While the aerospace industry is one of the primary users of gas tungsten arc welding, the process is used in a number of other areas. Many industries use GTAW for welding thin workpieces, especially nonferrous metals. It is used extensively in the manufacture of space vehicles, and is also frequently employed to weld small-diameter, thin-wall tubing such as those used in the bicycle industry. In addition, GTAW is often used to make root or first-pass welds for piping of various sizes. In maintenance and repair work, the process is commonly used to repair tools and dies, especially components made of aluminum and magnesium.

Because the weld metal is not transferred directly across the electric arc like most open arc welding processes, a vast assortment of welding filler metal is available to the welding engineer. In fact, no other welding process permits the welding of so many alloys in so many product configurations. Filler metal alloys, such as elemental aluminum and chromium, can be lost through the electric arc from volatilization. This loss does not occur with the GTAW process. Because the resulting welds have the same chemical integrity as the original base metal or match the base metals more closely, GTAW welds are highly resistant to corrosion and cracking over long time periods, making GTAW the welding procedure of choice for critical operations like sealing spent nuclear fuel canisters before burial.

Around the world, structures made out of stainless steel have been TIG welded. TIG welding or GTAW welding is very complex and cannot be done by an ordinary worker, making these structures works of art.  Welding stainless steel can be tricky because it is very good at retaining heat, and this can lead to problems such as warping, embrittlement, and rust. In fact, as little as five amps can make the difference between the perfect weld and a blued or burnt-through part.

At American Steel, our goal is to make sure you have the right equipment for the job.  If your finished product is used for TIG welding, see us first, ensuring your steel meets the requirements of your clients.

The post What Is TIG Welding? appeared first on American Steel.

If you have an edge wave, the concept is to stretch the shorter fibers in the center of the strip so that they will match up in length with the longer fibers from the edge wave. Conversely, if you have a full center, you are attempting to stretch the edges of the strip to match up in length with the center buckle. If the strip is consistent in length across the width of the strip, you have created flat steel. The tension leveling process is a combination of elongating the strip and bending the fibers over a series of work rolls. Tension leveling will eliminate edge wave & center buckle as well as correct excessive crossbow and coil set. This process usually involves a dedicated line.

Putting the material under tension as it goes through the flattener or leveler moves the neutral fiber toward the inside of the bend. The strip tension adds to the bending tension on the outside of the bend. It subtracts from the bending compression on the inside of the bend. There is less compression on the inside and more tension on the outside. Therefore, less elongation occurs on the inside of the bend, while more occurs on the outside of the bend. The neutral fiber moves toward the inside radius of the bend.

With  tension leveling lines installed, whether the coils go on to slitting, cut-to-length or processing (stamping, coating, etc.), shape is no longer a problem.

We occasionally have a few select pieces of machinery available for purchase or can search the marketplace for the piece of equipment that best suits your needs. Our team is ready to help you with the right solution for your business.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on American Steel Products for your next project.

We provide professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction. We have proven results for setting exceptional standards in cost control, planning, scheduling and project safety. We have experience that gives us a competitive advantage over others in our field.

The post Tension Leveling Lines appeared first on American Steel.

Knowing the differences between the types of steel available, how it’s used, and the advantages or disadvantages will help you determine which is the best material for your job.

If the temperature of the metal is above its recrystallization temperature, (over 1700 degrees F), then the process is known as hot rolling. At this temperature, the steel can be formed and shaped easily, and can be made into much larger sizes. Typically, hot rolled steel is less expensive than cold rolled because it is often manufactured without any process delays.

Hot rolled products, like hot rolled steel bars, are used in the welding and construction trades to make railroad tracks and I-beams, for example. Hot rolled steel is used in situations where precise shapes and tolerances are not required.

If the temperature of the metal is below its recrystallization temperature, the process is known as cold rolling. In terms of usage, hot rolling processes more tonnage than any other manufacturing process, and cold rolling processes the most tonnage out of all cold working processes.

Essentially, cold rolled steel is hot rolled steel that has been processed further. The steel is processed in cold reduction mills, where the material is cooled (at room temperature) followed by annealing rolling. This process will produce steel with closer dimensional tolerances and a wider range of surface finishes. Cold rolling is equally applicable to both plain and alloy steels and non-ferrous metals and their alloys.

Cold rolled steel is limited to just a few shapes, such as round, square, flat and variations of those types of shapes.  Finished products created by the cold rolled steel process include bars, strips, rods and sheets which are usually smaller than the same products available through hot rolled methods. The smaller products are also much more tolerant than the larger hot rolled versions.

We typically have a few select pieces of machinery available for purchase or can search the marketplace for the piece of equipment that best suits your needs. Our team is ready to help you with the right solution for your business.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on American Steel Products for your next project.

We provide professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction. We have proven results for setting exceptional standards in cost control, planning, scheduling and project safety. We have experience that gives us a competitive advantage over others in our field.

The post The Differences Between Hot Rolling And Cold Rolling Presses appeared first on American Steel.

Each pass in the various sections are made up of a upper and lower shaft that contains roller die tooling which forms the steel strip gradually into a round shape or square if it is a form square / weld square type of mill.  This gradual shaping process is commonly referred to as the flower arrangement.

Tube formed metals can be used in many different industries, such as gas, water and sewage piping, structural, industrial, and scaffolding piping. Additionally, your tube and Pipe Mill can produce hollow, rectangular, round or square piping.

We typically have a few select pieces of machinery available for purchase or can search the marketplace for the piece of equipment that best suits your needs. Our team is ready to help you with the right solution for your business.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on ASP for your next project.

We provide professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction. We have proven results for setting exceptional standards in cost control, planning, scheduling and project safety. We have experience that gives us a competitive advantage over others in our field.

The post How Tube And Pipe Mills Work appeared first on American Steel.

Press Feed Lines are electronically linked (with a programmable logic controller PLC) to an automatic feeder which feeds raw metal material through the die of the stamping press. The strip is fed into the automatic feeder after it has been uncoiled from a coil and put through a roller straightener or flattener. Generally, a loop is created prior to the stamping process so a constant rate of strokes per minute can be obtained on the stamping press.

A press must position the material correctly into the die – front to back, side to side and square it with the tool. Along with that, it must also move the proper amount of material into the tool.  In some cases, it must gently handle pre-painted coil to prevent scratching it.

Over the last several decades, major technology shifts in how stamping presses are fed have occurred. As press feed technology continues to evolve, stampers are realizing increased processing speeds, improved processing flexibility, easier setup, better quality and reliability, and numerous other positive end results. Even with today’s advancements, a press feed must meet three basic and important criteria to be successful:

1. Setup must be flexible.
2. It must deliver the material with sufficient precision into the tool and die.
3. It must feed at the correct time.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on American Steel for your next project. We provide a professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction.  ASP works directly with the client to determine the specifics regarding their needs. Rest assured, we have the right product to meet the solutions you require. New or used, big or small, a quick consultation will allow us to find the right fit!

The post What is a Press Feed Line? appeared first on American Steel.

A banding, packaging and wrapping line is completely computer-controlled with diagnosis and quality control built in.  They incorporate automatic banding, wrapping, weighing, labelling, etc. They are used for coils processed on slitting lines or blank bundles from cut-to-length lines. They incorporate automatic banding, wrapping, weighing, labelling, etc. They are capable of handling up to 90 coils per hour on coil banding lines. They are used for carbon steel, exposed and non-exposed, stainless steel, pre-painted steel, aluminum and other metals.  There are also lines for shaped blanks.  A banding line may be as simple as a two arm turnstile or it may be a complex fully automatic line.

We typically have a few select pieces of machinery available for purchase or can search the marketplace for the piece of equipment that best suits your needs. Our team is ready to help you with the right solution for your business.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on ASP for your next project.

We provide professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction. We have proven results for setting exceptional standards in cost control, planning, scheduling and project safety. We have experience that gives us a competitive advantage over others in our field.

The post What Are Banding, Packaging And Wrapping Lines? appeared first on American Steel.

Press Blanking Lines will process material up to 72 inches (1828mm) wide and .250 inches (6.35mm) thick from coils up to 80,000 lbs. (36 tonnes) with an outside diameter of up to 100” (2540 mm).

Some of the features typically include:

Off-line Entry Coil Prep Station  

This is completely customized to our customers’ particular needs. Coils can be partially de-banded, cropped to eliminate the first few wraps if necessary, or organized onto coil racks in order of processing, etc.

Strip Cleaning and Drying Section

American Steel can supply and integrate any strip cleaning and drying system into press feed equipment.

Precision Feed Roll Systems

Precision feed roll systems provide precise feeding of the strip in exact incremental lengths to the blanking press, based on blank size requirements.

For many applications, there are both upstream and downstream components depending on the specific industry. Blanking lines with cut-to-length shears are the right solution if processes that are limited to simple shapes. Laser blanking lines are flexible and space saving, the right solution for production lines where frequent changes are made.

Whether you need a complete solution from start to finish or you need to replace a section of your production line, American Steel Products is here to help.  We will assist you in finding a press blanking line and other components best suited to your company’s needs and budget.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on ASP for your next project.

We provide professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction. We have proven results for setting exceptional standards in cost control, planning, scheduling and project safety. We have experience that gives us a competitive advantage over others in our field.

The post What Is A Press Blanking Line? appeared first on American Steel.

Fifty years ago most steel sheet was purchased directly from the mills. However, it became more efficient to send the master coils to a service center where the material could be processed for the end user. Cut-to-length lines or CTL lines can be start-stop, such as in heavy gauge metal processing which process materials up to 1″ thick. The cut-to-length lines can operate as a free loop on lighter gauge materials up to 0.06″ thick. The basic parameters of cut-to-length lines (CTL Lines) are steel coil width, coil weight, material type, minimum and maximum thickness, tolerance, finished sheet length range and desired flatness.

The lines can also be supplied with flying shears, rotating shears or continuous direct feed. Air cushion, bomb-door type, electromagnetic or vacuum stackers. High-precision levelers of four, five and six heights that are computer controlled can also be incorporated.

Metal cut to length lines are used for processing metals into precise length pieces for further processing or for resale purposes.  A typical cut-to-length line incorporates a number of machines to provide value added services while processing coil to piece.

We typically have a few select pieces of machinery available for purchase or can search the marketplace for the piece of equipment that best suits your needs. Our team is ready to help you with the right solution for your business.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on ASP for your next project.

We provide professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction. We have proven results for setting exceptional standards in cost control, planning, scheduling and project safety. We have experience that gives us a competitive advantage over others in our field.

The post What Is A Cut To Length Line? appeared first on American Steel.

In certain applications hydraulic stamping presses provide significant benefits over their mechanical counterparts, including the ability to apply full tonnage throughout the stroke and precisely control the ram’s pressure and position. Precision and programmability are vital to create the most efficient stamping operation and protect your investment in tools and machinery from unnecessary wear.

Sheet metal forming remains a strong global industry with significant growth in emerging economies. Continued growth in the automotive market will drive the demand for metal forming equipment.  Along with that, many existing automotive assembly plant press rooms are due for equipment replacement.  Demand is also increasing at Tier 1 and Tier 2 level suppliers.  ‘Servo’ stamping presses are increasing in popularity over the traditional mechanical flywheel press.

American Steel Products will assist you in finding the metal press that is best suited to your company by determining the correct bed size, tonnage and if a mechanical, hydraulic, servo, or pneumatic drive will be required. Our team specializes in helping you find the piece of equipment that fits your needs and your budget. We can help you find a new piece of machinery or can search the marketplace for the piece of equipment that best suits your needs.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on ASP for your next project. We provide a professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction. We have proven results for setting exceptional standards in cost control, planning, scheduling and project safety. We have experience that gives us a competitive advantage over others in our field.

The post Stamping AKA Pressing appeared first on American Steel.

Simply put, a roller leveler is used to remove stresses and make the material lay flat.

How confident are that your material will stay flat after your customer shears, punches or laser cuts it? Just because the material looks flat, it does not necessarily mean it will stay that way.  Due to trapped internal stressors, once the piece of material is cut, it can spring back.

There are various causes that can create internal stress and shape issues in sheet metal.

• Residual stresses from the rolling mill
• Mechanical and thermal cutting
• Heat

Such defects and shape issues are problematic for subsequent processes. Leveling produces the flattest, most stable material possible, virtually independent of incoming strip shape and severity.

It’s important to note what can happen with the finished product that is not leveled.  Bending parts that are out of flat, results in dimensionally inaccurate parts causing rework and scrap, increasing over-all costs.

Welding preparation for ‘out of flat’ parts is generally cumbersome and time consuming. Welding warped parts with the use of welding robots reduces process reliability and increases set-up and welding times, which leads to increased costs and additional problems with heat influences. Heat from welding releases stresses in parts causing additional problems with process reliability, re-work and scrap.

Some important decision factors in choosing the right machine is the roll diameter, the roller pitch and the number of work rolls. The work rolls can also be backed up for more precise flatness and zone control. Essentially, the closer the roller pitch and the smaller the leveling roller diameter, the better the result depending on the thickness and yield of the material. A leveler is superior to a straightener as the leveler will remove more than cross bow or coil set.

American Steel Products will assist you in finding the press that is best suited to your company by determining the correct bed size, tonnage and if a mechanical, hydraulic, servo, or pneumatic drive will be required. We offer either a metal press that is built to order, or we can provide you with a used product that fits your needs and your budget.

With over 60 years of experience and a real focus on customer satisfaction, you can rely on ASP for your next project. We provide a professional renovation and installation services with a real focus on customer satisfaction. We have proven results for setting exceptional standards in cost control, planning, scheduling and project safety. We have experience that gives us a competitive advantage over others in our field.

The post A Roller Leveler Removes Material Stresses appeared first on American Steel.