FUNDAMENTALS of Wire & Cable Manufacturing

Monday, May 8 | 8:45 am - 4:45 pm | Room 312

This concentrated one-day introductory course presented by experts in the field provides a solid background in the essentials of wire and cable manufacturing. For presenter bios, go to www.interwire 23.com. The Wire Association’s most popular training program and refresher course for new hires, sales teams, and operations personnel, it includes general topics in the morning and then breaks into separate sessions for ferrous and nonferrous/electrical tracks in the afternoon, followed by a combined session.

General Track

8:45 am - 9:30 am

Mechanics of Wiredrawing

Matt Reinoehl, process metallurgist, SDI LaFarga COPPERWORKS

This course presents fundamental engineering principles and process calculations that are used to design, analyze, and improve metal rod and wiredrawing operations. Topics include a basic overview of wiredrawing mechanics with respect to material behavior and process parameters. Die angle and reduction will be addressed in light of the D-parameter and its practical application. Drawing limits, friction and lubrication, work-piece heating, and temperature effects are also discussed.

9:30 am - 10:15 am

Drawing Dies

João Noroña, director research and product development, Paramount Die Co.

This presentation focuses on the die, the most important part of the drawing process. Without it, the best drawing machines, lubricant, and treatment systems cannot reduce the wire diameter. However, with a die, vice pliers and a hammer, wire can be drawn, albeit slowly, as it has been for over 2,000 years. The intention of this course is to provide an understanding of what makes a die work, how it is designed, causes of failure, and problems with drawing larger sizes.

10:30 am - 11:15 am

Lubrication in the Wire Drawing Process

Brad Andrews, marketing manager, Condat

The wiredrawing process generates significant heat that affects the lubricants’ physical and chemical properties which in turn affects the lubricants’ ability to provide separation of the wire to the die. The amount of generated heat is influenced by complex interactions between metal composition, surface preparation, production equipment, and other factors. This presentation reviews basic lubrication principles, and typical lubricant compositions used in ferrous and nonferrous applications. Also included is a web link to WAI Hard Wire video’s reviewing ferrous and non-ferrous lubricant maintenance practices for maintaining good lubrication.

Want to better understand the basics?

If you—or someone else at your company—could benefit from this program, it’s a good investment to make, and an affirmation that an employee matters. To register, go to www.interwire23.com.

11:15 am - noon

Wire Breaks and Surface Damage

Dr. Horace Pops, president, Horace Pops Consulting noon - 1 pm

This course presents a classification of wire breaks from a perspective that compares material defects to process-related problems. Rod defects will include both casting and rolling issues such as internal voids, foreign contaminants, rolled-in scale, hot cracks, and surface porosity. The effects of wiredrawing speed and lubrication will be discussed with respect to generation of fines, shaving, galling, and other surface defects.

Fundamentals Luncheon

Ferrous Track

1 pm - 1:45 pm

Fundamentals of Ferrous Metallurgy

Anand Bhagwat, technology & quality manager, Minova USA

This introductory course is designed to provide a general understanding of ferrous metallurgical concepts, including phase equilibrium, transformation, strengthening mechanisms, heat treatment, and an overview of steelmaking, and their relevance to wire technology.

1:45 pm - 2:30 pm

Cleaning and Coating of Rod and Wire

Zack McAfee, cold forming segment key account manager, and Chris Poradom, industry manager, both Chemetall North America

This course presents the fundamentals of cleaning, pickling, and coating of ferrous wire and rod in preparation for drawing and processing. Proper control and handling in these areas ensures quality of the finished product. The design of these processes impacts the economics of the operation. It is imperative that rather than individual stages, this department should be viewed as a whole as it is critical to success. The course deals with zinc phosphate processes and the advantages and limitations as well as specialty coatings such as salt carriers, lubricants, dry film polymers, and new technologies on the horizon.

2:45 pm - 3:30 pm

Ferrous Testing and Properties

C. Richard Gordon, Managing Director, C Richard Gordon Consulting LLC

This course discusses tensile, coiling, wrap, reverse bend, torsion, fatigue, and hardness testing procedures. It illustrates interpretation of test results in terms of sample properties.

3:30 pm - 4:15 pm

Ferrous Heat Treatment

C. Richard Gordon, Managing Director, C Richard Gordon Consulting LLC

This course focuses on heat treatment of ferrous metals. It includes basic heat treating principles applicable to many metals with specific examples related to heat treatment of steel rod and wire.

NONFERROUS/ELECTRICAL TRACK

1 pm - 1:45 pm

Stranding and Cabling

Kevin Dancy, executive vice president, Roteq Machinery Inc. This presentation documents the stranding process for nonferrous conductors, specifically bare copper and tinned wire, as well as assembly of multi-conductor cables. Different processes that are addressed include bunching and concentric constructions, silicone blocked stranding, as well as cable assembly techniques, and rationale for each type. Specific applications include industrial and energy sectors, electronics and data communications, the automotive industry, consumer products, and appliances.

1:45 pm - 2:30 pm

Extrusion

Erik Macs, director of sales, Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp.

This course starts with a discussion of the basics of the various polymers used for wire and cable insulation. This is followed by discussion of the construction aspects of rubber and thermoplastic extruders. The remaining components of typical extrusion lines are reviewed and include payoffs, dancers and accumulators, preheaters, crossheads, cooling troughs, capstans, online measurement and testing equipment, online printing, take-ups, and operator control systems.

2:45 pm - 3:30 pm

Fundamentals of Electrical Testing

Casey Spradlin, chief applications engineer, Southwire Company

This fundamentals course is geared to providing a general overview of electrical testing. The course highlights key terms, standards, and tests that are common to the wire and cable industry for conductors and insulations, and highlights specific concerns of various industries and product types.

3:30 pm - 4:15 pm

Marking and Printing

Mark Spencer, Principal Partner, W. Gillies Technologies LLC

W. Gillies Technologies, LLC - Member RSD Groupis a company specializing in the manufacture of printing machines, engraved printing rollers and laser systems for printing and marking on insulated wire, cable, hose, tubing and extruded profiles. In addition to his administrative and operational responsibilities, Mark Spencer has designed many of the printing systems currently in use worldwide.

General Track

4:15 pm - 4:45 pm

Wire and Cable Manufacturing Problem-Solving

Lyman Ryan, continuous improvement director, Prysmian

This combined-session course is a demonstration of problem-solving techniques used to solve real challenges faced in the wire and cable industry. Actual scenarios are used to challenge attendees to think beyond the obvious symptoms and find the root cause. Lean Six Sigma problem-solving strategies are utilized as the course walks through each problem until the cause is identified. The audience is encouraged to participate in this interactive course. 