate of a similar product.

WJI: How long should the new hands last?

Liarokapis: At this point, we have only designed a few prototypes of robot and prosthetic hands. Therefore, the materials were not chosen to be really durable. However, the related literature and our team’s experience so far suggests that the Dyneema fishing line is suitable for research but it is not expected to last long. It is quite possible that an alternative wire will be chosen for a future product.

Minas Liarokapis, 2nd from r, at the Robotdalen Innovation Awards ceremony.

WJI: Would you be interested in hearing from companies that may be able to supply you wire for your applications? What else might they need to know about your particular needs?

Liarokapis: I would welcome such contact. First, for more information

ultimat

about us, go to openbionics.org. In terms of what we need from wire, it would be zero elasticity, high maneuverability and low friction between the wire and metal or ABS parts.

We can be contacted at: info@ openbionics.org.

See us at

Wire 2016 Stand 12B72

WIRE FORMING & WELDING MACHINES

• • • • • •

AUTOMATIC

•

STRAIGHTENING

•

FORMING

•

WELDING

• •

• 2D Wire Forming & Welding Machines, suitable for POP Displays, Shelving, Household goods and many more • Automatic Lines for the production of shelving and air filter frames direct from coil • Automatic Ring Forming & Welding machines • High Quality Burr-Free welds in mild and stainless steel • Medium frequency and TIG welding options available • Suited for prototypes to low or high volume production runs • Versions available for strip or profiled wire • Automatic Unloading of finished parts • Square Clean-cut wire ends • Unrivalled service support • 2 year parts warranty Ultimate Automation Ltd, 23 Star Road Industrial Estate, Partridge Green, West Sussex, RH13 8RA, U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 1403 710043 Fax: +44 (0) 1403 588084 Email: sales@ultimat.com www.ultimat.com US MAGAZINES HALF PAGE 2015.indd 1

20/12/2015 06:38

MARCH 2016 | 55

FEATURE

TDC Group: customers will benefit greatly from DOCSIS 3.1 TDC, a communications supplier that serves some 1.3 million Danish houses, is a big believer in DOCSIS 3.1 technology. The company plans to deploy it to deliver broadband speeds of up to 1 Gb/s by the end of 2017, and it sees the potential for those speeds to be much, much higher as DOCSIS 3.1 realizes its full potential. WJI asked Carsten Bryder, TDC’s director in operation for technology and capacity, to discuss the technology.

Huawei initiative D-CCAP solution enables the digital transformation of traditional Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) networks, which reduces analog equipment and fiber investments. The D-CCAP can coexist with FTTH in unified platforms, increasing the flexibility of existing Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) architectures greatly.

WJI: How confident are you about DOCSIS 3.1 technology?

Bryder: The results of our 2015 field test with our partner, Huawei, Bryder confirmed that moving to 1 Gb/s speeds in the coaxial network is an optimal business opportunity. We achieved downstream traffic rates up to 3,600 mbps. The

WJI: Was moving to an all optical fiber network considered?

Bryder: Yes. We do not see a need to go to the expense and all the

disruption that comes with going to FTTH. Customers do not care about technology. They care about results, and we can provide our customers what they want, now and for the years to come, at a fraction of the costs.

WJI: How much less expensive is it to use DOCSIS 3.1?

Bryder: We believe that we can deploy the capabilities of DOCSIS 3.1 for 10-12% of the total cost for installing all fiber, and that does not include all the disruption that comes from replacing cable, house

We will do the build out without overlap in investments 1 Illustrative Coax Illustrative FttH

First mover of DOCSIS 3.1 technology with full roll - out completed end of 2017

3rd party

1

DSL

3

4

2

Own & existing 3 rd party deals Constantly improving fiber reach and promote existing fiber infrastructure (where coax is not available)

3

Maintain and cover DSL and MBB DSL boost by new copper technologies and through MBB incl. hybrids Mobile capabilities will maintain number 1 position in Denmark

4

Potential 3 rd party fiber deals Improving fiber reach through entering 3 rd party deals with utilities No overlap in build - out (if we cannot strike a deal will not offer the service)

2

1

1

2

3

4

3

Coax 2

(~64% of HHs)

FttH

(~ 6% of HHs)

DSL only

3rd party

(~30% of HHs)

January 26 TDC and Huawei signed a landmark agreement for complete network transformation of full Coax (HFC) network infrastructure in Denmark to support DOCSIS 3.1 1) ~1.2m HHs on coax and ~0.2m on fiber

2) ~400k Households on Stofa coax

56 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Moving to Giga speed Upgrade to 1 Gbps high speed for 50% of Danish households 1

What is DOCSIS 3.1?

 Visit

us at wire Düsseldorf — stand 10 B38 

JUNE 2015 | 73 MARCH 2016 | 57

FEATURE FEATURE

the hugely popular combined Diameter and Flaw DetecProton Products International/U.K. by house, street by street. At this potential to offer speedstion thatGage DGK SuperFast but we areSeries. confident thatlike it will ”We’d to say a At Interwire, Proton Products International showcased time, we are able to provide service will meet the future needs of our happen. big ‘thank you’ to all who visited (us) at Interwire 2015. company’s SL series speed and length ofthe 500 Mb/s. ByInteliSENS the end of 2017 customers for many years to come. gauges, it noted areresults saving cableWe manufacturers we will bewhich able to achieve believe that could be speeds WJI: Is this similar to G.Fast? everywe day around the world. ofserious 1 Gb/s.money Basically, replace as high as 3.6 Gb/s. Some of the Bryder: Comparison to G.fast As cable else, manufacturers purchase materials bythat theis needed to do everything but not any of the raw equipment is not far off, although G.Fast ton and by length, it’s extremely cable, andthen thatsell is where we achieve thisimportant does not to exist right now in on copper/fiber often requires very significant termsatof1000 certifications, but we have digging and cable replacement. make sure that savings. when you sell a reel of cable achieved DOCSIS 3.1 technology enables ft, its is not 1003 ft or 1005 ft, essentially giving very awaygood results in our WJI: Beyond cost, were there othtest lab.

All this needs to be run usage of more spectrum and 0.3% or 0.5% for free, which can be typical in many erproduction factors that led to this choice? through a certification/standardthereby more faster down- and facilities. The InteliSENS SL Series gauges Bryder: DOCSIS 3.1 has the ization process through Cable Lab, upload speeds at the net. are calibrated to 0.03%, and with no moving parts to wear and non-contact operation eliminating slippage, we are extremely proud to work with our customers and provide a gauge that truly helps save money and improve profitability.

The DGK Series of gaugesinhave moving and Per Wikipedia, introduced 1997,noData Overparts Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) is an international measure the diameter an amazing 10,000the times per sectelecommunications standard that permits addition of high-bandwidth data transfer to an existing cable TV (CATV) ond, perItaxis.

Available either a dualor triple-axis system. is employed byasmany cable television operators to provide Internet access (see cable Internet) over their exGrant Proton isting fiber-coaxial (HFC) infrastructure.

It has been updated fourLatimer, times, the latestProducts. being in 2013, when DOCSIS gauge,hybrid the Super Fast Processing Technology analyzes 3.1 released, and it continues to be updated.

Theand current DOCSIS 3.1 suite of specifications supports capacities of up was to 30,000 measurements per second to display It was without doubt our busiest exhibition and our full atcommunicate least 10 Gbit/s downstream andlumps 1 Gbit/s This method uses existing cable. diameter, ovality, andupstream. neckdowns. team of agents and employees were on hand to take care The company also showed a full range of products of our customers.” Grant Latimer, managing director, including spark testers, capacitance gauges, lump and g.latimer@protonproducts.com. neck detectors, pre heaters, speed & length gauges and

FEATURE

BT: G.fast offers a very practical way to meet customer needs U.K.-based BT, one of the world’s leading communications services companies, serves customers in the U.K. as well as more than 170 countries worldwide. BT notes that it has invested £500 million in R&D every year, and that the company is one of the largest investors in R&D in the U.K., and globally in the telecoms sector, currently holding 4,560 patents. Innovation is a necessity, especially for upgrading the company’s needs for existing broadband services. One such method is G.fast (see below image for its depolyment). Below, a company spokesman explains why the technology is favored.

WJI: BT seems ready to go into G.fast technology in a big way?

BT: We are quite confident that G.fast will work extremely well over an existing customer’s twisted copper pair. While the highest performance is seen below 100 meters, one of the breakthroughs that our R&D team has made is getting ultrafast speeds at 350 meters and above.

WJI: Do you consider G.fast to be a long-term solution, or is this something that can meet current and projected needs or a given period?

BT: No network technology is completely future-proof. That’s why BT invests heavily in R&D which in turn helps us to discover new ways of taking broadband further and faster. Having said that, G.fast is a

major breakthrough that we think will keep us comfortably ahead of demand from consumers and small businesses in the UK for the foreseeable future. The best estimates from the U.K. government’s leading advisers on broadband (the Broadband Stakeholders Group) suggest that 19 Megabits per second (Mbps) will be enough speed for the vast majority of households until 2023, and that our existing fiber network is more than capable of supporting that. However, G.fast could deliver speeds 20 times faster, and we have ambitious plans to roll it out to the majority of the U.K. over the next decade. So we believe we’ve got a strong strategy that will help the U.K. continue to be a global leader when it comes to connectivity.

What is G.fast?

Per Wikipedia, Fast access to subscriber terminals (G.fast) is a digital subscriber line (DSL) standard for local loops shorter than 500 m, with performance targets between 150 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s, depending on loop length. G.fast uses time-division duplexing (TDD), as opposed to ADSL2 and VDSL2, which use frequency-division duplexing. Although G.fast was initially designed for loops shorter than 250 meters, early 2015 demonstrations saw G.fast delivering speeds over 100 megabits nearly 500 meters. Deployment scenarios involving G.fast bring fiber closer to the customer than traditional VDSL2 FTTN (fiber to the node).

58 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

WJI: Can you estimate how much more cost-effective it is to be able to deploy G.fast than install an all-fiber network?

BT: We know that delivering “all-fiber” (FTTP) to 29 million homes and businesses across the U.K. would be hugely expensive and take a long, long time. Some independent estimates put the cost as high as £28 billion, with no guarantee of a return, so you can see why private investors are reluctant to take that approach.

We also know from our own experience of rolling out fiber to the cabinet (FTTC) that people want faster speeds now, so it’s unlikely they’d want to wait for a program which involves such complex engineering to connect 29 million individual properties, with the huge amount of planning, permissions, road-closures and excavation that entails.

WJI: How has your use of technology evolved?

BT: BT’s network has evolved out of traditional telephony, which historically connected homes and businesses using a twisted copper pair cable. In recent years we’ve been upgrading the network to deliver superfast broadband speeds (24 Mbps+) by using Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line 2 (VDSL2) technology over “Fiber to the Cabinet” and Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks (GPON) for our “Fiber to the Premises” infrastructure. That approach has enabled us to offer download speeds of up to 80 Mbps to the vast majority of the U.K. in a far shorter timeframe than a “pure fiber” or DOCSIS 3.1 deploy-

WJI: What about mobile?

BT: Mobile networks typically have tens of thousands of base station sites, and that number is likely to grow rapidly as increasing data capacity demands require radio spectrum re-use through smaller cells. We think C-RAN over G.fast could address that demand more efficiently than other potential solutions, but it’s early days, being at a laboratory proof-of-concept stage within BT. We’re continuing Micro-WJI-Ad-March-2016

2/17/16

Overlay network, 23-106MHz operation FEATURE

ment, which would involve complex engineering to connect millions of individual properties with all the planning, permissions, road-closures and excavation that entails. With the development of G.Fast technology, we’re confident that we’ll be able to deliver ultrafast speeds (hundreds of megabits per second) to the majority of the U.K. over the same underlying infrastructure in a timeframe people won’t balk at.

Results from BT’s 2015 trial for G.Fast. to work on improving the system and testing its performance in the lab and in the field, and we’re also 8:39 AM

looking at the feasibility of external trials involving interested Mobile Network Operators.

Page 1

Micro Products Company • Batavia Illinois USA • Email: info@micro-weld.com

Micro-Weld Hall-9 Booth-C73 Dusseldorf Germany April 4-8, 2016

MARCH 2016 | 59

FEATURE

On the surface, a ‘groundbreaking’ advance for General Cable Two news stories in this issue (see p. 14) are about contracts awarded to General Cable Corporation to supply its new “groundbreaking” E3X™ Technology for overhead aluminum conductors. As not all new technology is equal, WJI asked the company to explain why they consider E3X to be such an advance. As interesting as the details about their new technology are, so is the company’s discussion about historical assumptions that exist for overhead transmission line ratings.

Below, Cody Davis, General Cable Lead Product Engineer, Electric Utility, discusses the technology. For more details, go to http://e3x.generalcable.com.

WJI: What is E3X Technology and what makes it qualify as “groundbreaking”?

Davis: E3X is a patent-pending innovative coating material that provides high Davis emissivity and low solar absorptivity characteristics, thereby allowing conductors to operate at lower temperatures, maximizing available line thermal capacity (normal and emergency) while minimizing capital investment and electrical losses. This is important because a bare overhead conductor’s available thermal rating is limited by the aluminum’s low emissivity.

WJI: How is E3X applied?

Davis: We don’t comment on proprietary processes, but we can say that the coating is so thin that it increases conductor weight by an

60 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

exceedingly small amount, less than 0.4%, well within the manufacturing tolerances of the aluminum weight.

The coating is factory-applied post-stranding to the surface of any General Cable overhead conductor.

WJI: How does E3X affect emissivity and absorptivity?

Davis: Those two material properties (characteristics) are key to the thermal rating of conductors. The emissivity of an overhead conductor quantifies the efficiency with which it dissipates heat via thermal radiation: the higher the emissivity, the more heat dissipates, and the higher the thermal rating. The absorptivity of a conductor quantifies the amount of solar heat absorbed from the sun: the lower the absorptivity, the less heat is absorbed, which improves the thermal rating. Therefore, the ideal material properties for an overhead conductor are high emissivity and low absorptivity. Now, with E3X Technology, these desirable material properties can be achieved by

simply applying a coating to the surface of any overhead conductor design. New conductors with E3X Technology offer engineered emissivity and absorptivity values of 0.9 and 0.2 respectively, which are utilized in the IEEE 738 Standard for calculating the current-temperature of bare overhead conductors.

WJI: How are emissivity and absorptivity values currently determined?

Davis: The industry commonly calculates the current-temperature relationship of bare overhead conductors by utilizing an emissivity and absorptivity value derived from curves that were developed in the 1950s and 1960s for use on lower-temperature lines (below 100°C) and were based on regional data. The prevailing industry belief during that era was that a new conductor with both low emissivity and low absorptivity would have a similar line rating to

WJI: How does E3X Technology reduce the performance risk in line ratings?

Davis: The risk of incorrect assumptions for overhead transmission line ratings has been magnified by the increased temperatures of transmission lines being built today. With newer high-temperature line designs, the temperature error from using assumed high emissivity values can exceed 100°C, more than enough to cause excessive sag, conductor damage, or even sudden line failure of a valuable transmission path at a time when it is most needed. E3X Technology offers engineered “fixed” emissivity and absorptivity values in place of what had been previously a significant “variable” in line rating, thus reducing a source of risk when calculating the optimal thermal capacity of a transmission line.

WJI: Will utilities be willing to invest in this technology?

Davis: Yes, when they understand its advantages. Maximum design temperatures for bare aluminum overhead transmission lines have increased substantially over the past several decades to allow for more thermal capacity. We know that having accurate data on the mechanical, electrical, material and environmental parameters properties of a conductor is critical in maximizing available line thermal capacity (normal and emergency) while minimizing capital investment and electrical losses. E3X Technology allows utilities to optimize the power grid by adding more power and controlling

WJI: How did you verify the effectiveness of E3X? Davis: We know that E3X is a groundbreaker not just because of extensive General Cable assessment but also from the results of testing over four years by a General Cable-directed team of expert development

ical testing (sheave roller, Aeolian vibration, galloping, and tension cycling) demonstrated no visible change to the coating. Additional testing to heat and humidity, salt exposure, or acid rain also shows no susceptibility.

Testing has revealed that the E3X coating is not affected by the thermal expansion and contraction of the aluminum. The coating is flexible and strongly adhered to the underlying aluminum, demonstrating no flaking, damage or removal of the coating after 500 current cycles per ANSI C119.4.

partners, independent test laboratories which included Kinectrics and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and utilities, which have an inherent focus on energy efficiency and reliability.

The coating has been tested to the most stringent protocols above and beyond what is required for standard overhead conductor, and it has been evaluated through extensive validation in field trials. And yes, we can verify that it is groundbreaking.

WJI: How cost-effective is the coating?

Davis: While the upfront costs of an E3X-coated conductor may only be slightly higher, the overall transmission line project costs associated with designing a system with E3X Technology are significantly lower than that of a conductor without it.

E3X offers a compelling payback period, less than two years on average for the incremental investment.

WJI: Could this coating over time lose its effectiveness?

Davis: General Cable developed the E3X coating to be as durable as the conductor itself: 50 years and beyond. Our performance testing shows no reduction in performance after 10,000 hours in the weather-o-meter test. Sequential mechan-

WJI: Could this technology be applied to existing transmission lines?

Davis: At this time, General Cable is only supplying E3X Technology for newly manufactured bare aluminum overhead transmission and distribution conductors. The technology to coat existing transmission lines is under development. Please stay tuned.

losses with significant first-cost and long-term operational savings. This, in turn, will enhance the long-term performance of the grid to supply safe, clean, reliable and cost-effective power for generations to come.

MARCH 2016 | 61

FEATURE

an aged conductor with high emissivity and high absorptivity. At traditional operating temperatures (below 100°C) during the 50s and 60s, this range in different values had almost no impact on line rating. Therefore, it is not uncommon for environmental parameter values used in thermal rating calculations today to be overestimated and the effect of emissivity on line ratings is assumed negligible because absorptivity is assumed to be similar.

FEATURE

How far a ‘stretch’ is the latest advance for Minnesota Wire? iSTRETCH® from Minnesota Wire is a proprietary cable construction that can be configured to stretch up to 40% and return. It is available in a variety of gauges and jacket colors. Testing has shown dramatically improved flex-life and durability for demanding applications. Some applications using iSTRETCH for improved performance include buried pipeline tracer cable, robotics, 3D printers and defense/military soldier communication. Below, CEO Paul J. Wagner discusses the company’s technology and one of its latest applications.

WJI: How did the iSTRETCH concept come to be?

Wagner: iSTRETCH was developed through a Small Wagner Business Innovation Research (SBIR) effort from the Department of Defense for Soldier Communication. iSTRETCH is our family of electrical conductors that stretch and return to their original size while maintaining their electrical properties and shielded capabilities over an extended life period.

WJI: How would a comparable traditional wire fare to iSTRETCH for a given application?

Wagner: Test data has yielded a typical ten times service life compared to standard construction.

cable to stretch as needed but not be over-stretched and break.

WJI: Is there a predictable age or wear point at which an iSTRETCH wire will begin to lose that capability?

Wagner: At this time, there is not a specific time that we have met. iSTRETCH outperforms all standard cables in the flex and pull tests we have performed. We know we can significantly out-perform current standard cables.

WJI: We understand that the big news is the range of applications you are finding that iSTRETCH also can work well for?

Wagner: We knew that iSTRETCH would excel for applications where there is lots of flexing, but we’ve found other uses that are really exciting, and somewhat unexpected.

Minnesota Wire has "stretched" its range to the world of hoopsters.

WJI: What limits the range of how much a wire can stretch?

Wagner: iSTRETCH can elongate up to 100% if desired. We typically put a stay cord in the cable to allow a specific amount of stretch (which the customer can specify), with a natural stop at that point. This allows the

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WJI: Can you provide an example?

Wagner: How about a basketball court? Our partner, Vibrado Technologies, recently introduced the SOLIDshot™ Basketball Shooting System, which helps a player improve their shot. As they explain, if you’re an elite player who has size, quickness

and an okay shot, to get to the next level your coaches may want you to improve your shooting. SOLIDshot, with iSTRETCH cable that connects multiple sensor nodes. Each sensor node contains MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers. Observing motion from multiple points on your body enables the system to perform real-time, intelligent motion capture and analysis. Instant positive feedback reinforces proper form.

Instant corrective feedback, which appears as arrows on your arm, provides simple suggestions to adjust form. With shot to shot adjustments, players practice more efficiently and reinforce proper muscle memory.

WJI: How is the data gathered?

Wagner: SOLIDshot connects to your smartphone or tablet using Bluetooth so you or your coach can personalize your desired shooting form and dive into the metrics of your shot. The end result is consistent shooting form that translates into more buckets.

WJI: Is the setup “player-friendly,” and how practical is this?

Wagner: SOLIDshot integrates sensors into a compression garment that moves naturally with the player. iSTRETCH helps by providing a cable that is robust and yet extremely flexible. The cable moves with the body and stretches with the garment. Due to its body-compliant characteristics, iSTRETCH is well suited for smart clothing and wearable electronics.

WJI: How well accepted is this?

Wagner: Our partner CEO, Quinn Jacobson, is very excited about the acceptance to date. He said that there are already some NBA and NCAA Division I teams using SOLIDshot.

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FEATURE

The heights of success often include wire rope from FATZER AG Founded as a rope-making factory in 1836 in the Swiss town of Romanshorn, FATZER has been producing ropes for generations. It began with hemp, with steel wire rope production being added around 1900. Today, part of the BRUGG Group, FATZER specializes in supplying high-quality steel wire ropes for multiple applications, many in challenging locations. Below, Max Baumann, technical sales director, ropeways & mining, discusses its operations.

WJI: Your company has provides wire for projects from stranded rope for Busch Gardens in the U.S. to structural ropes for the Ferrari Museum in the Baumann Italy: how many different types of wire rope/cable do you offer?

Baumann: Working closely with the leading ropeway designers here in the core of Europe, and keeping close contact to the operators of these systems on all continents, we know what each particular ropeway or rope structure requires in terms of wire rope for the various functions, and what strain the wire ropes will likely be exposed to over the duration of their lifecycle. With a few exceptions, we engineer all major wire ropes tailored to each single project. Of course there are standard wire ropes, e.g., for surface lifts, counterweight ropes, hanger cables (wire ropes) for pedestrian bridges or smaller size wind bracing cables for facades and the like. Then there are well-proven wire rope types/designs for particular functions in a system (ropeway, bridge or roof-structures) that eventually need adaptation to the very project needs for size, wire material, strength, core and lay options. We are talking some 200 different wire rope and strand types/designs.

WJI: Are the wire rope/cables you supply today different than those you provided many years ago?

Baumann: Basically, standard steel wire ropes more or less look the same as decades ago. We are a small niche-player, but with a reputation for close contacts with our clientele as one of the very, very few roperies in

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the world that have launched significant innovative wire rope products.

These include: • our INTEGRA DATA full lockcoil track ropes with built-in fiber optics, which has grown into the stateof-the-art for new aerial cableways; • our STABILO solid plastic core wire rope, for less elongation, thus providing significant operational benefit/cost savings to the user; • and our PERFORMA and 8-strand OCTURA haulage ropes for ropeways that are intensely used, not in terms of years or hours, but more precisely in the number of bendings a rope endures. These could be short ropeways

Baumann: In the ropeway business, most ropes are delivered in production length on the spool. Delivery often poses challenging hurdles to overcome: think of remote construction sites in the mountains, in underdeveloped or badly accessible regions, every single one requiring individual and intricate transport solutions. Once at a site, our riggers and splicers come into play for rope installation, rigging, splicing and socketing field work. I remember one extreme job, the Dagu Glacier in China, where our splicer had to splice a 49-mm haul rope at an altitude of 3800 m/12,500 ft!

FATZER wire ropes were used for the renovation of the Maracanã Stadium, which will host the opening/closing ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympics. (by length) and ropeways operating for long hours, such as urban ropeways or airport people-movers.

Our innovation pace stems from understanding the needs of the everyday woes and trials of our operating clients, which our engineers acknowledge and attempt to overcome with improved design proposals. Thanks to our own in-house test ropeway, all our innovative products undergo a longterm field test before market launch.

WJI: Do you deliver the assembled wire rope/cable? Do some project locations pose logistical challenges?

WJI: Which project have you done that you consider the most memorable?

Baumann: In the ropeway business, it would be the Peak-to-Peak Gondola connecting the Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains in B.C., Canada. It is 4,000 m/13,100 ft long with a 3 km/1.88 mile unsupported span between the two mountains. Four track rope spools, each 90,000 kg, had to be hauled, with special equipment, up a mountain trail to the construction site!

It seems that every year the flagship ropeway projects grow larger. After a 7-km-long 3S ropeway in Fansipan, Se Pa City, we had work on the

WJI: The delivery/installation part of your work sounds incredibly challenging: how did you lift the heavy equipment on the cover?

Baumann: The cargo tram on the cover services a hydro power plant in central Switzerland, in two sections. Designed for 25-ton standard payloads and 40-ton peak loads, it’s four 90 mm x 2,150 m for section

FEATURE

most prominent projects for Vietnam, including three especially tricky jobs.

One was the 7.9 km long Phu Quoc ropeway to Hon Thom Island that needed four-track rope spools that each weigh 175 tons. It set a record for the world’s longest aerial ropeway and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. For structural wire rope, last year we provided more than 600 tons of FATZER wire rope for the roof structure for the new Maracanã soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro. We made and assembled the wire in our Swiss plant and shipped it to Rio.

Talk about a road less traveled (by 100-ton spools)! This one was squeezed through a bottleneck, to later be strung at the cargo tram on the cover.

1 and four 90 mm x 2,250 m track cables for section 2, weighed 108 mt and 114 mt, respectively. Both had a breaking strength of 9000 kN/917 tons. The 100+ ton spools had to be moved through sections with a razor’s edge of clearance (see above photo). This was a rope trick unto itself. Special lowboy trailers

made it through railroad and freeway underpasses and through small farm village bottlenecks with the breadth of a hair! Handling the rope spools with the larger crane represented little problems. Stringing such long and large (by diameter and weight) ropes, however, is worth another story by all means!

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FEATURE

FEATURE

Drawing Technology Inc.

A TOW wire-guided missile is fired from a U.S. vehicle.

Missiles were long guided by wire MODELS

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Per Wikipedia, electrical wire guidance of missiles was first sought by the Germans during World War II because the British had been able to “jam” their use of radio controlled-missiles. The Germans rushed to develop alternatives, but they came too late to be used.

The first combat use of Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles did not happen until the Vietnam War. In May 1972, TOW missiles had 24 confirmed kills of PT-76 light and T-54 main battle tanks.

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Two fine wires deploy from the back of the fired TOWs, which could travel as far as 4 km. The thin lines would send back video information to the person controlling the missile until it struck the target. The missiles were slow, but effective. At one point in 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, Saudis saw Iraqi soldiers on top of a water tower. To avoid blowing up the tower, they fired a TOW that blew the ladder off the tower and left the Iraqis stranded until the end of the battle.

One of the largest suppliers of TOW missiles was Raytheon Missile Systems. A representative there said the company no longer makes a wired variant. However, thousands of them are still in the field, and can be seen in recent videos taking out tanks in Syria and other venues.

FEATURE

Sexy it wasn’t, but order literally ‘mushroomed’ business The latest advances in medical wire or the advent of Cat. 8 cables may grab headlines, but sometimes an old-world solution is what’s needed, and one company in Canada was quite pleased to be seen as the solution for one of Canada’s largest mushroom producers. The farm was despised by locals for the noxious odors emanating from its use of compost, which became even worse after it expanded. A multi million dollar new facility resolved the matter. Below, Numesh Inc. National Sales and Marketing Director Michel Robert discusses the project, which was noteworthy to him for reasons beyond the concerns of the locals.

WJI: This was a local story that got attention for the stink factor: we understand that there is a story here for your company for other reasons.

Robert: Yes, the site was quite smelly, but for us this project was a big achievement because it could have been done with either rebar or our welded wire reinforcement (WWR). For this project, our WWR was used for all the building’s concrete components: exterior walls, interior walls and floors. We scheduled the delivery to meet the concrete pouring schedule, and the project lasted about one year.

WJI: How would you define the “slippery slope” line of where it is more cost-effective to use engineered WWR instead of rebar for reinforcement of concrete products?

Robert: We are well positioned to compete for projects like the mushroom farm, where either material could be used. We are especially cost-effective on jobs where you repeat the same wire mesh model a minimum of six tons. It makes sense when you want to reduce the installation time and complete the project faster and even more when you can use large and heavy sheets with a crane. It’s also better for a project where crack control is important.

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WJI: There is little technology in rebar but it costs less: what is it that your engineered WWR offers that makes it worth the investment?

Robert: By cold drawing the wire, we reduce the area of steel used, and at the same time increase the mechanical properties. We go from a rebar at Fy = 400MPa grade steel to a possible 550MPa by cold drawing the wire and achieving a reduction of steel area of up to 27%. With smaller bars you can put them closer to each other, which provides better crack control on your concrete. If you have easy placing and assembly on site, or in a plant, you can save 40-80% of the installation time versus rebar.

This also facilitates inspection, and it is respectful of the engineer’s design, which reduces the chances of forgetting to lay bars on site.

WJI: Do you have a basic engineered WWR product that meets all uses, or do you offer it in multiple gauges/alloys, etc.?

Robert: WWR is made to measure depending on the application. We offer a huge variety of sizes from .135 in. to D34 .658 in. We offer smooth (W) or deformed (D) wire, black, pre-galvanized or hot-dip galvanized steel.

WJI: Is it hard to get customers who may think first of rebar to use your WWR? Robert: Rebar has been used for so long that Michel Robert our customers have to be convinced and taught the many benefits of WWR. For most of the applications we can do, the use of WWR is less expensive than the use of rebar, when you consider all the costs that are involved.

WJI: Is that status pretty much the same everywhere?

Robert: WWR solutions has been used for over 100 years. It has commonly been used in Europe since the end of World War II but the situation is the opposite in North America. We have to teach engineers and end users on the benefits of using WWR versus rebar in terms of costs and speeding up assembly and project time frame. The best way to evaluate the saving is to specify both the rebar and the WWR and ask a quotation for supply and install. Then the customer can compare price between rebar and WWR. In some applications, the WWR can be shipped from coast to coast and still be competitive compared to installed rebar.

Patent Update PATENTS

(Cont’d. from p. 20)

Fiber-optic monitoring cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,250,120 Patent date: Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: June 25, 2012 Assignee: Schlumberger Tech. Corp., U.S. Inventors: James R. Smith, Andrew Strong, Gareth P. Lees A cable for monitoring a tubular structure. The cable comprising a fiber optic bundle arranged for simultaneously sensing a plurality of parameters along a length of the tubular structure that the cable is interfaced with.

Inner cable for operation U.S. Patent No.: 9,249,826 Patent date: Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: March 8, 2006 Assignee: Hi-Lex Corporation, Japan Inventor: Akira Tsuda A cable for operation with a complex stranded construction may include a core strand stranded with a plurality of element wires and a plurality of side strands on which a plurality of element wires are respectively stranded are stranded. A tightening percentage may be 4 to 11%. The pre-forming percentage may be 65 to 90%. The stranding length of the inner cable for operation is 9 to 18-fold against the outer diameter of the inner cable for operation and an angle of the element wires composing the side strand appearing at the outermost lay against an axis line of the inner cable is -3 degrees to 3 degrees.

Profiled steel wire with high mechanical characteristics resistant to hydrogen embrittlement U.S. Patent No.: 9,249,486 Patent date: Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: March 23, 2011 Assignee: ArcelorMittal Wire France, France Thyssenkrupp Steel AG, Germany Inventors: Sylvain Foissey, Christophe Bertout, Xavier Perroud A profiled wire, of NACE grade, made of low-alloy carbon steel intended to be used in the offshore oil exploitation sector is provided. The profiled wire includes the following chemical composition, expressed in percentages by weight of the total mass: 0.75<% C<0.95; 0.30<% Mn<0.85; Cr.ltoreq.0.4%; V.ltoreq.0.16%; Si.ltoreq.1.40% and preferably .gtoreq.0.15%; and optionally no more than 0.06% Al, no more than 0.1% Ni and no more than 0.1% Cu, the balance being iron and the inevitable impurities arising from smelting the metal in the liquid state. The steel is obtained, from hot-rolled rod stock cooled down to room temperature, and then having a diameter of about 5 to 30

70 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

mm, by subjecting this starting rod firstly to a thermomechanical treatment comprising two successive steps carried out in order, namely an isothermal quench, giving it a homogeneous perlitic microstructure, followed by a mechanical transformation operation carried out cold with an overall degree of work-hardening (or reduction ratio) of between 50 and 80% at most, so as to give the wire its definitive shape, and in that the profiled wire thus obtained is then subjected to a restoration heat treatment of short duration carried out below Ac1 (preferably between 410 and 710. degree. C.), giving it the desired final mechanical properties.

Quick change fastener U.S. Patent No.: 9,248,537 Patent date: Feb. 2, 2016 Filed: Sept. 15, 2012 Assignee: Omni Aerospace, Inc., U.S. Inventors: John J. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill A fastener comprises a housing, a pintle and a locking feature. The housing includes a shaft, a central bore that extends axially at least partially through the housing and a ball lock aperture extending from the bore radially out through the shaft. The pintle is positioned within the bore and includes an actuation end and a rod that extends axially from the actuation end. The rod includes a ball transitioning surface and a ball locking surface. The pintle is moveable axially within the bore between a designated lock position where the ball locking surface of the pintle is aligned in register with each ball lock aperture urging a locking ball through the ball lock aperture, and a designated unlocked position where the ball lock surface of the pintle is moved axially away from each ball lock aperture allowing the locking ball to recess into the housing.

Method and apparatus for virtual cable test using echo canceller coefficients U.S. Patent No.: 9,246,604 Patent date: Jan. 26, 2016 Filed: Nov. 8, 2013 Assignee: Marvell International, Ltd. Bermuda/U.S. Inventors: Junqing Sun, Danjin Wu, Xiong Fang, Baohua Chen, William Lo Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with echo cancellation are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a cable tester that determines whether a fault in a cable exists by using echo cancellation values.

Method of manufacturing a fiber optic cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,244,244 Patent date: Jan. 26, 2016 Filed: March 3, 2014 Assignee: Corning Optical Comm., LLC, U.S. Inventor: Eric R. Logan A method of manufacturing a fiber optic cable includes steps of extruding a first jacketing material around strength

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members, over armor, and to form a cavity between the strength members and beneath the armor. The cavity is configured to support an optical fiber. The method further includes a step of co-extruding a second jacketing material with the first jacketing material to form a discontinuity of material, where the discontinuity is interior to the exterior surface of the fiber optic cable.

Multi-core cable and method of manufacturing the same U.S. Patent No.: 9,244,240 Patent date: Jan. 26, 2016 Filed: June 21, 2013 Applicant: Sumitomo Electric, Ind., Japan Inventor: Tatsunori Hayashishita A multi-core cable includes an insulated electronic wire arranged in the center of a cross-section of the cable, an insulated electronic wire arranged in proximity to the insulated electronic wire and having a diameter smaller than that of the insulated electronic wire, an even number of coaxial electronic wires arranged on the same circumference in the periphery of the insulated electronic wire and the insulated electronic wire, and a tensile strength fiber arranged in gaps between the coaxial electronic wires and the insulated electronic wire and the insulated electronic wire.

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Low noise cable providing communication between electronic sensor components and patient monitor U.S. Patent No.: 9,245,668 Patent date: Jan. 26, 2016 Filed: June 28, 2012 Assignee: Cercacor Laboratories, Inc., U.S. Inventors: Hung Vo, Cristiano Dalvi A physiological measurement system can include a low noise patient cable that connects a monitor and a noninvasive optical sensor. The cable has a plurality of emitter wires configured to communicate a drive signal between the monitor and at least one emitter. The cable also has a plurality of detector wires configured to communicate a physiological signal between at least one detector responsive to the emitter and the monitor. The emitter and detector wires are orthogonally disposed so that crosstalk between the two functionally different wires is mitigated.

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Logging cable 9,244,239 Jan. 26, 2016 Filed: Oct. 4, 2013 AFL Telecommunications LLC, U.S. Brian Herbst A cable that includes a first optical fiber in a center, a first layer with a plurality of metal wires and a stainless steel tube surrounding the first optical fiber, a second optical fiber inside the stainless steel tube, and a second layer with a plurality of metal wires surrounding the first layer, wherein the first optical fiber is directly exposed to the outside environment.

U.S. Patent No.: Patent date: Applicant: Inventor:

Method of locating faults on a cable U.S. Patent No.: 9,244,113 Patent date: Jan. 26, 2016 Filed: Oct. 16, 2013 Applicant: Omicron Electronics GmbH, Austria Inventors: Ulrich Klapper, Harald Emanuel, Caspar Steineke This invention concerns methods and devices for calibrating a partial discharge measuring device and for locating faults on cables. In the method, calibration signals, which can include a band-limited white noise, are used with a periodically repeated signal course. By averaging over a predetermined period duration (T) of the calibration signal, it is possible, in the case of a partial discharge measurement, to recalibrate the measuring device continuously during the measurement, and additionally on cables to determine the fault location with great precision. terminal, a first control terminal, and a second control terminal. The first and second control terminals are electrically connected to first terminals of a NTC resistive layer and a PTC resistive wire of the heating cable, respectively. A second terminal of the PTC detection circuit is electrically connected to a silicon-controlled switch circuit. A second terminal of the NTC resistive layer is electrically connected to a negative input terminal of the fourth comparator circuit through the NTC break-off detection circuit, and is compared against a third reference voltage circuit. As such, when the NTC resistive layer becomes open-circuited, the heating to the PTC resistive wire is stopped reliably, thereby enhancing usage safety.

72 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

High-strength Zn-Al coated steel wire for bridges with excellent corrosion resistance and fatigue properties and method for manufacturing the same U.S. Patent No.: 9,243,315 Patent date: Jan. 26, 2016 Filed: June 23, 2010 Assignee: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Japan Inventors: Nobuyuki Shimoda, Toshimi Tarui, Junichi Kodama, Makoto Kosaka, Singo Yamasaki Disclosed is a high-strength Zn--Al coated steel wire for bridges with excellent corrosion resistance and fatigue properties, the Zn--Al coated steel wire includes: a steel wire; and a Zn--Al coating having a coating body layer and an Fe--Al alloy layer formed in an interface between a surface layer of the steel wire and the coating body layer, wherein a chemical composition of a core material of the steel wire includes, by mass %: C: 0.70% to 1.2%; Si: 0.01% to 2.5%; Mn: 0.01% to 0.9%; P: limited to 0.02% or less; S: limited to 0.02% or less; N: limited to 0.01% or less; and the balance including Fe and unavoidable impurities, wherein wire-drawn pearlite is most abundant microstructure among microstructures of the core material of the steel wire; wherein an average composition of the Zn--Al coating includes, by mass %, Al: 3.0 to 15.0%; and Fe: limited to 3.0% or less, and wherein the Fe--Al alloy layer has a thickness of 5 .mu.m or less.

Cable and production process thereof U.S. Patent No.: 9,243,136 Patent date: Jan. 26, 2016 Filed: Nov. 3, 2010 Assignee: Borealis AG, Austria Inventors: Ulf Nilsson, Annika Smedberg, Alfred Campus A cable comprising a semiconductive layer and an insulation layer with improved DC electrical properties is provided.

Snap-on coaxial cable balun and method for trapping RF current on outside shield of coax after installation U.S. Patent No.: 9,240,765 Patent date: Jan. 19, 2016 Filed: Oct. 13, 2015 Assignee: Life Services, LLC, U.S. Inventors: Matthew T. Waks, Scott M. Schillak, Charles A. Lemaire Apparatus and method for a radially attachable RF trap attached from a side to a shielded RF cable. In some embodiments, the RF trap creates a high impedance on the outer shield of the RF cable at a frequency of RF signals carried on at least one inner conductor of the cable. In some embodiments, an RF-trap apparatus for blocking stray signals on a shielded RF cable that has a peripheral

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shield conductor andupdate: a inner conductor for carrying Interwire 2015 companies have RF facturing where a small scratch or nick can be an unacsignals includes: a case; an LC circuit having a resonance Air-cooled extruder provides quality taken nearly 90% of the exhibit space ceptable equal defect.toThe the Surface which frequency RF result signalsiscarried on theInspector, inner conducThank you to our sponsors for More than nine months out from and WAI’s staging flowtheir of insulation for vulcanizing line comes in two models, theand SI3100 SI4100. tor; projections that pierce connect the LC circuitoftoInterwire the support of 2015 in Atlanta, exhibitors at last count have now accounted At wire Düsseldorf, Maillefer presented an air-cooled Theconductor; Surface Inspector provides the operator shield and an attachment device that with holds the for nearly 90% of the floorimage plan’sfeedback 106,100 of sq the ft atcurrent the Georgia extruder, model MXI 150, that provides 300 kg/h output up-to-the-second digital case to the cable with the LC circuit electrically connected World Congress Center. WAI Sales staff reports that a total of with a low melt temperature. tojacket, the shield of the shielded RF cable. bar conductor or water soluble tape quality on any produc93,300 sq ft of floor space have been taken. tion line. This continuous stream of real time informa“At this time, we’re ahead of where we were two years tion–especially the failure images–allows the operator ago,” said WAI Sales Director Bob Xeller. “There’s a lot of to isolatetreatment causes of method jacket imperfections and water solTerminal terminal treatment positive momentum.”

At this and point, all of the larger booths uble tape folds.

This result allows you to identify the apparatus coaxial have been for taken, with cable the largest available sizes now being causes of surface defects and prevents customer comPatent 400U.S. sq ft (20 xNo.: 20).9,240,662 If demand continues to stream in, it may plaints or rejects. Jan. 12, 2016 Filed Aoril 25, 2013 Patenttodate: be possible expand the floor plan, he said.

UsingApplicant: the SurfaceYazaki Inspector, you can capture Corporation, Japan images of your printed cable, save the images to disk andShiraki print them strip features may be applied by application of one or Inventors: Kenta Furuhata, Yasutsugu Aoutwide range of sponsorships for more strip conditioners. Alternatively, strips may be to include in your quality reportingexists both internally A method manufacturing an electrical includes supplied on individual reels for gathering or provided in the 2015 staging of in cable Atlanta and to yourfor customers.

TheInterwire Surface Inspector’s display dividing a tube into afor plurality of sectors by passage across a multi-end reel already stacked. Where a multi-end reel also makes it easy engineering and production superCompanies seeking recognition at Interwire 2015 .have . by . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 Mossberg Associates Inc . . . . . . . . . 444 a visors sectoring device, the gathering sectors MFL into Group a stack to examine defect. theopportunities wide range of WAI sponsorship at the Georgia is provided, length differentials within the stack as it is MGSdevice, Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . 103 Mossberg Industries Inc . . . . . . . . . . 421 passage oflocations the sectors through a gathering and Inc Defect can also be the recorded, this to will allow World Congress Center, from full event individual ele-unwound may be compensated for by application of a surrounding the stack with an insulating layer.

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132 Nextrom (USA) Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 stretcher. for further analysis of on theadefects later first-served on. The Surface ments that are offered first-come, basis.

Inspector willofcatch defects on the wiresare before they reach Mid-South Wire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Nextrom Oy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Four levels corporate sponsorships available to help your customers or fail in organization the field. companies promote their in Morgan-Koch connection with Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Niehoff Endex North America Inc . . . 317 The unit ensures good medium-voltage cable durability Contact:and Craig Girdwood, Taymer International, Interwire WAI’s 85th Annual Convention, to be Inc., held due to the homogenous melt, resulting in high insulation tel. 905-479-2614, ext. Georgia.

232, craig.girdwood@taymer.com, April 28-30 in Atlanta, All the corporate sponsorquality. The MXI 150, which is easy to operate and www.taymer.com.

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TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL ECHNIC PAPER Fines measurement and analysis: Part 2 This paper furthers a prior presentation on fines generation and their affect in copper wire drawing, including topics such as fine analysis, rod selection and sub-surface oxides.

By Gil Baker and Horace Pops

In 2009, Wire Journal International published a detailed paper1 on numerous fines generation mechanisms and their analysis in copper wire drawing. Because of the complexity and severity of many other process variables, the present paper was written, and provides follow-up details to further improve the analysis of fines.

Most fines are wear particles that are liberated from the wire during drawing. Adequate filtration and cleaning must be given even when only low levels of fines are generated. They are a very well-known nuisance in the wire and cable industry and can accelerate such problems as die wear and failure4, wire breaks, poor lubrication, and surface damage. Overall, the presence of this undesirable substance leads to poor productivity, lowered quality, and damage to surface-critical finished products (such as magnet wire) where high surface quality is one of the most important requirements2. It is not surprising that fines can result in packed or plugged drawing dies, and ultimately lead to wire breaks3. Thus the reduction of fines in wire processing has many benefits with direct financial rewards.

There are effective methods of reducing fines, and insightful monitoring is often the best first step. However, since most fines reduction procedures have associated costs, it is crucial to quantify their benefits and prove that they substantially outweigh these costs. For this reason, Â the present paper primarily concentrates on fines moni-

toring methods as a vital foundation before implementing actions to reduce fines. Emphasis is placed upon the collection and analysis of fines at a single die pass, which includes the lubricant, die, and wire. This paper was not written to report experimental data, but rather to discuss some new details and concepts for measuring fines that are produced during wire drawing.

Importance of quantifying sub-surface damage in rod sources

Rod coils not only exhibit uniform surface oxides, but they sometimes enter the drawing process with sub-surface damage, which will readily create additional fines when drawing. Slivers are a good example of non abrasive wear fines that are caused by sub-surface oxides. Even if the drawing practice and surface quality are acceptable, fines and subsequent wire breaks may still be generated due to pre-existing internal damage, which usually is in the form of scale or oxides embedded beneath the surface.

It is crucial to monitor rod sources for both surface and sub-surface oxide contaminants and to route the rod sources based upon that information. High-quality rod should have low surface and subsurface values that will result in a very small amount of fines when drawn. Evaluating sub-surface damage in rod can be useful for sending rod to different rod breakdown machines, depending upon the final application and type of draw machine. Routing can also be performed for different finished products since the highest quality rod should be used for magnet wire. Two methods currently being used commercially to evaluate rod for sub-surface damage are the Fines Potential Analysis (FPA)5 and Surface Oxide Testing (SOT)6, and both processes have been discussed previously1. FPA induces stresses on the rod surface by either twisting or drawing and collects liberated particles. A 5 x 5 twist exposes sub-surface oxides without too much spawling off and is therefore preferred, since resulting thickness values are directly related to sub-surface oxides. Alternatively, surFig. 1.1:Five fines associated Figure Five carriers carriers of of fines associated with a with single adiesingle pass. die pass. face oxide testing of untwisted rod is 74 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

TECHNICAL PAPERS

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s noteworthy in this paper WJI: Are there concepts in this paper that can lead to cost savings in wire manufacture?

Baker/Pops: Yes. Fines generation is not monitored in most plants and implementing effective means of monitoring both rod and wire related fines yield indicators that can readily expose resolvable issues. In terms of wire-related fines, it is particularly valuable to monitor the volumes and morphologies of these fines closer to the sources of potential problems rather than only at the filtration system. Monitoring of fines has not been taught to even a fraction that of monitoring dies and lubricants and this difference is reflected in the chasm between the efforts towards fines compared with other process characteristics. Furthermore, the analysis of fines can be much more responsive because it is possible to analyze fines without stopping a machine or waiting for lubricant changes to express.

WJI: How should this paper be read?

Baker/Pops: This paper is an addendum to our previous paper, published in 2009. For a good understanding on the subject of Fines Generation it is best to read or review that paper. You can get a PDF of it by sending your request to editorial@wirenet.org. That paper gave a good overview of the fine generation mechanisms and some methods of reducing fines. Other papers, referenced here, highlight other key subjects, such as the use of surface oxide testing to reduce fines and analysis of and the influence of fines on enamel failures.

WJI: Can the concepts in this paper apply to metallic materials other than copper?

Baker/Pops: Without exception, fines are always generated during wire drawing for every ferrous and nonferrous metal or alloy. It is pos-

faster, and a strong correlation with FPA has been shown and confirmed by metallography. Partially embedded scale on the rod surface is also electrochemically reduced in surface oxide testing, thus dramatically raising the results. Surface oxide testing methods that differ slightly from the standard method, thus allowing the test to isolate the measurement of the sub-surface oxides rather than the uniform oxide layers, are discussed elsewhere7â&#x20AC;&#x201C;9.

Fines as an indicator of processing issues Although analysis of fines can be an extremely important indicator of the drawing practice, the effort and time required is not frequently employed. This shortcoming is due to the inability to pinpoint meaningful process variables, and therefore draw conclusions that might lead to corrective actions. For example, valuable information can be gleamed from analysis of fines that are recovered from a filtration system being fed by multiple draw machines.

Fines analysis at each die pass is also extremely valuable, and guidance is provided in this paper on means to accomplish this procedure. Indicators typically monitored in wire drawing, such as die wear, lubricant life, and wire breaks tend to have a longer time lag from cause to effect than fines analysis. During this time lag, conditions may be changing, which tends to obscure cause and effect

Horace Pops, l, and Gil Baker. sible to reduce the amount of fines that form, but not to prevent them from originating. As a result of this particular issue, there is a high probability that excessive die wear, damage to the wire surface, crows feet, and wire breaks may occur.

The most important thing to take away from this paper is that you can choose to proactively take control of those conditions, rather than react to the problems that they cause.

Have a question for the authors? Contact Gil Baker at baker@confident-instruments.com.

conclusions. Finished surface analyses such as bead detection in magnet wire drawing or optical and image analysis of finished surfaces can be more immediate but are still unable to detect one or more die passes that might need correction. On the other hand, analysis of fines and intermediate wire surfaces can characterize a single die pass and the entire drawing machine. For example, the lubricant can be sampled when the machine remains in operation or is stopped, but wires have to be cut to conduct wire surface analyses. Die passes are sometimes instrumented with sensors10 that measure force or temperature, which can monitor process variables over time or quantify experimental changes. However, collection of fines from a die pass is more directly quantitative than both of these measurements. Wire surfaces exiting a die cannot be quantified as easily as the weight of fines.

Analyzing fines at a single die pass Advantages of analyzing fines at a single die pass include prediction of long range die wear, being able to quantify variable process variables, and evaluating the influence of rod damage from the rod breakdown machine. A meticulous but accurate method for determining the overall rate of fines generation at a given die pass will be given initially, and later discussions cover MARCH 2016 | 75

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL PAPER Figure 1: Five carriers of fines associated with a single die pass.

Fig. 3. A shallow cleaning vessel designed for commonly used ultrasonic cleaners. Lubricant or objects to be cleaned enter through the large center opening. After ultrasonic cleaning with a solvent, the fluid is vacuum filtered through the side port.

Figure 3: A shallow cleaning vessel designed for commonly used ultrasonic cleaners.

Lubricant or objects to be cleaned enter through the large center opening. After ultrasonic cleaning with a solvent, the fluid is vacuum filtered through the side port.

Fig. 2. The Fines Analyzer, which is especially Figure 2: The FinesPotential Potential Analyzer, which is especially used to analyze fines on wires, rods used to analyze fines on wires, rods and surface-proand surface-processed rods. method is to scrape the wire with a hard rubber or plascessed rods. tic scraper sculpted to contact most of the wire surface, the consequences of some limited but more convenient which will remove most of fines from the wire. For short 10 with a cleaned testing procedures. If a test commences time periods, use of new scrapers for each test can prodie and die holder, five sources of fines that should be

vide consistent measurements. A special glass vessel can assessed are illustrated in Fig. 1, namely, fines in the then be used to readily clean and analyze fines remaining entering lubricant, fines in the exiting lubricant, fines on any such scraping device, as is discussed later. on the entering wire, fines on the exiting wire, and fines The die and die holder can also be cleaned (when the remaining on the die and die holder. machine has breakage, been halted) infiltera holders similar manner a Figure 4: To prevent stainless steel are used rather thanwith glass filter Fines in the entering lubricant can be conveniently holders. scraping device and collecting pan. Both of these items measured once for all dies in a machine. However, the can be cleaned in the vessel that will capture all the 11 other four sources must be measured separately for each debris. For final cleaning, a water soluble material (such die pass. Since a substantial percentage of fines generated as found in fabric stores) can be used. It is important to at one location adhere to the wire and enter the next die clean the die holder before the testing period and ensure pass (particularly when hydrodynamic lubrication exists), that non-fines debris, such as paint chips liberated from solely collecting lubricant exiting a die does not provide the holder itself are not collected. a full picture of the overall fines creation. These riding Another option is to solely collect fines from the lubrifines, which may be high in oxides and are therefore quite cant exiting a die pass without the more time consuming abrasive, tend to accelerate additional fines generation. collections at the wire and die holder. This is acceptable Consequently, one important method for reducing fines is for some uses, namely, for problems at the pass that cause to implement some means of wire cleaning between dies a significant increase in fines in the lubricant, on the wire or between machines. and on the die holder. It has been shown that a 5 to 10 FPA utilizes a method for analyzing wires1 that involves times or more increase in fines generation rate at a parcutting them on each side of the die with as little hanticular die is not extraordinary11–12. dling as possible. Powering down a drawing machine Determination of fines in the lubricant exiting the die where inertia allows it to continue drawing at deceleratalone can sometimes produce uncertain data, as for examing speeds is not an accurate assessment of high speed ple, if the goal is to compare fines generation of two dies conditions. Therefore, the wire should be cut upstream to polished with different profiles. Variations in die geomemore accurately assess the generation of fines. For this try will very likely alter the average hydrodynamic film purpose, the cutting jaws should be closed remotely by thickness and the degree of deformation zone coverage a pneumatic cylinder, and the lubricant flow should be by hydrodynamic lubrication (versus boundary lubricaturned off simultaneously with the closing of the jaws. tion). A thicker hydrodynamic film in the deformation This particular method is quite meticulous and accurate, zone allows more fines to exit on the wire, possibly but involves a very time-consuming collection of relareducing fines remaining in the lubrication. tively short lengths of wires. Once such measurements When sampling the exiting lubricant, a funneling are made, however, they can be compared to more conapparatus should be employed to collect all the lubricant venient methods that can be considered as short cuts, and leaving the die holder in a given period of time. In most will be discussed in the next few paragraphs. cases it will be easier to capture the in-coming lubricant Rather than cutting the wires and carefully transferring for the same time period, which can be collected when them to the FPA, they can be cleaned in- situ. A simple the machine is not running.

76 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Single pass calculations When all five fines measurements have been made, a calculation can be performed to determine the rate at which fines are produced at a single die pass. The total rate is based upon the conservation of mass, and involves three different materials, namely, the die, wire, and lubricant.

The following weight variables are as follows: weight lub_enter: weight of fines collected from the entering lubricant, weight lub_exit: weight of fines collected from the exiting lubricant, weight wire_enter: weight of fines collected from the entering wire, weight wire_exit: weight of fines collected from the exiting wire, and weight die: weight of fines collected from the die apparatus.

Other variables needed are: time_period: the time periods that both lubricant samples were taken, (in this equation it is also the time the machine has run before die fines have been collected. If the latter is longer, it must be normalized to time_period.)

Length wire_enter: the total cleaned length of the entering wire samples, Length wire_exit: the total cleaned length of the exiting wire samples, Speed wire_enter: the speed of the entering wire, and Speed wire_exit: the speed of the exiting wire Three rates can be determined relative to each material: ratelub_total: the rate of fines considering lubricant only. ratewire_total: the rate of fines considering wires only. ratedie: the rate of fines based only on that cleaned from the die and die holder. ratelub_total = (weightlub_exit - weightlub_enter) / time_period Eq. 1 ratewire_total = weightwire_exit * Speedwire_exit / Lengthwire_exit - weightwire_enter * Speedwire_enter / Lengthwire_enter Eq. 2 Eq. 3 ratedie = weightdie / time_period Total Rate = ratelub_total + ratewire_total + ratedie

Eq. 4

Consistent units should be used for all results and can be chosen to make measurements more meaningful, such as weight per 8-hour shift.

Analyzing fines from a drawing machine There are a number of ways to characterize fines generated at a single drawing machine. A sample of the lubricant exiting the machine can be collected. However, a more practical approach would be to temporarily install a small filtration device into the flow of the exiting lubricant for a given time. Alternatively, if the machine has a built in settling tank, it can be cleaned and ensuing residue can be collected after a time period. When working with

TECHNICAL PAPERS

Figure 3: A shallow cleaning vessel designed Lubricant or objects to be cleaned enter through t cleaning with a solvent, the fluid is vacuum filtered th

such methods as collecting fines from exiting lubricant, consideration needs to be given to the percentage of those fines contributed by each die pass. Single die pass analysis can provide a view of die pass contributions in terms of both fine weights and particle size ranges. However, it may not be necessary to analyze each pass. Most likely the first pass in a machine will Fig. 4. To prevent breakbe notably different when age, stainless steel (not the in-coming wire has beenFigure 4: filter To prevent breakage, glass) holders are stainless steel filt annealed. Subsequent passesholders. used. should show a predictable relationship as the wire surface hardens, and wire speeds 11 and wire surfaces increase. When there is clear evidence that a majority of fines collected in a machineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exiting  lubricant were generated at minority of dies, some augmenting analysis is called for to provide a view of the entire machine, such as targeting one pass or a collection of passes in a secondary analysis. Note that being able to assess the weight of fines generated at each die pass can be especially valuable when rod with sub-surface damage is drawn in a rod breakdown machine. In this case, it is important to observe when the fines rate from rod-related fines subsides and how those fines might be jettisoned as early as possible in the drawing process.

One method for reducing fines is to clean wires exiting a machine or entering an annealer, enameling process or the next drawing process. The wire cleaning process can also be turned into a monitoring device, and thus characterize the wire drawing machine. Filtration capture devices can be installed on systems that rely on fluids such as ultrasonic, electrochemical and fluid washing. Indexable media can be dried and reweighed, especially if the media is paper, to determine the amount of fines removed from wires in a given time period. Although time consuming, secondary analyses including microscopy and measurement of wire-metal contents (such as Cu and Al) can be applied when warranted.

For both analysis of a drawing machine and the more specific analysis of a single die pass, this paper so far has presented the resulting weight of fines collected as the primary measurement, and further analyses as secondary. However, due to the time-consuming methods of sampling for precise weight analysis, particle size analysis can be more prescient. Fines samples might be too small to be suitable for sieve analysis, but microscopically a survey of approximate fine sizes can be observed.

Sometimes fines morphology may point to one or more issues. The use of replica techniques can allow both the wire surface and fines on the wire surface to be analyzed on a microscope without cutting the wires1.

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TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL PAPER

Fig. 5. Illustrating steps to process either water or oil based lubricants for one-micron filtration.

Every test sample that is submitted for the weight measurement of fines should first be ultrasonically cleaned with solvent and then vacuum filtered. The weight gain by the filter is the resultant fines weight. Two types of glass vessels and ultrasonic cleaners that are used commercially are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Hot-rolled rods, twisted rods and non-fine wires are usually processed in a long thin vessel and matching ultrasonic cleaner, as shown in Fig.2. All other materials can be processed in a shallow vessel and more commonly available ultrasonic cleaner, such as the vessel in Fig. 3. These materials include lubricants, fine wires, scrapers for the wires, scrapers for the die holder,

Fig. 6. Three paths for fines analyses.

78 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

and the die holder itself when rubber is used to protect the glass vessel. It is especially important to process lubricants in a shallow vessel because often there is a time-consuming settling step, made longer with the height of the vessel.

Lubricants or other objects to be processed enter through the large center opening. After ultrasonic cleaning with solvent and settling, all objects are removed and the settled lubricant is decanted. The large opening is capped and remaining fluids are vacuum filtered through the side port.

While cleaning vessels should be made of glass to transmit the ultrasonic energy, filter holders are now constructed from stainless steel to prevent breakage, as shown in Fig. 4. Any solvent that is used should easily breakdown the residual lubricant with significant assistance from the ultrasonic action. Simple solvents such as alcohols are effective with ultrasonics.

The use of less aggressive solvent also allows for the use of filter materials that are much less expensive than Teflon (PTFE). In all cases with these types of fines collections, fines are captured on filter media that is at or near one micron pore size. A one micron filter ensures capture of the complete particle size spectrum. Oils in the final solution to be filtered through the one-micron filter must be thoroughly dissolved in order to pass through the filter with-

Cost reductions To reduce fines generation, numerous practicable methods have been described previously in reference 1. These variables are controlled by monitoring and adjusting applied lubrication, filtration, drawing temperature, die quality, alignment, wire vibrations, and die geometry. Significant cost reductions will be realized if many of these variables are practiced. Nevertheless, some unanswered questions regarding cost reductions still remain. For example, does the cost of cleaning the wire between machines outweigh the benefit of fines not entering the next machine? This unknown might be answered if fines generated at the first die pass of the machine after wire cleaning were collected and compared with other samples. Furthermore, fines analyses can help rank a list of proposed improvements by their levels of payback. Another test would be to run rod sources of dramatically different fines potential in similar machines for an extended time without varying any other parameter. A comparison of expense-related indicators, such as die wear, wire breaks and finished product metrics would then be possible.

Conclusions and summary Methods to measure fines at a single die pass were described in this paper. Details were presented for the sampling and testing of water-based, oils, and solid drawing lubricants. Also included were details for the analysis of fines on incoming wires, exiting wires from a draw die, within a single die, and at the die holder. Fig. 6 is a summary of various fines methods used previously by the FPA method in addition to the aforementioned single die concept. Selection of rod by their fines potential characteristics for different applications can lead to cost reductions. Finally, a brief discussion of sub-surface oxides was presented that included its measurement and effect upon subsequent drawability.

3. H. Pops and J. Walker, “Wire breaks and failure analysis,” Wire Association International, 2003, pp. 1-49.

4. L. Corbin, “Analysis of wear and failure in wiredrawing dies,” WAI Nonferrous Wire Handbook, Volume 3, 1995, pp. 490-498.

5. www.confident-instruments.com/fines-pot.htm 6. www.confident-instruments.com/surface-oxides.htm 7. G. Baker and H. Pops, “New Developments in Rod Surface Measurement and Analysis,” Wire Journal International, Dec. 2009, pp. 72-78.

8. G. Baker, T. Stahlhut, and H. Pops, “New developments for surface oxide testing of copper rod,” Wire Journal International, Sept. 2012, pp. 68-81.

9. G. Baker, “Practical Methods of Reducing NonFerrous Fines Generation in Wire Drawing,” Interwire Conference Proceeding, 2015.

10. G. Baker and H. Pops, “Some New Concepts in Drawing Analysis of Copper Wire,” Metallurgy, Processing and Applications of Metal Wires, the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, 1996, pp. 29-42.

11. Patel and H. Chia, “Characterization of copper fines and its impact on filtration,” WJI, April 1992, pp. 49-56.

12. G. Baker, “Work piece Wear Mechanisms in the Drawing of Copper Wire,” Ph.D. Thesis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, August 1994.

Horace Pops, president of Horace Pops Consulting, is renown for his expertise in wire breaks. The former former director of the Metals Laboratory at Superior Essex is a frequent technical author and presenter.

He holds engineering degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, Lehigh University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Gil Baker founded Confident Instruments, Inc., which develops reliable custom instruments for QC labs. He was previously senior metallurgical engineer at Superior Essex. He holds engineering degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Cornell University. This paper was presented at Interwire 2015, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, April 2015.

References 1. H. Pops and G. Baker, “Formulation, Analysis, and Measurement of Fines,” WJI, Oct. 2009, pp. 68-79.

Available by request to editorial@wirenet.org.

2. H. Pops, “Importance of the conductor and control of its properties for magnet wire applications,” Wire Journal International, April 1993, pp. 62-72.

Dr. Horace Pops and Dr. Gil Baker at the ContinuusProperzi SpA booth at Interwire.

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out leaving a residue. This occurs without additional effort in the FPA when testing rods and wires. However, with all lubricants a settling step is employed to be able to remove relatively fine-free oil and other lubricant products. This time-consuming settling step can be sped by centrifuging.

The analyses of water-based and oil-based lubricants are compared in Fig. 5. After settling or centrifuging, all layers above the fines at the bottom are suctioned off; solvent is added again for ultrasonic cleaning before vacuum filtration. Solid lubricants should be dissolved in an appropriate solvent to allow fines to settle only on the filters.

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL ECHNIC PAPER Economic and chemical comparisons of hydrochloric acid recovery technologies for iron pickling operations This paper evaluates available technologies to recover hydrochloric acid from spent wire pickling solutions. It includes a review of the operating and maintenance expenses and a case study that examines energy consumption, chemical mass balance and end products.

By Jared Cullivan and Bryan Cullivan

Metal fabrication and finishing operations involving ferrous metals require an intermediate process to remove oxides and other impurities from the surface of the metal.

The most common intermediate process is acid pickling, and hydrochloric acid is the primary acid utilized worldwide to facilitate the process. Sulfuric, nitric, and phosphoric acids also perform the same task.

The resultant waste generated from hydrochloric acid pickling is an acidic ferrous chloride soluChemical Input (kg/hr) tion that is categorized HCl 12.5 as a hazardous waste FeCl2 31.25 product. The following is an economic H2O 164.25 and chemical comparTotal 208 ison of the three leading technologies for Table 1. Analysis of spent acid bath.

Concentrate (waste) Generated

(kg/hr)

%

HCl

0.5

0.3%

FeCl2

13.95

4%

H2O

172.75

95.7%

Acid Sorption

Total (kg/hr)

187.2

Return Acid

Acid Sorption (kg/hr)

%

HCl

12

8%

FeCl2

17.3

6.9%

H2O

104

84.1%

Total (kg/hr)

133.3 @ 8%

Table 2. Mass balance.

80 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

reducing or eliminating waste hydrochloric acid, as listed in Table 1.

Acid Recovery (Sorption). This is a sorption process by which acid bonds to the resin inside an ion exchange column while allowing the ferrous chloride and water to pass through. The column is then backwashed with water to recover the absorbed acid on a batch basis.

Diffusion Dialysis (DD). This is a membrane process that operates under some of the same principles as Acid Retardation by utilizing ion selective membrane material. Clean water (dialysate) is introduced in counter-flow on the permeate side of the membrane to absorb the acid passing through the semi-permeable surface. DD is a continuous process.

Evaporative Recovery (ER). This utilizes co-flash vaporization and rectification to separate the ferrous chloride, hydrochloric acid, and water from each other. In the rectification step the acid is concentrated and water passes through for condensation, collection, and reuse in the rinse tank.

Azeotropic HCl (17– 22%) is possible with this Diffusion Dialysis Evaporative Recovery technology.

The scope of the fol(kg/hr) % (kg/hr) % lowing analysis is limit1.1 0.5% 0.75 1.1% ed to waste hydrochloric acid from typical batch/ 23.75 5.8% 31.25 40.8% continuous pickling.

193.4 94.7% 44.5 58.1% This paper does not discuss other chemical con218.25 76.5 figurations or concentraDiffusion Dialysis Evaporative Recovery tions, nor does it discuss alternative configurations (kg/hr) % (kg/hr) % of the three stated separation technologies. Total 11.4 6.2% 11.25 17.5% cost estimates are based 7.5 2.2% 0 on primary contributing 164.85 91.6% 52.75 82.5% factors to capital, operating, and maintenance 183.75 @ 6% 64 @ 17% expenses.

TECHNICAL PAPERS

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s noteworthy in this paper WJI: Which technology best fits the wire industry?

J&B Cullivan: Evaluation of recovery technologies should be based on capital cost, waste or co-product handling, impact on production, and return on investment.

Evaporation has several advantages over the alternatives, but the Acid Sorption producer has added better filtration and automated chemical analyzers to address some problem points. The evaporator's recovered acid is near the azeotrope (18%) and free of impurities, giving production people a consistent source of quality replacement acid.

However, steam is required for the evaporation process.

WJI: Are there other recovery methods than those discussed here?

J&B Cullivan: Yes, pyrohydrolysis is commonly used to regenerate

Data and chemical analysis

HCl on a very large scale. Due to the large capital and operating expense, pyrohydrolysis was not covered in this paper. Another hybrid technology based on evaporation is under development, but commercialization is still a few years away.

WJI: Do you find some people reluctant to make improvements because of the fear of the unknown?

J&B Cullivan: As more steel pickling plants successfully install and operate acid recovery, the fear factor subsides. All of the recovery methods addressed have overcome many of their initial weak points over the iterations of the products.

Sorption systems have added better filtration equipment and online analytics. The evaporative process now operates at a lower temperature and has a smaller footprint. Sulfuric

Jared and Bryan Cullivan acid recovery evolved over the last three decades, and we see a similar trend with hydrochloric acid recovery technologies.

Today, very few sulfuric acid pickle houses run without acid recovery. We expect the future of HCl and also mixed acids will follow that trend.

Questions for the authors?

They can be contacted at sales@betacontrol.com.

Sorption provides a better return acid in terms of concentration, 8%, but does not remove the ferrous chloride as effectively as the other technologies. Only 45.2% of the total ferrous chloride is rejected as concentrate/by-product.

Evaporative Recovery returns acid at a concentration near the azeotrope (in this case 17.5%) and reduces the concentrate/by-product mass by 63%, as compared with only 10% for Sorption and an actual 5% increase in mass for DD. In the absence of foreign contaminants that would affect the solubility (ex: zinc, chromium), ferrous chloride will begin to form a crystal when the iron concentration exceeds a saturation point in an evaporative recovery system. Crystallized ferrous chloride (tetrahydrate) is sometimes preferred as a co-product because of the lower

Analysis is based on a typical wire pickling operation with a spent acid bath as follows: five metric tons of spent pickle liquor per day (5,000 kg/day); 8% iron (by weight), 6% HCl (by weight).

Mass balance comparison of the three different technologies reveals advantages in the categories of acid recovery, metals rejection, concentrate reduction, and acid concentration.

Acid Sorption (Sorption) and Diffusion Dialysis (DD), unlike evaporative recovery, are not as energy intensive and have fewer components (Table 4). Literature on Sorption and DD reveals high percentage returns on the amount of hydrochloric acid returned (not regenerated) from the spent acid stream: 80-90% for Sorption (Cushnie5, p. 246) and 80-95% for DD (Cushnie5, p. 276).

The mass balance on the spent pickle liquor Acid Diffusion showed acid recovery rates of 84.8% and 91.2%, Utilities Sorption Dialysis respectively. Although the recovery rate of acid is high, the quality of the acid is low (8% and Electricity (kWh) ~4 (est.) ~4 (est.)

6.2%, see Table 2). While DD has less than 112.2 194 half the contamination of ferrous chloride in its Water (L/hr) return acid, the acid concentration is often too Natural Gas 0 0 low to be returned directly to the pickle tank and (MMBtu/hr) requires additional concentration through evaporation due to the high volume (Cushnie5, p. 278). Table 3. Utility comparison for three methods.

Evaporative Recovery 6.34 ~5 (est.)

0.355

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TECHNICAL PAPER Cost Analysis Assuming the following rates: • $2.02 per MMBtu (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2016) • $0.099 per kWh (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2013) • $0.00073 per Liter H2O (The Water Information Program, 2013) • $85.43 per metric ton HCl at 33% by weight (ICIS, 2006)

have a life span of about five years, Greiner9, p. 18. Prefiltration for acid retardation is critical and expensive as colloidal particles have a tendency to clog resin beds, blind the resins, and can create an uneven flow distribution that can affect performance.

Evaporative recovery systems do not have many regular material costs associated with their respective processes.

Filters and pump seals are the only regular replacement items.

Process costs, uses and disposal

The education and technical ability is about the same for Acid Retardation (Sorption) and Diffusion Dialysis • $70.00 per ton Lime (ICIS, 2006) (DD) systems, requiring general knowledge of diffusivity • $0.26 per pound Wastewater Treatment Sludge and ion exchange, pipe fitting, and pump maintenance.

(F006) (Cushnie5, p. 361) Evaporative Recovery requires technical knowledge of operation and maintenance procedures for boilers and • $0.10 per pound Spent Pickle Liquor Recycling cooling towers, as well as pipe fitting and pump mainte(Cushnie5, p. 362) nance. Sorption, although a relatively simple operation • $1.18 per gallon HCl at 33% (ESTCP Cost and in comparison to the other technologies, requires more Performance Report: Spent Acid Recovery Using frequent testing than DD and Evaporative Recovery (ER) Diffusion Dialysis, 1999, p. 24) and also requires more manual operations that will account for an increased labor cost.

Table 4. Cost considerations used for study.

Water and electricity are required for all three technologies.

Water consumption is high for Sorption and DD shipping cost and higher resale value. An additional step is but relatively low for evaporative recovery (cooling tower required to produce the ferrous chloride tetrahydrate. make-up water). ER has additional utility costs in the form of natural gas for the boiler.

Cost analysis and material costs All three technologies return over 90% of the free acid Table 3 shows cost factors for different expenses related present in the spent acid. However, ER is the only techto the process. The plant operation assumes the following nology that increases the concentration of the acid to any for yearly calculations: 24 hour per day operation; five significant degree. The cost associated with the acid is days per week (average); 50 weeks per year (average). the cost per year of additional acid required to replace the The specialized resin used to facilitate Acid Sorption chlorides consumed either in the creation of the iron chlo(Sorption) is a primary material cost. Other common ride salt or in the losses due to waste processing. replacement materials include pump seals and filters.

There needs to be a correction for the contamination of Sorption resin material has a life span of about five to the return acid to the pickle tank. While all three technol10 years for hydrochloric acid applications, Cushnie5, p. ogies are designed for the same throughput, Sorption and 252. If insufficient filtration or extreme conditions occur, DD actually require a larger throughput because the acid the life will be significantly shorter. returning to the pickle tank is contaminated with ferrous Membranes are the primary material cost for Diffusion chloride. Without a compensated cost associated with Dialysis (DD). Other replacement materials include pickle tank contamination, the pickle tank concentration pump seals and filters. As in Sorption, pre-filtration is is unsustainable. Contamination correction includes the exceedingly important in DD compared to the thermal additional costs associated with the following: utilities, technologies because a scale or film will form on the material, treatment, disposal and regulation. inside of the membranes which will restrict acid diffusion All the technologies could require additional treatment and decrease the life of the membranes. DD membranes of the resulting by-product. While the amount of caustic required in neutralizing Utilities Offsite Onsite Acid Diffusion Evaporative the by-product is significant($/hr) Disposal Neutralization Sorption Dialysis Recovery ly reduced due to the acid recovery, it is not negated.

Electricity 0 0.2 0.396 0.396 0.628 Both the capital and operatWater 0 0 0.058 0.10 0.01 ing cost of a conventional pH neutralization process should Natural Gas 0 0 0 0 .73 be considered in the capital Total Cost 0 0.2 0.454 0.496 1.368 cost considerations.

Table 5. Comparison of utility expenses for different methods.

82 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Regulation and issues related to ownership An average cost of regulation for industrial wire plants in the United States is tabulated for the sewer. Acid Retardation (Sorption) and Diffusion Dialysis (DD) have sewer costs associated with neutralizing the concentrate.

Evaporative Recovery (ER) disposal costs are based upon shipping the concentrate. Below is a discussion of issues related to ownership.

Sorption: In applications such as recovering hydrofluoric and nitric acid mixtures in stainless steel etching, this technology has flourished. The value of the acid (approximately four times HCl), cost of treatment and disposal, and the lack of competition justify the complexities of opera-

Fig. 1. Schematic of acid retardation (sorption) process.

Fig. 2. Schematic of diffusion dialysis process.

MARCH 2016 | 83

TECHNICAL PAPERS

The cost of disposal will vary greatly depending on the region and regulation. For the purposes of this paper, the following is assumed: neutralization performed onsite, sludge disposal by third party, and standard regulatory requirements for F006 waste. For a majority of ER operations, the concentrate by-product can be considered a co-product due to its high concentration and minimal acid content. There are a variety commercial uses for ferrous/ferric chloride in the water treatment industries and many ER operations have been able to offload the resulting concentrate at zero or negative cost. Assuming a client is found, the disposal cost for an ER operation is negated.

TECHNICAL PAPERS

TECHNICAL PAPER cations in other industries, but the cost/benefit of the technology usually directs the steel Material* 0 82 3,980 35,023 822 industry to the other Labor ($15/hr) 0 135,000 90,000 85,000 55,000 technologies.

Utilities 0 1,200 2,724 2,976 6,544 ER: This method has been utilized in a variety Acid 146,400 146,400 88,800 91,680 92,400 of metals industries and Contamination the mining sector. The 0 0 44,527 55,396 0 Correction earlier “Atmospheric Evaporator” operated at Treatment 0 56,925 160 318 0 around 115°C (240°F), Disposal 278,437 182,711 50,895 88,151 46,080** necessitating the use of special plastics like Regulation 27,300 21,558 22,673 25,384 5,841 PVDF to handle the Total Cost 452,137 543,876 303,759 383,928 206,687 corrosive, hot materi* Includes resin, membranes, pump seals, and/or filters. ** Current shipping costs for disposal or reuse. als. The newer systems Table 5. Comparison of costs for different methods. operate under a vacuum at approximately 80°C tion in the HF and mixed acid applications. Significant (175°F) and can use CPVC, polypropylene, and many FRP challenges of pre-filtration to extremely low levels to resins for components and storage. Although the systems avoid resin fouling, resin shrinkage causing channeling are relatively small and simple to operate, they cost between and blow-through, and constant analysis to determine US$6 and US$10 per metric ton of spent pickle liquor to proper loading and regeneration are a few of the problems operate. The value of the recovered acid is usually greater noted. The need to provide a complete waste treatment than the operating cost, but the issue of the remaining FeCl2 plant that generates sludge as the final by-product also concentrate still has to be addressed. There are many potenbrings into question the value of recovering a relatively tial buyers/takers in North America who will use it for water cheap acid, Brown3. treatment and flocculants, but in some cases the concentrate DD: This technology has not gained any traction in the will have to either be treated with caustic and fed to a filter steel industry. DD and electrodialysis have found applipress or sent to a treatment facility.

Operating Cost ($/year)

Offsite Disposal

Onsite Neutralization

Fig. 3. Schematic of evaporative recovery process.

84 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Acid Sorption

Diffusion Dialysis

Evaporative Recovery

Sustainability. Environmental Stewardship. Green Technology. Joint and Several Liability. These words and phrases have taken seed and grown in the lexicon of the wire industry in this century. The wire industry must address the present and future impact of waste products, both economic and environmental. Since the creation of the EPA in 1970, the direction of legislation has been to reach Zero Liquid Discharge. Incorporation of resource recovery technologies provides a major step toward that â&#x20AC;&#x153;ZLDâ&#x20AC;? goal. The disposal alternatives continue to contract in number and expand in cost, opening an avenue for competitive recovery technologies.

References 1. ESTCP Cost and Performance Report: Spent Acid Recovery Using Diffusion Dialysis, Arlington: Environmental Security Technology Cert. Program, 1999.

2. Bill Chenevert, National Metal Finishing Resource Center. Retrieved Jan. 8, 2013, National Meta Finishing Resource Center: http://www.nmfrc.org, 2012, 11, 1.

3. C. Brown, Mixed Acid Recovery with the APU Acid Sorption System, Ontario: Eco-Tec, 1997.

4. C. Calmon and H. Gold, Ion Exchange for Pollution Control, Vol. I, Boca Raton, Florida, CRC Press Inc., 1979 5. G.C. Cushnie, Pollution Prevention and Control Technologies for Plating Operations, (Second ed.), Ann Arbor, Michigan: National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, 2009.

6. K. Dorfner, Ion Exchangers: Properties and Applications, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Inc., 1977.

7. DPRA Incorporated, Regulatory Impact Analysis of the Proposed Rule for 180-Day Accumulation Time for F006 Wastewater Treatment Sludges, Ann Arbor: National Metal Finishing Resource Center, 1998.

8. H.M. Freeman, Standard Handbook of Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1989.

9. Greiner Environmental, Pilot of the Pollution Prevention Technology Application Analysis Template Utilizing Acid Recovery System, Boston, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - New England, 1999.

10. ICIS, Indicative Chemical Prices A-Z, retrieved March 2013, from ICIS Trusted market intelligence for the global chemical, energy and fertilizer industries, retrieved Aug. 28, 2006, http://www.icis.com/chemicals/channel-info-chemicals-a-z.

11. H.Z. Kister, Evaporative Recovery Design, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1992.

12. M. Mach, Hydrothermal Hydrochloric Acid Regeneration: The Cost Saving, Eco Friendly Alternative, retrieved March 2013 from Premium DocStoc: http://premium.docstoc.com 13. National Lime Association, Using Lime for Acid Neutralization, retrieved March 2013 from National Lime

Association Lime The Versatile Chemical, Sept. 2000, http://www.lime.org/documents/free_downloads/acidneut-final-2000.pdf.

12. Schweitzer, P. A. (1988). Handbook of Separation Techniques for Chemical Engineers (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

13. J.D. Seader, E.J. Henley and K.D. Roper, Separation Process Principles: Chemical and Biochemical Operations, 3rd ed., J. Welter and D. Matteson, Eds., Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011.

14. The Water Information Program, Water Facts,. retrieved March 2013, from The Water Information Program: Providing water information to the communities of Southwest Colorado, 2013, www.waterinfo.org/resources/water-facts.

15. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RCRA Enforcement Division, Estimating Costs for the Economic Benefits of RCRA Noncompliance, Washington, Office of Regulatory Enforcement, 1977.

16. U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2013, January, Electric Power Annual 2011, Retrieved March 2013, from http://www.eia.gov: http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/.

17. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Feb. 2016, Natural Gas Weekly Update, retrieved Feb. 2016, EIA Natural Gas, 2016: http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/.

Data updated February 2016.

Jared Cullivan

Bryan Cullivan

Jared Cullivan is a process engineer and project manager at Beta Control Systems, Inc., in Beaverton, Oregon, USA, where for the last 12 years he has assisted with the design, automation, installation and commissioning of hydrochloric, sulfuric, and hydrofluoric acid recovery systems. He holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Santa Clara University. Bryan Cullivan is the founder (1980), president and CEO of Beta Control Systems, which has designed and installed over 120 environmental recovery facilities worldwide. He holds a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State University. This presentation was made at Interwire 2015, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, May 2015.

MARCH 2016 | 85

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Howar Equipment/Metavan .................................49

SIKORA AG .............................................................7

Howar Equipment/Unitek.....................................24

Steel Cable Reels .................................................67

Huestis Industrial ...........................................16, 53

August Strecker GmbH & Co KG..........................4

Inosym Ltd ......................................................37, 51

Ultimate Automation Ltd......................................55

KEIR Manufacturing .............................................73

Unitek/Howar Equipment.....................................24

MARCH 2016 | 87

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX PEOPLE

ADVER DVERTISERS’ ISERS’ INDEX ADVERTISER ............................ PAGE WAFIOS Machinery Corp ............................Cover 3

May 2016 WJI Wrapup: wire Düsseldorf

Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp .............................9 Wyrepak Industries ........................................25, 71 Zumbach Electronics Corp .................................47

Update: WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo 2016

WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL ADS WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo 2016.... 30-32 Interwire 2017 .......................................................69 Monterrey ITC .......................................................34 Industry Search ....................................................87

WIRE JOURNAL

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

SALES OFFICES NORTH AMERICA

Robert J. Xeller/Anna Bzowski Wire Journal International Tel: 203-453-2777 Fax: 203-453-8384 sales@wirenet.org

ASIA/WAI

India Office Wire & Cable Services Pvt. Ltd. Rahatani, Pune - 411017, India Huned Contractor mobile - +91 988 1084 202 hcontractor@wirenet.org China Office Zhuang (Frank) zhilu Shanghai, China 200331 mobile - 0086-18018681117 zzs12151116@163.com

EUROPE

U.K., France, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Denmark & Scandinavia Jennie Franks David Franks & Co. Tel/fax: 44-1223-360472 franksco @btopenworld.com Germany, Austria, & Switzerland Dagmar Melcher Media Service Int. Tel: 49-8801-914682 Fax: 49-8801-914683 dmelcher@t-online.de

88 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

Advertising Deadline: April 1

Precision Machinery for Wire, Tube and Formed Parts

0 HA LL 1 F22 & F40

5 HALL 1 2 A 6 HALL 2 4 D

You are invited to see All of our World Premiers and New Innovations!

Since 1893...

Intelligent Process & Quality Control

Economical • Versatile • Profitable Engineered for What’s Next Spring Coiling & Forming Machines

WAFIOS Machinery Corporation 27 NE Industrial Road, Branford, CT 06405 USA Phone: 203-481-5555 / Fax: 203-481-9854 A Subsidiary of WAFIOS AG Precision Machinery for Wire, Tube and Formed Parts

Wire Bending & Forming Machines

Wire Straightening, Cutting & End Working Machines

Tube Bending & Forming Machines

WAFIOS Midwest Technical Center 9830 W. 190th Street, Mokena, IL 60448 USA USA www.wafios.us sales@wafios.us Canada www.wafios.ca sales@wafios.ca

Nail, Chain & Fence Machines

Visit our stand #1350 at Interwire 2015