Wire Bulletin - Oct 10

VOLUME I | ISSUE IV | OCTOBER 2010

Rs. 125

WIRE BULLETIN India’s Quarterly Bulletin Dedicated to the Wire and Cable Industry

Bangladesh strikes power deal with India

ASK THE EXPERT Q: Our central-India-based company processes enameled wire products in which pinholes are detected 7-10 days after production, a problem that is compounded when the material is sent to humid areas, particularly during the monsoon season. Is there a solution?

See answer on p. 11 A view of Dhaka city, the largest in Bangladesh.

NEWS BITES • Tata Steel plans to invest Rs 4,500 crore this fiscal for various projects, followed by Rs 7,000 crore in 2011-12.

The company is also in the process of placing orders for the six-million tonne Orissa project and should start production in three to four years.

• Steel Authority of India Ltd.’s Ranchibased R&D Centre for Iron and Steel (RDCIS) proposes to develop 18 new products in 2010-11, in collaboration with SAIL’s manufacturing units.

QUOTABLE QUOTES I have been a great believer in the “India growth story.” ~ Wilfried Aulbur, MD & CEO, Mercedes Benz India India seems to be one of the only few “bright beacons in the otherwise dark and confused global economic scenario.” ~ Prashanth Narayan, VP & Head (PMS Investments), ING Investment Management India

Bangladesh has signed a landmark 35year power transmission deal with India paving ways for import of 250 megawatt electricity starting at the end of 2012. The state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) inked the bulk power transmission treaty with Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL) at a ceremony

witnessed by Bangladesh’s Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, the prime minister’s energy adviser, Tawfique-eElahi Chowdhury, and officials of both of the countries. The agreement provides for Bangladesh to export power to India in the future while PGCIL was tasked to construct, own, operate, and maintain a 400 KV double-circuit line to exchange 500 MW power between the two neighbouring countries soon after the system is launched.

“It’s a small step but a greater thought in regional cooperation through which the South Asian countries will immensely benefit,” Muhith said. According to the agreement, the transmission tariff will be fixed later by the Energy Regulatory Commission of West Bengal while BPDB will pay the transmission tariff on a monthly basis. continued on p. 3

Woodburn Diamond Die, engaged in the development of customised solutions to improve the wiredrawing process, has set up a new facility—Walson Woodburn Wire Die, Pvt. Ltd.—now fully operational, in Surat’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ). This plant is an addition to their existing manufacturing facility in Surat. The facility has been specifically designed and equipped with automated manufacturing and quality control equipment to cater to the most quality-conscious customers and is capable of producing a complete range of wire dies from 0.015 to 38.000 mm.

“The new SEZ facility is dedicated solely to exports to Asia, Africa, and Europe, and will support the extraordinary growth that Walson Woodburn has experienced in the Asian and European countries,” informed Purvesh Jariwala, Director, Woodburn Wire Die Group. The company is known for its innovative ideas and an ability to understand new wiredrawing

IN THIS ISSUE: Editorial .............................. 2 World Calendar ................... 3 Industry News ..................... 4 People ................................ 6

Production Tips ................. 10 Products, Media, & Technology..................... 11 Technical Article................ 12 Classified & Ad Showcase.......................... 16

Uniflex Cables, a group company of Apar Industries, announced that it expected to start supplying underwater cables, co-developed with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), to the Indian Navy in the next few months. The firm will also foray into the vandal-proof cable segment and expects sales to grow more than 65 per cent and reach Rs 300 crore betweem 2010-11, from Rs 180 crore last fiscal. According to Uniflex Cables’ Chief Operating Officer, V.K. Bajaj, the prototype for the underwater cable is ready.

“This was done under a joint research with DRDO and the first orders for the underwater cables have come from the Indian Navy,” Bajaj informed.

Woodburn starts new plant at Surat The Indian Navy will source its underwater cables from Uniflex.

A complete range of wire dies will be produced at Woodburn’s new plant. technologies. The new facility is a natural response to the increase in demand for the company’s products and will allow them to compete in a very cost-conscious environment. Strategically, the facility compliments the global focus of the Woodburn Group offering worldwide access to developing markets within the wire industry.|WB

Apar to set up conductor plant in Orissa

Featured Concepts........... 7-8

Underwater cables from Uniflex

Orissa is the site of the manufacturing plant.

Apar Industries, a USD 500 million diversified company offering products and services in power transmission conductors and petroleum specialties, is planning a greenfield conductor manufacturing facility in Orissa. This was announced to the media by the company’s Chief Financial Officer V.C. Diwadkar. The plant, with a capacity of 25,000 tonnes per annum (TPA), was to have been commissioned in

September 2011. “We will spend about Rs 25 crore on the plant and we will start work on it in the third quarter,” Diwadkar said. The company is still to zero in on a location for the plant.

The company currently has a conductor capacity of 1.15 lakh TPA at three facilities. Aluminium conductors are used in transmission lines. Apar is the secondbiggest player in the conductor market in the country after Sterlite Technologies and has an order book of Rs 1,200 crore. Other than conductors, Apar makes specialty oils such as white oil, which is used in pharmaceuticals, rubber process oil and automotive oil. The company also makes cables through its subsidiary, Uniflex Cables. The company plans to spend Rs 65 crore this fiscal and next, which includes the outlay for the new plant. “We will also undertake some de-bottlenecking in our oil business,” Diwadkar said.|WB

Commenting on the company’s other new products, he said vandal-proof cables, mainly used in the power transmission sector, which prevents power theft, are ready for launch. “These are currently under field trial. We will introduce the product soon,” Bajaj said. As for the company’s growth prospects, Bajaj said, “This fiscal we aim to reach sales of Rs 300 crore against Rs 180 crore last year. We believe we can achieve the growth on the back of our new products.” Uniflex currently manufactures three categories of cables—power, telecom, and rubber—from its Vapi facility.

Among its major clients are petroleum majors IOCL and Bharat Petroleum and renewable energy giant Suzlon. “The Indian cable market is worth Rs 20,000 crore and growing at a fast pace. Our aim is to expand into newer areas as a means of increasing our business,” Bajaj said.

The company has recently launched ‘fire survival cables,’ which can withstand temperatures of up to 950 degree Celsius.|WB

A D V E R T I S M E N T

OCTOBER 2010

EDITORIAL

T

his issue of Wire Bulletin features a special expanded section that serves as an introduction to the Wire & Cable 2010 event to be held at Mumbai from November 18 to 20.

There have been several positive developments related to this important event that have come to our notice while putting together the content for this issue. To begin with, the fact that an international exhibition agency like Messe Düsseldorf decided to host the show in cooperation with the Confederation of Indian Industry establishes the fact that India’s growth story is now serious business which is attracting attention from across the world. Further, the impressive number of participants from abroad further proves that we are now living in a global village and the transfer of technologies and setting up of manufacturing facilities on different shores is a practical reality. Everyone is looking forward to gain from each other’s expertise and resources and that is exactly how it should be.

What interests us in particular is the clear indicator of the great potential that lies in store for India’s wire and cable industry. According to one industry report, the steel wire manufacturing industry accounts for an annual turnover of Rs 8,000 crore and the production of approximately 2.5 million tonnes of steel wires per annum. This figure is likely to go up year-on-year primarily due to the government’s emphasis on infrastructure development. Steel wire is a basic input for the construction of bridges, flyovers, railway tracks, power distribution systems, and so on.

Also, the excellent track record of the automobile industry in 2010 will translate into a higher demand for controlling cables, and spokes, and it’s a similar situation for the telecom sector too.

In fact, had it not been for the effect of global recession, the India growth story, beginning from 2003, would have been a role model.

What is the basic reason for India to have largely escaped the dark woods of the global economic crisis with such alacrity? When compared with other emerging economies, such as China, India’s economy is less dependent on exports. Domestic consumption makes up about 75 per cent of India’s GDP, while it accounts for less than 50 per cent of Chinese economy. What is also of significance is India’s galloping rural economy. With the monsoon turning out to be quite normal this year, the agriculture sector will post good results and this in turn will lead to a higher demand for steel wires and cables because of new constructions and the spike in purchase of automobiles. All in all, with the increase in the number of skilled human resources, the gradual improvement in the power supply situation, the rise in capital investment and the overall confidence of the people in the present government, the future certainly looks rosy enough.

Huned Contractor Editor

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It is with this feeling of exuberance that we must meet each other at the Mumbai show. It’s time to exchange knowledge, sign deals and take longer strides in the wire and cable industry.

WIRE BULLETIN Publisher | Steven J. Fetteroll Editor | Huned Contractor Contributing Writer | Mark Marselli Director of Marketing & Corporate Communications | Janice E. Swindells Graphic Artist | Adrienne E. Simpson Advertising Sales | Robert J. Xeller & Anna Bzowski WIRE BULLETIN is published quarterly by WAI Wire and Cable Services Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wire Association International, (WAI) Inc. ©2010 by WAI Wire and Cable Services Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document or related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means (electronic, photocopying or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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CALENDAR & FRONT PAGE NEWS Relemac reports cable contracts

WORLD CALENDAR October 13-15, 2010: Spring World Rosemont, Illinois, USA. The biennial Spring World® trade show presents new technology in the spring and wire forming industries, and brings thousands of industry professionals to the Chicago area from all over the world.

Contact: Tel.: +1 (8)47 6922220, Fax: +1 (8)47 6969700, info@casmi.org.

October 15-17, 2010: China International Logistics & Transportation Fair Shenzhen, China. The China International Logistics & Transportation Fair (CILF) is a well-recognised annual fair in Asia that unites exhibitors and professional visitors interested in the logistical and purchasing information pertinent to Asia. The fair will include seminars and will also showcase warehousing equipment and packaging materials. Exhibiting companies represent the logistics, railway and highway cargo transport, rubber and plastic, and metal processing spheres. The conference will include logistics and transport technology.

Contact: Shenzhen Logistics and Supply Chain Management Association | 3/F Fuan Building, Chegongmiao, Futian District, Shenzhen - 510 000, China, Tel.: +(86)(755)-83581250.

November 7-10, 2010: 59th IWCS Conference™ Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Contact: IWCS | Tel.: (001) 732-389-0990, phudak@iwcs.org, www.iwcs.org.

November 18-20, 2010: Wire & Cable India 2010 Mumbai, India. This event, organised by Messe Düsseldorf, will be held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Goregaon.

Contact: Ms. Leena Dugh, Project Manager, Messe Düsseldorf India | 1 Commercial Complex, Pocket H&J, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi - 110 076, Tel,: 011-26971745/26971056, Fax: 011-26971746, E-mail: dughl@md-india.com.

November 18-21, 2010: BACE Expo 2010 (Building, Architectural, Construction & Engineering Expo) Kolkata, India. BACE Expo 2010 will be a meeting point for the domestic and international products and technology suppliers to explore the potential in the construction industry in eastern India. This trade show will feature the latest technological advancements of equipment, materials, services, and techniques in the related fields, providing opportunities to interact with the stakeholders in the building and construction industry. The main highlight of BACE 2010 will be on the construction materials used in green buildings. Kolkata has been chosen for this show because the city is witnessing new construction activity and re-development, simultaneously. The exhibition will be held at the Science City Grounds.

Contact: IPF Online Limited | 2nd Floor, Shafika Building, 17/7 Kodambakkam High Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034, Tel.: 044-42991234/28261234, Fax: 04428262737.

At its website, Relemac Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of low tension (LT) power cables, building wire, control and instrumentation cables, and other specialty cables, has reported a series of recent cable contracts. These projects include its third continuous order from a leading broadband provider company to provide for the urgent delivery (within five days) of multi-core combined cables; an order for supply of power armoured multi-pair control cables; and screened signal cable worth around USD 82,000; and an export order from Egypt for supply of power control cables and instrumentation cables for a major project scheduled to be completed in two months.

The company also has an export order for instrumentation cables from EKATO in Germany, worth around USD 72,000. Earlier this year, the company was converted into a private limited company under the name of Relemac Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Its customers include large public sector units such as the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Power, and Ministry of Communication as well as companies such as Tata, Amphenol, Bharat, ABB, and more.

CII conducts growth survey for MSMEs In a survey conducted for the repositioning of the Indian micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the changing

global scenario by the Confederation of Indian Industry, infrastructure development (such as the setup of industrial estates and facilities like power, road, etc.) has been cited as the most important factor, as revealed by 81 per cent of the MSME respondents, followed by simplification of labour laws (75 per cent), and lastly the promotion of innovation and cutting edge technology (58 per cent). Revealing the factors that inhibit growth and development of MSMEs, the survey has highlighted high cost of credit, procurement of raw material at a competitive cost and delayed payments in decreasing order of importance.|WB

The production floor of a medium-scale enterprise.

Bangladesh power continued from p. 1 The Indian company will recover the construction cost under a fixed rate over 35 years. The Indian part of the infrastructure will also include a 400 KV switching station at Baharampur, loop-in and loop-out of Farakka-Jeerat 400 KV single circuit line at the same place, and a 400 KV double circuit line from Baharampur of India running up to Bheramara in Bangladesh.|WB

November 18-21, 2010: Engeetech 2010 Kolkata, India. Engeetech 2010, Kolkata is the first engineering, industrial products and machinery expo and symposium to be held at the Science City Grounds. The event will cater to the entire engineering and manufacturing segment and will match international standards to provide a conducive business ambience for exhibitors and visitors alike. Industry in Kolkata has witnessed a progressive wave in recent times with a liberalised industrial policy that offers attractive incentives such as capital investment subsidy, waiver of electricity duty, waiver of stamp duty, and sales tax deferment/remission.

Contact: IPF Online Limited | 2nd Floor, Shafika Building, 17/7 Kodambakkam High Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034, Tel.: 044-42991234/28261234, Fax: 04428262737.

May 2-5, 2011: Interwire 2011 Atlanta, Georgia, USA. WAI returns to the Georgia World Congress Center for the trade show and the Wire Association’s 81st Annual Convention. Interwire is an international trade event that includes exhibiting companies, speakers, and attendees from more than 50 countries around the world. It is the largest and longestrunning wire and cable marketplace in the Americas where buyers, sellers, and researchers connect with new contacts and colleagues. Details about speaking opportunities and exhibit space purchase are available through The Wire Association International, the event organizer.

Contact: WAI | Tel.: (001) 203-453-2777, www.wirenet.org. n that

io informat e v a h u o Do y ion? this sect il to: in s g n lo be e-ma ubmit by t.org. s e s a le P ne tin@wire wirebulle

OCTOBER 2010 | 3

INDUSTRY NEWS Maillefer opens India office Switzerland-based Maillefer SA, with expertise in providing extrusion and winding solutions to the wire, cable and pipe industries, has announced the opening of its office in India. Commenting on this initiative, Manuel Felder, Executive Vice President (Sales & Marketing), said, “As being part of the BRIC countries, India is seen as a rapidly growing country with a strong potential for investments in infrastructure.

With its manufacturing solutions for cables and pipe, Maillefer is in a good position to be one of the leading equipment suppliers to the leading players in this infrastructure development. The target is to be closer to our customers from the commercial and service point of view.”

Maillefer’s inauguration of India office.

Shown (l to r): Sangeet Shrivastava, Abraham Joseph, Antti Mattila, Peter Roos, Philippe Ducret, Manuel Felder.

The Indian operations’ focus will be on providing advanced technology which in turn demands very high levels of product support. “We plan to increase our resources in this area by recruiting and training local engineers who can reach our customers faster and offer localised technical support,” said Abraham Joseph, Sr. Sales Manager, Maillefer Extrusion India Pvt. Ltd.

According to a press release issued by the company, the technology which will be more acceptable in the Indian market is the one that can be upgraded and enhanced with minimum disruptions after, say, four to five years. “The technical standards in India are due for massive re-hauling to bring it to par with international standards and hence provision for upgrading and flexibility would be a major factor the markets would be looking at,” Felder said.

Commenting on the market potential in India, Joseph said, “The market will be buoyant for the next few years based on the initiatives and projections by the government in the power, telecom, and agriculture segments. We foresee investments in both private and government projects which will have a positive impact on the manufacturing sector.”

The Mumbai office was started with one expatriate specialised in the cable business, one individual in a sales support role, and one service manager. “The chosen location in Mumbai enables us to double the staff within a very short time if the need is shown,” Felder said.

However, there will be some challenges too. “One of the major challenges for Maillefer would be in convincing our customers of the cost-benefit analysis from a long-term perspective. The pre-recession period in India has imbibed a culture of ‘low-cost investments, short life, and quick profits.’ Our objective would be to try and reverse this culture and highlight cost savings from various perspectives such as improved efficiency, low production losses and disruptions, low wastages, reduced downtime, reduced maintenance, and repair costs,” Joseph said.

AMG supplies fiber system for highway traffic solutions

A toll plaza on an expressway.

The UK-based AMG Systems Ltd. has been contracted by the EFKON Group of India, now part of Strabag SE, to supply its innovative fiber optic transmission system Guardian-Lite™ 3700 for traffic management and control on several projects on National Highways 7, 47, and around Mumbai. According to EFKON, these new projects are very complex, involving several different types of field equipment all networked into a centralised control centre.

Furthermore, the design has to be modular and future-proof to allow for upgrades that can work for the life of the concession agreement. The main reason cited for choosing AMG’s Guardian-Lite 3700 transmission solution is the reliability and ease of integration.

According to a press release issued by AMG Systems, in all of the new projects AMG is transmitting signals to and from Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras. Some of the projects also involve tolling with multiple toll plazas. In those cases, the transmission solution is also handling toll data, ECB audio, and VMS data. The new projects concern the following stretches: NH7 Kadthal to Armur and Bangalore to Hosur, NH47 Salem to Kumarapalyam and onward to Chengapally, as well as Bandra to Worli around Mumbai. “These new installations mean that AMG’s products have now been supplied for the transmission solutions for Indian highways projects totalling more than 700 kms,” the release states.

Usha Martin to benefit from in-house sourcing Usha Martin Ltd., an integrated steel player, is now set to reap the benefits of its backward and forward expansion plans from this fiscal year onward to register higher volumes. The company is in the final stages of implementing a massive Rs 2,100 crore capex plan, which it started three years ago.

Post this exercise, its in-house metallics’ (sponge and pig iron) installed capacity has increased from 0.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in FY09 to 0.9 MTPA this fiscal.

Similarly, its installed capacity for crude steel (billets) has risen from 0.4 MTPA to 1 MTPA. For its value-added products division, the company has expanded the capacities of bright bars to 36 kilotonnes per annum (KTPA) from 18 KTPA in FY10; conveyor cords to 4.8 KPTA from 3.6 KTPA earlier; and OT cables to 6 KTPA.

ore mine (with high grade reserves of 56 MT) to meet its entire raw material requirements (of 1.2 MTPA) while the production at non-coking coal mines will be further ramped up to meet 100 per cent of the company’s expanded needs in FY12. The company’s captive power capacity stands at 73 MW and will be further increased to 93 MW to meet 80 per cent of the company’s FY12 capacity requirements, thus reducing dependence on purchased power.

Usha Martin, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells specialty steel and related value-added products. The company operates basically under steel and mining business, wire ropes, and the specialty products business segments. The steel division—which manufactures steel wire rods, bars, billets, pig iron, and allied products—contributes to almost 42 per cent of the total consolidated revenues. Under its wire ropes and specialty products segment (53 per cent contribution to revenues), the firm manufactures steel wires, strands, wire ropes, cords, and related accessories including wiredrawing and allied equipment.

The company also makes special jelly-filled copper and optic telecom (OT) cables.

AMPL set to expand Promoted in August 2002 by Suresh Kumar Patni, Kolkata-based Ankit Metal & Power Limited (AMPL) has announced its intention to upgrade its sponge iron capacity to 1,50,000 tonnes from its current 1,00,000 tonne capacity. It will also build an induction furnace capacity of 50,000 tonnes and a 33 mega watt power plant for captive consumption. The company expects commercial operations to start in 18 months. This was made known after the board of AMPL approved a rights issue to raise Rs 150 crore

by October-November of 2010. The company has increased its authorised capital to Rs 80 crore. “We are looking at new project investments of Rs 310 crore and have bank finance sanctioned to the tune of Rs 200 crore,” Ankit Patni, Managing Director, AMPL, was quoted in a news report. AMPL was incorporated with a view to set up a plant at Chhatna, Jorehira, district Bankura, West Bengal to manufacture sponge iron, MS billets and re-rolled products with a captive power plant.

IDBI picks up stake in Ramsarup IDBI Bank has picked up a 10 per cent stake in Kolkata-based steel maker Ramsarup Industries. The financial institution bought into the company after invoking shares pledged with it. The transaction took place on July 29 when IDBI acquired 35,07,486 shares in Ramsarup, which makes steel wire and TMT bars at four of its plants in Bengal. Pledged shares are collateral for a loan and invoking the shares means the lender transfers the shares to itself when the borrower fails to pay back the loan. When contacted, Ashish Jhunjhunwala, Chairman and Managing Director of Ramsarup said, “The issue has been sorted out with IDBI.” He did not say why the financial institution invoked the shares.

Concurrent India Infrastructure acquires steel rod plant

Usha Martin has also completed its raw material integration plans for sourcing of thermal coal and iron ore for its sponge iron plant. The company has its own captive iron

4 | WIRE BULLETIN

Concurrent India Infrastructure Limited has announced that it has started the process of acquiring the Pune-based steel plant, Vakratund Ispat, located at Sanaswadi. The plant has a capacity of 65,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) for producing TMT bars and rods and structural steel, which are used by the construction and infrastructure indus-

INDUSTRY NEWS tries. “With the acquisition of Vakratund Ispat, our offerings in the infrastructure segment are further getting augmented,” said K. Sudhir Babu, Director & CEO, Concurrent India Infrastructure.

KEC wins orders worth Rs 610 crore KEC International Ltd. (KEC), an RPG Group company engaged in the power transmission EPC business, has won orders in the transmission and cables space to the tune of Rs 610 crore. According to a press release issued by the company, in the transmission segment the company has won total orders of Rs 487 crore for turnkey transmission lines in Georgia, South Africa, Zambia, Philippines, and the UAE. The company has added another country to its already long list of 44 countries where it has its footprints by securing orders from Georgia. The order is for turnkey construction of 400 kV, 500 kV S/C transmission lines. The project duration is 18 (400 kV) and 24 (500 kV) months. The total order value is Rs 326 crore.

The company has consolidated its presence in the South African (SADC) region by re-entering Zambia and securing another order from South Africa. The total order value is Rs 66 crore. Last year, the company had secured orders from Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa. The company has re-entered the Far East Asia region after a decade by securing an order from the Philippines worth Rs 42 crore. “We are looking to expand our presence in this region. Entering Georgia is a great achievement for KEC. With this, KEC has made a mark in a third country in the natural resource-rich central Asian region after Kazakhstan and Tajikistan within the third year of entry. In addition to this, re-entering in the Far East Asia region after a decade is a significant event for us,” said Ramesh Chandak, M.D. & CEO, KEC International Ltd.

A power transmission site.

In the cables segment, the company has won orders for the supply of low-tension, high-tension, and extra-high-voltage power cables worth Rs 123 crore from various customers. For the financial year 2009-10, the company reported an income of Rs 3,907 crore as against Rs 3,429 crore in the previous year. Its transmission business explored new geographies last year and entered countries like Cameroon, Chad, and Peru. It also secured its first-ever Emergency Restoration System (ERS) order from Abu Dhabi. In South Asia, the company made an entry into the high-potential northeast region, with four projects in the region valued at more than Rs 600 crore. In the telecom segment, the company completed the installation of 375 towers in the three states of Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.

Siechem selects Cablebuilder© Chennai-based Siechem Technologies, engaged in the manufacturing of wires and cables for many specialised applications, has selected CableBuilder© to further boost

the efficiency and quality of their design and quoting processes. CableBuilder is a cable design software developed by Cimteq Ltd., the industry partner of InnoVites which is the exclusive re-seller of CableBuilder in India. Siechem, which commenced operations in March 2002, designs and produces a wide variety of specialised cables utilising state-of-the-art technology which includes an electron beam irradiation facility. Commenting on this development, P. Damodaren, Managing Director, Siechem Technologies, said, “To meet the challenging demands of our customers, our design team needed a tool to help them be as efficient as possible especially now that customers expect immediate responses.

CableBuilder addresses this need.”

Sundram Fasteners faces Shanghai heat One of the first lessons Indian CEOs learn on moving to Chinese factory towns is how to manage and retain workers during the summer when the temperature hovers above 33° Celsius (C), a daytime high not unusual in India. According to a report published by Hindustan Times, in Jiaxing town near Shanghai, Sundram Fasteners’ CEO R. Premkumar is prepared to juggle production plans and abruptly shut down his plant for a day—on the local government’s order—if the temperature hits 40°C. The Chinese can survive bone-chilling subzero winters in homes without central heating but the same hardy workers may walk out from assembly lines when the temperature crosses 33 to 35°C. So when the temperature peaks at 2:00 p.m. on summer days, the Chinese workers making nuts and bolts at Sundram Fasteners receive a cooling serving of free moong bean (green gram) soup.

Sundram Fasteners Limited is a part of the USD 5 billion TVS Group, headquartered in Chennai. With a diversified product line and production facilities in four countries, the company manufactures hightensile fasteners, powder metal components, cold extruded parts, hot forged components, radiator caps, automotive pumps, gear shifters, gears and couplings, hubs and shafts, tappets, and iron powder.

The company offers technological competencies in forging, metal forming, closetolerance machining, heat treatment, surface finishing, and assembly.

tion (PFC) Limited to establish two 400 KV double circuit quad transmission lines on a ‘build, own, operate and maintain’ basis and launched the Sterlite ECO.101 data cables that are a revolutionary concept in structured cabling. As the cables are devoid of halogen elements, they pose no health hazard, are eco-friendly and use minimal, fully recyclable packaging. This was announced by the company as a part of its results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

The company closed Q1FY11 with revenues of Rs 492 crore, which is a growth of 13 per cent over that in Q1FY10. According to a press release issued by the company, it maintained operating profitability at 18 per cent and its net profit growth was 22 per cent over Q1 of the last fiscal. The company’s optical fiber and fiber optic cables business segments have shown good volume growth as a result of expanded capacities coming on line during the quarter.

Commenting on the performance of the company, Pravin Agarwal, Director, Sterlite Technologies, said, “We continue to drive our business through scaling of volume, enhancement of our global client footprint, stringent focus on costs and advances in technology. We also ensure a strong connection with the needs of our stakeholders, which enables us to make strategic decisions, investments, and organisational moves to support the future.”

Bharti Airtel chips in for African connectivity

USD 263 million and will connect Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan in Sudan, with landing points in nine countries, Bharti Airtel said in a statement. “This cable system is expected to prove a boon in proliferation of broadband connectivity to all parts of Africa, promoting e-commerce, Internet, and other broadband applications,” said the company, which recently acquired the African assets of Kuwaiti telecom firm Zain.

A cable will connect Port Sudan to Mtunzini.

The cable link will also safeguard and ensure all-time connectivity of East African countries with the world, Bharti said. “The commencement of EASSy cable system is a significant step in our journey to create a robust undersea cable infrastructure for our customers,” it added. Besides Bharti, the consortium includes 16 telecom firms including British Telecom, Etisalat, Saudi Telecom, MTN, and Telkom South Africa.

The cable’s landing points include Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti), Mombasa (Kenya), Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania), Moroni (Comoros Islands), Toliary (Madagascar) and Maputo (Mozambique).|WB

An international consortium, of which Bharti Airtel is a part, has launched an undersea cable that will connect the African continent with the rest of the world. The 10,000 km submarine undersea system, EASSy cable, has investments of around

Tata Steel subsidiary sells stake Tata Steel, the world’s eighth largest steel manufacturer, announced that its subsidiary, Natsteel Holdings (P) Ltd., has sold its 27.03 per cent stake in Southern Steel Berhad, Malaysia, for a total consideration of around Rs 330 crore. “The sale is part of Tata Steel’s strategy of restructuring its portfolio and reconsidering its position in geographies where it does not have a majority control,” Tata Steel said in its statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Malaysia-based Southern Steel Berhad (SSB) is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and trade of steel products including billets, steel bars, and wire rods.

Sterlite Technologies acquires ENICL Sterlite Technologies Limited, a leading provider of transmission solutions for the power and telecom industries, has completed the acquisition of the East-North Interconnection Company Limited (ENICL), which was the special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by Power Finance Corpora-

OCTOBER 2010 | 5

PEOPLE

Karia

Ravin Cables Ltd. — Exploring new frontiers The company’s joint venture with the Prysmian Group of Italy will help Ravin Cables bring to the India market new technologies and products.

The year 2010 definitely took off on a bright note for Ravin Cables Ltd., one of India’s leading manufacturers of ‘Primecab’ branded low- and medium-voltage power cables. In January, Ravin Cables Ltd., whose turnover in 2008-09 was Rs 310 crore, announced a joint venture with Prysmian Group of Italy, a world leader in the production of high technology cables required in the energy and telecommunication sectors. Prysmian is a multinational company with 56 manufacturing facilities in 24 countries, seven R&D centres and 12,000 employees. Over the last decade, the company has integrated major partners such as Siemens cable activities and BICC, and it is currently carrying out a worldwide development strategy aimed at further strengthening its presence in high potential growth countries.

“The reason that the JV [joint venture] was entered into with Prysmian was to have access to world-class technologies and best global manufacturing practices. Ravin Cables is looking forward to becoming a leader in the electrical industry within the next three

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to five years. The new joint venture is set up in the spirit of continuity with the successful history of Ravin. However, the real big opportunity will be to leverage on the financial robustness, state-of-the-art technologies and know-how, and the proven track record of the worldwide industry leader. For customers, this means access to ultimate product design and materials, full reliability of production processes and high standard of quality and services,” said Vijay Karia, Chairman and Managing Director, Ravin Cables.

An exterior view of Ravin Cables Ltd. The foundation of Ravin Cables was laid by the illustrious technocrat Pramod Karia in 1950. With its head office at Mumbai and a manufacturing facility at Markal near Pune, Ravin Cables became a public limited company in 1994. It was awarded ISO 9002 certification in 1999 and the very next year it achieved an export house status. In 2003, it was declared the largest exporter of power cables and in 2005 the company’s turnover crossed Rs 1,000 million. In 2006, it forged an alliance with the ruler of Fujairah, UAE and in 2007 the turnover crossed Rs 2,500 million. The Fujairah plant was commissioned in 2008. The plant has a production capacity of 5,000 kms per annum of power cables, 5,000 kms per annum of control cables and 2,500 kms per annum of single core wire and flexibles.

With a client roster that includes some of the biggest companies in India such as

Eicher Motors, Maruti Udyog, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Asea Brown Boveri, Kirloskar Brothers, Siemens Ltd., Gujarat Ambuja Cement, Hindustan Lever, Pepsico India Holdings, Grasim Industries, and others, Ravin Cables is now looking forward to multiplying its market presence in the coming years with a special focus on high-tech segments. “We will continue to innovate and launch new products and technologies in the market in terms of EHV cables, as well as to supply specialty oil and gas exploration cables. Ravin Cables will also offer huge potential for growth, as well as international exposure to its employees. Our goal is to become India’s first ‘complete’ power infrastructure company,” Karia states.

Elaborating about the capex plans for the future, Karia says, “We will shortly be setting up CCV lines at Pune to manufacture EHV cables up to 220 kv. Power Plus Cable Company LLC, which is a joint venture between Ravin Cables Ltd. and the Government of Fujairah in UAE, currently has the capability to manufacture cables up to 220 kv. In both the plants we are also aiming to introduce specialty oil and natural gas cables as well as other specialised sector specific cables. We shall also be leveraging on Prysmian’s worldwide facilities to supply submarine cables, optical fibres, EHV joints and terminations and specialised sector specific cables into the Indian market.

All these plants would require a huge amount of capex running into millions of dollars which we shall be spending in the next few years’ time.”

Another area of focus is to upgrade the quality of products to reduce the transmission and distribution (T&D) losses and increase the safety of the installations. “A safe and definite way to reduce T&D losses and theft of electricity, as well as to increase the safety of the electrical networks, is to

An interior view of Ravin Cables Ltd. use underground cables which are always preferred to overhead bare conductors. The Indian market currently lacks the technology and the R&D base which we are looking to capitalise on through the expertise of Prysmian. Initiatives have been undertaken to leverage the financial sturdiness and state-of-the-art technologies that Prysmian possesses. Added to that is the fact that Prysmian spends more than Euro 50 million per year on R&D alone and this means that Ravin Cables is sure to benefit with this base,” Karia adds.

The fact is that India’s market for highvoltage cables and systems is expected to grow rapidly, estimated to double in size in the next three years thanks to the country’s dynamic economy and the need for rapid development of its power distribution grids.

“Given this scenario, our new joint venture’s goal is to more than double the turnover by 2012, particularly by developing a mix of higher value-added products,” Karia states. Prysmian has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Ravin Cables with the balance remaining in the hands of the current promoters.|WB

FEATURED CONCEPTS “Structured” to lead ith the government giving infrastructure development top billing and the mushrooming of data centers across the country, the Indian cable industry is poised for brighter days ahead. What’s also helping push the wagon forward is the need for structured cabling systems.

W

The construction of a residential complex is no longer about building apartment blocks with just the basic facilities in place.

Rather, as Pune-based builder Lalit Jain of Kumar Builders puts it, “It is more about giving the customer a smart and intelligent place to stay or work from.”

So what is it that gives it the smart touch?

“It’s a building that incorporates information technology, communication systems and automated control systems such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), fire safety, security, energy/lighting management, and other building management systems. For example, in the case of a fire, the fire alarm communicates with the security system to unlock the doors. The alarm will also communicate with the HVAC system to regulate airflow and prevent the fire from spreading,” said architect S.N. Desai.

Structured cabling is now an integral part of all housing societies.

Therefore, what follows is that such types of buildings—residential or commercial— deploy structured cabling. As such, gone are the days when buildings had disparate cabling with different designs and administration methods that often failed to work. Now, it’s all about structured cabling and this is especially true of data centers which depend on the use of efficient networking and computing technologies. Moreover, with the use of the Internet growing at a rapid pace, structured cabling has begun to play a key role in getting the bandwidth concerted applications closer to the user community. “It is very important now to plan buildings keeping in mind the roadmap of IT infrastructure. And that is why structured cabling is so very important,” Desai states.

Here is another case study to drive home the significant role that structured cabling has to play. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is one of India’s largest integrated petroleum refining and marketing company and has about 6,500 retail outlets and more than 2,100 LPG distributors across the country. The need for the company’s IT infrastructure is immense. BPCL has more than 300 servers running various applications like SAP, MS Mail, intra-link applications, e-biz, Petro-Card, etc. The lifeline of all this information is managed by the company’s corporate data center (CDC) at Sewree near Mumbai and its disaster recovery site at Greater Noida. These critical installations house more than 500 primary servers for all applications.

The CDC, established around 1960, went through several upgrades. In 1997, the CDC

was upgraded to Category 5 cabling. The cabling, popularly referred to as Cat5, cable is a twisted pair of high signal integrity that relies on the twisted pair design for noise rejection. This type of cable is used in structured cabling for computer networks such as Ethernet and ATM, and is also used to carry many other signals such as telephony and video. The requirement was to build a data center where human interface would be minimal. It therefore chose AMP Netconnect’s intelligent infrastructure management (IIM) solution that promised real-time monitoring of infrastructure, reducing incidences of faulty connections and efficient documentation process.

A growing business Given this scenario where structured cabling in India is emerging to the fore, it does not come as a surprise to find the country recording the fastest growth in the cabling industry at 22 per cent as per AMI Partners, an independent analyst firm. According to IDC, a global provider of market intelligence and advisory services for the information technology sector, the structured cable industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 20 per cent over a period of the next few years. “The SMBs and residential and commercial complexes are fast becoming the key drivers for its growth. If the industry experts are to be believed, the structured cabling market in India will turn out to be a Rs 1,000 crore industry by the end of 2010,” its report states.

with high-speed connectivity to support voice, data and video. “Tool-less design, data center cabling, field crimpable connectors for FTTH solutions, intelligent cabling and 10G over copper are the current trends in its adoption,” states M.P. Mayekar, an IT expert. According to a case study uploaded by Sterlite Technologies, a leading manufacturer and supplier of optical fibers, fiber optic cables, copper telecom cables, and structured data cables, on its website, “FTTH is finally emerging into the mainstream and is set to transform the telecom environment worldwide over the next decade.”

“Over the next 15 to 20 years, copper access networks worldwide will be largely replaced by a fiber access network, creating massive opportunities for vendors, network builders, and service providers. The most important catalyst for this change is a growing perception that copper access networks will soon no longer be able to meet the ever-growing consumer demand for bandwidth, driven mainly by the Internet, IP and the many services running over it. This environment has led to the beginnings of a mass migration to fiber in several countries,” the study notes. What has come as a boost to the structured cabling market is the government’s proactive role. In March this year, in a bid to offer next generation telecom services at affordable rates, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) launched the FTTH triple play services in six districts of Rajasthan.

BSNL is now able to offer high speed broadband access up to 1,000 Mbps and a plethora of services based on triple play (voice-video-data) services like IPTV, HDTV, 3DTV, video on demand, bandwidth on demand, video conferencing, interactive gaming, etc. Such a service was launched earlier in Hyderabad and BSNL has now rolled out a plan to cover the entire country.

“Technologically speaking, fiber is a more superior solution and data centers now adopt both twisted pair and fiber, singly or in combination, to derive the most effective solutions for their needs,” Mayekar states. “The use of 10G over copper, newer single mode fiber in LAN, products and technologies suitable for FTTH and products specifically designed for data centre applications are together taking forward the structured cabling market,” he adds.

Taking the lead

Structured cabling as seen in an auto factory.

In 2005, 13.8 per cent of the structured cabling business was derived from data centers but research suggests that in 2010 this contribution will shoot up to about 32 per cent. The structured cabling market in the Asia Pacific (including Japan) should touch USD 1.53 billion in 2010, with a CAGR of 11 per cent from 2005 to 2010.

According to Raju Chellam, Vice President (Asia Pacific), AMI Partners, key verticals like financial services, transportation, IT and media houses are getting more and more data-centric, and setting up more data centers. The primary challenges for IT managers of data centers are keeping ahead of the access capability and storage capacity.

FTTH gains momentum One of the major drivers pushing the structured cabling market ahead is the increasing use of ‘fiber to the home’ (FTTH) which is changing the way in which residential and commercial buildings are wired

The fact that the structured cable market is zooming ahead and yielding rich hauls for those in the business can be gleaned from Sterlite Technologies’ annual report for 2009-10. Keeping in view the increasing use of structured cabling systems, the company has enhanced its product portfolio with the introduction of unique application-focused products like the optical ground wire (OPGW) cables, high ampacity conductors, specialised data cables, and optical fiber products that are optimized for fiber to the curb, home, or premises (FTTx) applications. The company’s capacity expansion projects for optical fibers and power conductors are well on track. At 20 million kms Sterlite would be amongst the largest global manufacturers of optical fibers by FY12.

“This is another good set of results for Sterlite with continued growth in sales, strengthening of our global client footprint, and tight cost control leading to significant improvements in profits,” comments Pravin Agarwal, Director, Sterlite Technologies Ltd. That the scenario is positive all around is also justified by IPTV provider Aksh Optifibre Limited’s ambitious plan of investing Rs 150 crore to strengthen its IPTV network in the country.

Projecting this buoyancy in the Indian scenario, this is what the newsletter of RPG Cables has to state: “The demand for optic fiber cables has been growing and RPG Cables is poised for significant growth in the coming days. The company has largely been producing only lower fiber count cables catering to the CATV segments in the recent past. We shall refocus our future plans on getting business from major private telecom service providers and utilities that are in the business of creating telecom infrastructure.”

Yet another company that is reaping a rich haul from the growing cable market is Finolex Cables.

Commercial complexes are the major users of structured cabling systems.

According to their annual report for 200910, “The electrical cable segment has shown significant growth both in tonnage and value over the previous year. Sales growth in tonnage terms has been 31 per cent over the previous year and sales growth in value was 25 per cent over the previous year. Further, the production capacities of optic fiber cables, optic fiber and coaxial was increased to take advantage of the booming telecommunication market in the country.” A CII Ernst & Young report titled ‘India 2012: Telecom Growth Continues’ states that the revenue from India’s telecom services industry is projected to reach USD 54 billion in 2012, as against USD 31 billion in 2008.

Futher, given the scope for the structured cable market, innovations too are finding a place under the Indian sun. Paramount Cables, for instance, is reportedly the first company in India to manufacture lead-free cables for Indian consumers. “Our domestic cables will set new technology and quality benchmarks as the country’s first lead-free cables, besides being zero halogen generation and flame retardant with long-term reliability,” said Sanjay Aggarwal, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Cables.

A changing phenomenon Structured cabling has witnessed several changes and is becoming an important deliverable in IT investment. According to D.S. Nagendra, General Manager-LAN of Nexans, as quoted in DQ Channels, “Companies are now looking at installing the latest technologies like the 40 Gig solutions on copper and 100 Gig solutions on fiber.” Such technologies ensure that the return on investment of the enterprise is protected. Knowledge centers, BPOs, software development centers with data-centric environments require technologies that allow IT managers to track MACs in real-time while offering security and better asset management. Therefore, structured cabling becomes all the more important.

And now with the government’s emphasis on infrastructure development, structured cabling, as experts point out, will have further scope to grow. “These are growth infrastructure projects both private and public, government enterprises, development of new townships, SEZ projects, consolidation and growth in manufacturing, expansion in BFSI and telecom networks.

All this will collectively increase the demand for cables and structured cabling,” Mayekar said.|WB

OCTOBER 2010 | 7

FEATURED CONCEPTS Undersea cables at risk study conducted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers suggests need to find backup routes for submarine cable networks across the world.

A

Deep sea vessels can break the submarine cables.

Investors should urgently diversify the web of undersea cables that serve as the world’s information and banking arteries to address soaring demand and piracy concerns and also reduce the risk of catastrophic outages. So says a report by a multinational research project that calls for the building of global back-up routes for the submarine network that carries almost all international communications, including financial transactions and Internet traffic. The report’s main author, Karl Rauscher of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), an international professional body, told Reuters that changes should be made “before we have to learn the hard way.”

An executive summary of the report made available to Reuters says that the current probability of a global or regional failure of the network is very low, but is “not zero.”

The impact of such a failure on international

8 | WIRE BULLETIN

security and economic stability could be devastating. There is no sufficient alternative back-up in the case of catastrophic loss of regional or global connectivity.

“Satellites cannot handle the volume of traffic—the available capacity is not even close,” the report says. “It is unclear if civilisation can recover from the failure of a technology that has been so rapidly adopted without a back-up plan. Without the network, the world’s economic financial market would immediately freeze,” it adds. The project, managed by the IEEE and the EastWest Institute’s think tank, cites the ‘cable-dense’ Luzon Strait south of Taiwan, the Strait of Malacca and the Red Sea among several ‘chokepoints’ that funnel important cable paths together. “A single disaster in such an area could cause catastrophic loss of regional and global connectivity,” the report says.

According to the study, the insatiable thirst for bandwidth is accompanied by an ever-growing dependence on inter-continental communications, which are nearly entirely supported by undersea cables. The study said it has taken account of numerous trends including the skyrocketing bandwidth demand, increase in piracy on the high seas, and the growing concerns of terrorist activity worldwide.

Recent failures include breaks in three submarine cables linking Europe and the

UNDERSEA COMMUNICATION CABLE FACTS: • Nearly all international communications including global financial market transactions and the Internet are routed through a small number of cables buried deep in the oceans.

• The submarine cable network is designed to be resilient, but outages can disrupt a wide range of activities such as banking, airline bookings, Internet shopping, education, health, defense, and communications.

• Near the shore, cables need protection from shipping, fishing, and other activities.

To reduce risk, cables are identified on nautical charts and may be placed within a “protection zone” where activities harmful to cables are banned.

• Seventy per cent of all the cable faults are the result of fishing and anchoring. Owners and operators of cables—typically telecom utilities—cooperate with fishing, undersea mining, oil and gas, dredging, and other offshore industries to reduce the number of incidents damaging to cables.

• Cables can also be broken by earthquakes, undersea avalanches and sometimes shark or fish bites.

• Modern submarine telecommunications cables rely on pure glass fibers by which light is transmitted. Because the light signal loses strength en route, repeaters are installed along the cable to boost the signal.

• New systems rely on optical amplifiers—glass strands containing the element Erbium. Strands are spliced at intervals along a cable and then energised by lasers that cause Erbium-doped fibers to react and boost optical signals.

• Each fiber pair within a cable has the capacity to carry digitised information including video that is equivalent to 1,50,000,000 simultaneous phone calls.

Source: The International Cable Protection Committee Ltd., www.iscpc.org

Middle East, which disrupted Internet and international telephone services in parts of the Middle East and South Asia in December 2008. In January 2008, a breakdown in an undersea cable network disrupted Internet links to Egypt, India, and Gulf Arab countries and a December 2006 earthquake off southern Taiwan hit cables and slowed Internet and telephone traffic across parts of Asia. The study’s concern is not so much

that the reliability of the system is declining, but that the world’s dependence has grown so great—and on a network lacking global back-up.

In a foreword to the report, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chief of Staff, Steve Malphrus, said the financial sector’s stability was increasingly linked to its understanding of operational risk.|WB

In India please contact: Source Smart Namdeo Ranjane 206 Stanford Plaza, B65 New Link Road Andheri(W), Mumbai 400053 Telephone: 22-2673-4850 Fax: 22-2673-4851 Email: sourcesmart@gmail.com

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OCTOBER 2010 | 9

PRODUCTION TIPS Conical Compression Springs Overview Conical compression springs are conical coiled helical springs that resist a compressive force applied axially. They are conical, tapered, concave, or convex in shape. The spring is wound in a conical helix usually out of round wire. The changing of spring ends, direction of the helix, material, and finish allows conical compression springs to meet a wide variety of special industrial needs.

Conical compression springs can be manufactured to very tight tolerances; this allows the spring to precisely fit in a hole or around a shaft. A digital load tester can be used to accurately measure the specific load points in springs. Conical compression springs can be made from non-magnetic spring material like Phosphor Bronze or Beryllium Copper as well as music wire (high carbon steel), stainless steel and many other types of spring wire. The possibilities are almost endless for so many applications.

Applications Conical compression springs are used for various applications like pushing and twisting, thus the ability to achieve numerous results. Typical applications include force or load which makes it shorter, therefore pushing back against the load. The role of conical compression springs is to return to its original length. Conical compression springs offer resistance to linear compressing forces (push) that are in fact one of the most efficient energy storage devices available. A battery contact is a good example of how conical compression springs work.

Conical compression springs will compress

10 | WIRE BULLETIN

when a battery is inserted into a remote control, for example, and then maintain constant contact with the battery enabling the transfer of energy from the battery to the remote control. Other uses include high temperature applications. Conical compression springs can be engineered for high temperature applications that can reach up to 1,100째F.

Ends The ends of conical compression springs are usually closed and square. These ends can also be closed and ground, or have open ends. Furthermore, conical compression springs can have legs to fasten it to a particular assembly. The ends of a spring can also be close wound for a certain number of coils on the ends permitting the spring to remain in a vertical position. The squareness influences how the axis force produced by the spring can be transferred to adjacent parts. Another application includes being able to thread a closed end coil spring onto a threaded shaft for fastening purposes.

Other end configuration examples are reduced end diameters such as a barrel spring on a bicycle seat. Springs can have dual diameters as well as triple diameters for achieving different assembly situations.

Materials: The material choices available for springs today work well for corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity, non-magnetic, and high temperature applications. Basic conical compressions springs are normally made from music wire, which is a high carbon spring steel as well as stainless steel 302, 316, 17-7. Choosing the right material for your spring is important; it will greatly enhance the life and repeatability of your spring, as well as give you many years of service life.

Word for thought: A great conical compression spring is one that will function properly in the confined parameters of your product with low stress and fatigue, and high cycles of life.

Properties of common spring materials High-carbon spring wire. High-carbon spring steels are the most commonly used of all springs materials because they are the least expensive, readily available, easily worked, and most popular. These materials are not satisfactory for high or low temperatures or for shock or impact loading.

Alloy steel wire. The alloy spring steels have a definite place in the field of spring materials, particularly for conditions involving high stress and for applications where shock or impact loading occurs.

Alloy spring steels also can withstand higher and lower temperatures than the high-carbon steels and are obtainable in either the annealed or pre-tempered conditions. Note: These materials are not regularly stocked in a wide variety of sizes.

Stainless steel wire. The use of stainless spring steels has increased considerably in recent years. Several new compositions are now available to withstand corrosion. All of these materials can be used for high temperatures up to 650째F. Nonferrous alloy wire. Copper-base alloys are important spring materials because of their good electrical properties combined with their excellent resistance to corrosion.

Although these materials are more expensive than the high-carbon and the alloy steels, they are frequently used in electrical components and in subzero temperatures.

All copper-base alloys are drawn to the American Wire Gauge and are nonmagnetic.

High-temperature alloy wire. Nickelbased alloys are especially useful spring materials to combat corrosion and to withstand both elevated and below-zero temperature application. Their nonmagnetic characteristic is important for such devices as gyroscopes, chronoscopes, and indicating instruments. These materials have high electrical resistance and should not be used for conductors of electrical current.

Key Parameters for a conical compression spring design:

Free Length: The overall length of a spring unloaded.|WB Excerpts edited and printed with permission from www.planetspring.com.

PRODUCTS, MEDIA, & TECHNOLOGY Products Simpull power cable Southwire Company, a North America wire and cable producer, engaged in the production of building wire and cable, metal-clad cable, FlatWire Ready® products, cord products including AIW™ cord brand products, utility cable products, industrial power cable, OEM wire products, copper and aluminum rod and continuous casting technology, has introduced SIMpull® Power Cable, a new industrial cable tray rated medium voltage power cable. This has been developed with Southwire’s patented SIM Technology® and is the latest addition to the company’s growing family of easyto-pull wire and cable products that require no lubrication during installation.

SIMpull® Power Cable is designed for any commercial and industrial application, including power generation, institutional, data centers, petrochemical and wastewater facilities. “We have paid close attention to the changing marketplace, listened to the challenges faced by contractors, and have worked hard to develop and manufacture wire solutions that not only meet, but exceed the needs of our customers,” said Brian Sides, Director of Southwire’s Industrial Division. The new industrial cable is available in voltages from 2.4 kV to 35 kV, maintaining all the electrical and physical characteristics, including cable tray listing following UL 1685 requirements, along with the stringent IEEE 1202 flame rating.

For further details contact: www.southwire.com.

Keyliostm branded cable solutions

Nexans has launched its new ‘Keyliostm’ branded range of cables, solutions and services for photovoltaic (PV) installations.

This range covers every type of cable needed for a residential, commercial or solar farm PV installation. The ‘Keyliostm’ approach also adds a number of essential services for developers and operators of PV projects: from monitoring and control services, through intelligent internet gateways to life cycle assessment (LCA), and simulation. A key element in this range is the state-of-the-art 0.6 to 1kV Energyflex® cables, with cross-linked polyolefin insulation, designed to link PV panels on rooftops or in solar fields and also connect them to the array box or inverter.

According to a press release issued by the company, resistant to extreme temperatures (-40°C to +120°C), ozone and UV, these zero-halogen cables are low-smoke and flame-retardant for enhanced fire security.

Both UL and TÜV-certified, they fit main connectors, are colour-striped for easy installation and phase identification, meet RoHS directives, and are fully recyclable.

Other ‘Keyliostm’ cables include low voltage copper or aluminum cables that provide reliable, durable links between array boxes and inverters as well as flexible silicone cables that can carry up to15 kV in the chal-

lenging conditions found in desert or cold environments, and earth/ground cables for protection against short circuits and fires.

For further details contact: sabrina.bouvier @nexans.com.

Panduit cabling system handles voice, data, video apps Panduit, a developer and provider of innovative physical infrastructure solutions, has introduced the Panduit NetKey™ Cabling System. It provides a cost-effective, contractor middle-market solution for networking and for voice, data, and video (VDV) applications.

Based on the universal keystone opening and mounting system, NetKey modules, patch cords, faceplates, surface mount boxes, and modular patch panels are designed for simple and easy deployment. According to a published write-up, when teamed with NetKey ethernet cable and with other complementary Panduit products, the NetKey Solution covers all needs from the telecommunications room to the work area with proven innovation and quality that professionals expect from Panduit.

For further details contact: www.panduit.com.

Dual Block™ underground cables prevent water migration Hendrix Wire & Cable, a provider of high-quality underground and overhead distribution products, has launched its Dual Block™ product which provides a dual water blocking capability on Hendrix primary, underground cable. Water is one of the enemies of long-life in primary cable, as water entering the cable core can lead to premature failure. According to an article in North American Windpower, Hendrix Dual Block™ helps prevent this from occurring.

First, a fill compound is continuously applied into the conductor interstices. This prevents longitudinal water migration. Second, a water-swellable powder is applied under the polyethylene jacket. This prevents water from migrating along the neutral wires, under the jacket. Taken together, these two applications provide a reliable barrier that prevents water from entering the cable core.

For further details contact: www.hendrix-wc.com

Belden shielded cabling systems block EMI, RFI Belden, a manufacturer of innovative signal transmission solutions, expanded its extensive copper product portfolio with the introduction of Belden Shielded Systems, which were developed specifically for use in office networks. They are suitable for use in high noise environments. System designers are challenged by problems of signal ingress and egress caused by Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) that have a negative impact on signal transmission performance and reliability. Poor shielding effectiveness can result in packet loss, decreased bandwidth, and even connection loss.

The purpose of a shielded cabling system is to provide increased immunity against high frequency noise. Effective shielding can protect cables from signal ingress or egress, as well as triboelectric or other mechanical noise. With a growing need for more sophisticated shielding solutions, system designers need to find the right shielding solution for each application.

“Belden Shielded Systems deliver superior performance against EMI and RF interferences with maximum shielded effectiveness, and deliver complete reliability and unparalleled warranty. They have been proven to provide an overall blend of high performance and quality products that deliver a reliable and easy to install solution,” a product report stated.

At the heart of the Belden Shielded Solutions is a shielded ‘tool-less’ modular jack, a high quality, easy to install jack. The KeyConnect modular jack helps to reduce installation time and provides shielding performance without compromising the size and ease of use of the UTP connector. The modular jack comes with a termination cap to prevent the untwisting of the pairs to endure the integrity of the transmission performance.

For further details contact: www.beldensolutions.com.

Umbilical cable from Korea For the first time, LS Cable, Korea, has developed an umbilical composite cable for offshore engineering. The umbilical cable will be used for power supply and signal transmission/reception for controlling remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), which are used for submarine cable installations.

This is a composite cable consisting of a 3,300 V power cable, 240 V control cable and multi-core optical communication cable. Because umbilical cables are operated in extreme environments featuring high hydrostatic pressure, turbulent waves, and corrosive elements, their design and engineering must be of the highest order.

Basically three types of umbilical cable are used today: cables for geological surveys, cables for oil drilling, and cables for controlling ROVs. The cables must be able to function flawlessly while under heavy loads generated by vertical installation. Only companies possessing sophisticated design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities have so far been able to produce such cables. LS Cable expects that the successful development of this cable will lead to further widening of the range of its offshore cable solutions. For 2010, the global umbilical cable market is estimated to be KRW 2.5 trillion.

For further details contact: kdkim@lscable.com.

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continued from p. 1

Q: Our central-India-based company processes enameled wire products in which pinholes are detected 7-10 days after production, a problem that is compounded when the material is sent to humid areas, particularly during the monsoon season.

Our enameled wire products range in size between 0.6 mm to 1.6 mm. We use the following enamels: Beck India-Terebec 256-40 for class 155, Beck IndiaTerebac 543-38 (base coat) for class 200 and Alotherm 602 (top coat). The enameling machines are multi-line conventional non-catalytic vertical ovens with eight passes and dv of about 15.

Is there a solution?

A:

The operating characteristics of your enamels may be out of sync with your ovens due to design and equipment age.

Your equipment does not have heat recovery or pollution reduction. Check whether your ovens recirculate the air or exhausted it at the one end. Recirculating ovens typically exhaust about 10 per cent of the air—a significant point if humidity is high. If air only passes through the oven once then 100 per cent fresh air is always drawn into the oven.

With a dv of 15 for about 1 mm wire that equates to about 50 ft. per minute, this is not particularly fast. Enamels have evolved a lot as have machine speeds. A dv of 40-70 and faster for 1 mm wire is not unusual.

Some wire enamels or varnishes are hygroscopic, absorbing moisture from the air in the form of microscopic droplets of water. Water does not mix with enamels that are not water-based, so these droplets are applied to the wire and since water evaporates at a higher temperature than most solvents used in enamel, they become trapped bubbles. As the wire is heated, the bubbles burst leaving pinholes. Often the next coat of enamel covers the pinholes and if you get lucky, the wire passes. Pinholes can occur from entrapped solvents in the enamel.

The best course of action is to contact the enamel suppliers.

Dialogue as edited from WAI’s online forum community. To post your production-related questions or join an online discussion visit www.wirenet.org/forum today.

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For further details contact: Mash Audio Visuals, 101-107 Vardhman Plaza, Plot No. 10, KP Block, Pitam Pura, Delhi - 110 034, Tel.: 011-45759966.|WB

OCTOBER 2010 | 11

TECHNICAL ARTICLE Part 1: Cold rolling profiled wires A proper knowledge of the whys and hows of cold rolling profiled wires can be handy to select the best-suited equipment for attaining the peaks of quality, productivity and profitability.

By Abhay D. Hajare, BTech (Hons)-IIT (Bom), MSc (UK), DSM, CMM, FIE

Cold rolling of profiled (or shaped) wires starts from round wire most often in spheroidised annealed or spheroidised annealed and pinch-drawn condition. The main difference between cold and hot working of the metals is that in hot working there is recrystallization simultaneous with metalworking. Because of re-crystallization, the grains do not get elongated in any direction and there is no work-hardening – increase of hardness due to metal-working. The word ‘hot’ means above at least 800 degrees Celsius in the case of steel. The coefficient of friction μ in the case of hot rolling can be 0.20 to 0.60.

On the other hand, in cold-working the grains get deformed, i.e., there is no simultaneous re-crystallization. The word ‘cold’ means at ambient or near ambient temperature (generally not above 200 degrees Celsius for steel). In wiredrawing they get elongated in the direction of drawing. In the cold rolling of strips the grains get flattened in addition to getting elongated in the direction of rolling. Associated with this deformation of grains is work-hardening.

Linked with work-hardening, there is loss of ductility—the ability to undergo permanent deformation. More cold-working results in lower ductility. The coefficient of friction μ in case of cold rolling is in the region of 0.04 to 0.12.

The main difference between wiredrawing and cold rolling of strips is that in wiredrawing the metal or steel passes through a conduit (die) with a trumpet-shaped inlet and is completely enclosed from all the sides at right angles to the direction of the drawing and there is no spread in the direction at right angles to the drawing. On the other hand, in cold rolling of the profiled wires, the cavity in which the rolling takes place is not always enclosed from all the sides perpendicular to the direction of the rolling and there is an inevitable spread or increase in width. This article mainly deals with profiled or shaped wires rolled from round wires as raw material, where lateral spread is not negligible.

There is one more major difference and that is the relative speed between the tool and the stock. In wiredrawing the relative speed between wire and the die is the same as that of the wire since the die is stationary i.e., its speed is zero. Ideally, the lowest possible coefficient of friction is desirable.

On the other hand, in rolling the rolls, bite (explained later) and pull in the stock unless there is slipping. The overall speed of the stock within the bite is the same as the peripheral speed of the rolls or zero relative speed between the tool and the stock. In bite, friction plays an important role. A higher coefficient of friction μ is desirable for a good bite devoid of any slipping or skidding.

There are two types of rolling. One is that where the rolls are rotated by motor i.e., they are power-driven and they roll the wire. The other is where the stock or rolled wire or strip is pulled by capstan through rolls. The rolls are not powered but the power comes from the capstan pulling

12 | WIRE BULLETIN

them. The latter is also called roll drawing.

The rolls in roll drawing may be termed as idle rolls.

Work hardening Work hardening means an increase in hardness due to the cold-working of metals.

The aim of the profiled wire or strip rolling is to reduce the cross-sectional area of the strip mostly by reducing its thickness. This reduction in the cross-sectional area of the strip—also called a draft—results in an increase in its length satisfying the relation: Volume of profiled wire before rolling pass = Volume of profiled wire after rolling pass.

Since the total volume of the profiled wire = the cross-sectional area X length, the equation changes to the following: Crosssectional area before rolling pass X length before rolling pass = Cross-sectional area after rolling pass X length after rolling pass.

In this equation there is an approximation that there is no spread (discussed later).

This reduction in cross-sectional area and thickness of the profiled wire and the resulting increase in length give rise to an elongation of the grains in the direction of the rolling, causing the same number of grains to occupy a longer length of the profiled wire and also their flattening which means packing the same number of grains in reduced thickness.

This in turn means packing the same number of grains in a reduced cross-sectional area. The expenditure of energy for bringing about this unnecessary change in size, shape and packing of the grains is nonuseful work and called as redundant work.1 This energy spent as redundant work manifests as internal stresses and shows up as work hardening which can be measured as an increase in hardness or tensile strength.

Some of the energy is also dissipated as heat. The increase in tensile strength is coupled with reduced ductility which is seen as reduced elongation in tensile test. In the case of round wire, this reduction in ductility can be measured as reduced elongation, reduced reduction in area in tensile test, reduced number of bends, torsions, etc.

The starting round wire in annealed condition has the lowest hardness and the highest ductility or the lowest resistance to deformation. On the other hand, at the end of cold rolling the profiled wire has the highest hardness and the lowest ductility or the highest resistance to deformation. To make the best use of the highest ductility or the lowest resistance to the deformation of round wire in an annealed condition it is prudent to accomplish maximum reduction in cross-sectional area in the first rolling pass when the wire is most willing to undergo deformation and leaving minimum reduction in the cross-sectional area for the last rolling pass when the wire has the lowest ductility and the highest hardness or the highest resistance to deformation.

Following are the guidelines for calculating the rolling pass schedule with the above ideology: Although it depends on the rigidity of the rolling mill, the diameters of flattening and

profiling rolls, select the round wire diameter so as to have cross-sectional area not more than twice that of the finish profile.

Let us take the cross-sectional area of round wire twice that of the cross-sectional area of the finish profile. Thus, total reduction in area = 50 per cent or from 100 units to 50 units of the area. Select the average reduction in the cross-sectional area per pass as 10-12 per cent. Thus, the number of passes = 4 or 5.

To take the maximum benefit of the ductility of round wire, let us aim the reduction in cross-sectional area in the first pass at around 20 per cent and in the last pass at 6 per cent. The schedule can be easily calculated in spread-sheets as given below.

5 pass schedule: 18.5% 16% 14% 9.6% 6% 100 area units → 81.5 → 68.46 → 58.88 → 53.22 → 50.03 area units Total area reduction in area – 50% 4 pass schedule: 22% 19% 14% 8% 100 area units → 78 → 63.18 → 54.33 → 49.99 area units Total area reduction in area – 50% The above calculations are made to ensure that a successive pass has lesser reduction in area than the preceding. The total reduction in area in excess of 50 per cent up to 60 per cent and rarely up to 65 per cent is not unheard of. However, for rolling with so high total reductions in area, the mill should be rigid with large roll diameters and the number of passes should also be more.

Spread Spread means the increase in the width of the strip in a direction perpendicular to the direction of rolling, along the axes of the working rolls. When the round wire is first flattened, generally in a two-roll flattening mill, the rule of thumb for maximum reduction in height to flat (actually barrelshaped) profile is: Mild Steel Hard Qualities (MS) & Stainless Grades Steel Rolling Round Wire to Flat Shapes

Roll Dia. 60

Roll Dia. 100

Rolling Flat Wire to Flat Shapes

Roll Dia. 120

Roll Dia. 180

It can be seen that the above guidelines do not refer to the condition of the in-going stock—annealed or work hardened. The term ‘mild steel grades’ does not necessarily mean annealed finish and ‘hard qualities’ does not necessarily mean work-hardened.

A low alloy austenitic stainless steel like AISI 304 is not hard in its annealed condition but it work-hardens very fast because of the conversion of austenite (a soft constituent or phase) to martensite (a hard phase) under external pressure.2 Therefore the term ‘hard qualities’ includes metals hard at the inlet as well as those that workharden quickly while passing between two

rolls. Mild steels are not only relatively softer but also have a lower coefficient of work hardening.

It is apparent from the above that the higher the roll diameter the higher is the height reduction possible. But the hardness and work hardening of materials being rolled also have a role to play in limiting the reduction in height. The coefficient of friction also has a decisive role to play. It happens that the coefficient of friction between wire from coil and rolling rolls is different from that of wire from other coil and rolling rolls. This coil-to-coil variation also affects the above rules of thumb. For consistent results, bright annealed3 wire, which is with negligible surface contaminants inherited from wire drawing, is recommended. Since the wire or its surface finish is an external factor where the buyer has limited control, it is prudent to go for larger roll sizes for a smooth future.

It is now understandable that larger roll diameters are necessary to roll wires of large diameters. If a roll diameter of 300 mm is recommended for rolling a 10 mm diameter wire, it can reduce a 10 mm diameter MS wire to a height of 5 mm in one pass. Not that a 150 mm diameter roll cannot roll a 10 mm wire at all but it cannot roll a 10 mm diameter to something thinner than 7.5 mm in one pass. To come down to 5 mm it will have to go through at least three passes. It is a function of bite more than the power driving the flattening mill. In the second and third pass, the flattened wire would be in a work-hardened condition. Therefore, the spread of a flat wire of 5 mm height rolled in one pass by a 300 mm diameter flattening mill would be different from that of a flat wire of 5 mm height rolled in three passes by a 150 mm diameter flattening mill.

It can be further discussed to prove that a 150 mm diameter flattening mill cannot be a choice to roll a 10 mm diameter MS, let alone a harder wire. It is sometimes opined that by increasing a HP driving a 150 mm diameter flattening mill, it can roll a 10 diameter wire to a 5 mm one in one pass like a 300 mm diameter flattening mill. This is a fallacy. Even if a 10 mm diameter wire is tapered at its end to pass through a 5 mm gap between two rolls of a 150 mm diameter flattening mill and pushed into the roll gap, the rolls will not bite the wire but will skid on the wire. Skidding means there is a relative speed between the wire and the rolls which is not zero as said above. The relative speed means an accelerated wear of the rolls to bring down their life, which should be avoided at all costs.

It is said that the cost of a flattening mill increases exponentially as its roll diameter increases. Even if this is true, going in for a higher roll size means farsightedness. One way to reduce the cost of a flattening mill is by having smaller diameter of rolls to purposely roughen the rolls to increase the coefficient of friction and bite. But that has its own limitations and side effects. When a round wire is said to be flattened, the flattened continued on p. 14

OCTOBER 2010 | 13

TECHNICAL ARTICLE cross-section is not a rectangle but is barrel-shaped as in Fig. 1 with two semicircles of diameter = T at its two ends.

Fig. 1. Round wire after flattening.

Therefore the cross-sectional area is not W x T but (W-T) x T+ Л x T2/4. As said above, there is an unavoidable increase in the width perpendicular to the direction of rolling which is called spread in rolling flat profiled wires.

Reasons for spread Fig. 2 shows a strip of thickness ST(I) – Strip Thickness (Inlet) - being rolled by two rolls of a 2-high mill to a strip of thickness ST(O) – Strip Thickness (Outlet).

Fig. 2. Strip rolling.

In this figure, bite refers to the action of rolling the rolls to pull the stock (strip in this case) being rolled into the gap between the two rolls which is narrower than ST(I).

It does not need explanation that this action of pulling the strip into a roll gap in a forward direction can get enhanced by the higher coefficient of friction μ; or that the higher the coefficient of friction μ the higher is the forward force.

When a strip of thickness ST(I) enters between the two rolls, its forward speed is lower than the peripheral speed of the rolling rolls. As its thickness reduces, its forward speed increases and at a point shown by the arrow it equals the peripheral speed of the rolling rolls, as shown in Fig. 2. It is a no-slip line. It can now be appreciated that the relative speed between the rolls and stock is zero only at this point or line, not everywhere within the roll bite.

Truly speaking, the no-slip line is not a sharp line but a small area. While between the two rolls, the thickness and the speed of the strip follow an equation: ST(I) x Speed at Entry = ST(O) x Speed at Exit.

Beyond the no-slip point the thickness of the strip reduces further and its speed in the forward direction exceeds the peripheral speed of the rolling rolls. In other words, the rolls exert a frictional drag on the strip in a backward direction. It goes without saying that this backward frictional drag increases as the coefficient of friction μ increases. Thus, at the entry into the rolls the strip is pushed in a forward direction and at

14 | WIRE BULLETIN

its exit from the roll the strip is pushed in a backward direction i.e., the strip is subjected to compression between two opposite forces.

Under such compressive forces the strip has no other way than to grow in its width at right angles to the rolling direction or have spread. A higher coefficient of friction μ means a stronger grip of the rolls on the strip at its entry and a higher frictional drag at the exit of the strip from the rolls. Both of these forces in the opposite directions subject the strip to compression as described above and are higher if the coefficient of friction μ is higher. Therefore, Axiom 1 is: The higher the coefficient of friction μ, the higher is the spread.

Also, somewhat poorer lubrication can help in increasing the coefficient of friction.

An increasing coefficient of friction increases the rolling load. It is true in all metal-working processes that the higher the friction, the greater the load required to produce a particular deformation. This does not, however, mean that in every metalworking operation the friction is attempted to be minimised. It automatically follows that for avoiding spread variation between the two runs of production, the coefficient of friction between the wire and the rolling rolls should not vary. To satisfy this condition the round wire should be in bright annealed3 or bright annealed and pinch-drawn finish.

The term ‘bright annealed’ means the absence of surface contaminants such as lubricant carriers and wiredrawing lubricants.

With a bright annealed finish the coefficient of friction between wire and rolling rolls is higher and more consistent. If the surface finish of round wire is inconsistent and the attempted height reduction is close to the maximum possible then there can be skidding of the rolls on the strip. Such skidding wears the roll faster and may cause localised spread variation. The rolling speed may be reduced to increase the coefficient of friction.

Low alloy austenitic stainless steels like AISI 304 are not hard in an annealed condition but they work-harden very fast.2 Thus, the stock is subjected to compression between two forces—the rolling force in a forward direction and the force of resistance to deformation in a backward direction. The magnitude of the latter is higher for harder steels. Therefore, Axiom 2 is: The higher the hardness of the steel being rolled, the higher is the spread.

As said above, the maximum reduction in height to flat shapes either from round or flat wire is higher with a higher diameter of rolling rolls. The higher diameter of a rolling roll also means a bigger bite. A greater reduction in height means more work-hardening or a higher force due to resistance to deformation, as shown above.

Therefore, Axiom 3 is: The higher the diameter of the rolling rolls, the higher is the spread. However, higher roll diameter increases the rolling load. A small roll diameter is preferable for thin strips at times with larger back-up rolls.

Spread variation It is a common enough experience and an accepted fact that the thickness or height of the wire, which is between the rolling rolls, varies far less than the spread. The tolerances on the spread are also much wider than those of the thickness. This is because the friction between the rolls and the wire as well as the tensile strength or hardness of the wire are not absolutely constant inchto-inch along its length mainly because of the batch type processing like annealing, pickling, and coating of wire coils. The coefficient of friction and hardness are the two parameters causing spread variation as above. The coefficient of friction increases as the rolling speed decreases. This aspect can be suitably used as the coefficient of friction influences the bite as well as the spread.

4. “Elasticity and its Effects on Dies and Tooling in Wire Production and Processing,” by A.D. Hajare, Wire Industry, U.K., April 1997.

5. “Elasticity and Steel Wire,” by A.D. Hajare, Wire Industry, U.K., May 1995.|WB Soft copies of these articles can be obtained by writing to ahajare@rediffmail.com or hajare.abhay24@gmail.com

Biographical Information

Hajare Pune-based Abhay D. Hajare is an industrial metallurgist and chartered engineer as well as a steel wire and card clothing technologist. He was graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) and has also been a member of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) roster of experts. He has authored numerous of articles related to the wire industry.

Effect of back tension

Fig. 3. Strip rolling.

Fig. 3 shows the rolling force (RF) in a forward or rolling direction and the resistance to deformation (RD) in the opposite direction. When the stock-profiled wire in this case is subjected to deformation, it resists the deformation. This resistance is proportional to the hardness of the stock.

Therefore, this resistance is less at the entry into the rolls when the hardness of the stock is lower than at the exit of the rolls where the hardness is higher due to work hardening. The net effect is that there is force of resistance to deformation in a backward direction. The magnitude of this force is higher for harder stock since hard steels work-harden more than softer steels.

Back tension pulls the wire backward while it is between the driven rolls such as in a flattening mill or it reduces the tendency of the wire to go faster than the peripheral speed of the roll near the exit or it shifts to a no-slip line as seen in Fig. 2 toward the exit or up to the exit. In other words, it reduces the backward frictional drag by rolls on the wire i.e. the wire is subjected to less or no compression that is responsible for the spread as explained in Axiom 1. Therefore, Axiom 4 is: Back tension reduces spread.

Since back tension reduces or eliminates the frictional drag by rolls on a wire beyond the no-slip line, therefore Axiom 5 is: Back tension reduces rolling load. Front tension is possible for a power-driven mill if it is followed also by a power-driven mill. If it is followed by roll drawing, it would mean back tension for roll drawing. Back tension to a power-driven mill can be given by means of a power-driven pay-off.

Part 2: Will be presented in the next issue.

Further Reading: 1. “Steel Wire: Whys and Hows,” by A.D. Hajare, Wire Journal International, November 1991.

2. “Work Hardening of Austenitic Stainless Steel Wires,” by A.D. Hajare, Wire Industry, U.K., November 1993.

3. “Bright Annealing of Steel Wire,” by A.D. Hajare, Wire Industry, U.K, October 1998.

NOTE: Part II: A curtain-raiser The second part of this article to be published in our January 2011 issue will focus on the flattening phenomenon of steel rolls and a definition of Young’s Modulus. The straight line portion up to the elastic limit or yield point expresses the tendency of the material to undergo elastic deformation under a given load. The slope of the straight line up to the yield point is called modulus of elasticity, representing the rigidity of a material. In the case of tensile loads it is called Young’s Modulus. The article will also provide explanations of Camber and gauge control.

PERSPECTIVE A D V E R T O R I A L

RN-A insulation line offers flexible options for various cable types

Today’s RN-A insulation lines are available to serve a vast range of applications.

Typical high-end insulation lines for building wires are designed for speeds up to 1200 m/min and a product range from 0,5 to 10 mm2.

To cover today’s broad range of cable constructions it’s popular to configure insulating lines to handle standard PVC grades, cross-linked PE’s, and also halogenfree compounds. By using optimized equipment from the payoff side to the take up side it’s possible to reach continuous production speeds of 1100 m/min including inline-printing and by using locally made raw material grades.

Due to its extensive range of machinery and continuous R&D developments, RosendahlAustria exceeds this “standard” line configuration by offering extrusion line designs for multipurpose and special applications such as for the manufacture of THHN, THWN or MTW wires, TPU or FEP insulated cores.

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close communication between the customer and the company’s engineering and manufacturing personnel. The cooperation also ensures a rapid response time in the case of non-standard requirements.

Rosendahl-Austria has an insulation line solution to handle: standard copper conductors up to 800 mm2; ultra thin silver-alloys with less than 0,5 mm; ordinary PVC or FEP grades; and the production of building wires with up to 1200 m/min or cables for pacemakers.

The company also has have proven references for single and double layer extrusion, applications with main layer + skin OR stripe and main layer + skin AND stripe and quick color change systems. Various line configurations for continuous and discontinuous in Co- or Tandem extrusion are available.

Summary of Rosendahl Insulation lines • Optimized line configuration for various demands • Efficient production with high speeds, low scrap, and local grades • Decades of experience in all segments of wire and cable application • Up-to-date machinery with in-house engineering, manufacturing and commissioning Since Rosendahl insulation lines have been in successful operation around the world for decades—and all produce high quality products according local and international standards—the company is wellpositioned to deliver the best possible solutions for your individual requirements.

Rosendahl-Austria is the right partner for your project. Please contact us to discuss your project.

Pushing the limits with the RX 25T for foamed RF Cable

The new RX 25T foam crosshead design enables RF cable manufacturers increase productivity and cable performance, resulting in a quick return on investment.

The Rosendahl Crosshead RX 25T for foamed RF cable cores is designed to manufacture the complete RF cable range from ¼" SF to 2 ¼" F. Its basic design comprises an oil-heated crosshead with skin application, which is equipped with an optimized temperature control to cover expansion rates of up to 86%. Two heating/cooling zones on the crosshead—one for the main body, the second for the die holder—provide ideal temperature control and even temperature distribution of the polymer gas melt.

Full natural balancing minimizes the shear rates and provides smooth melt flow for perfect roundness, concentricity, and mechanical stability. Superior manifold technology enables small formed cells and a very homogenous cell distribution at a high degree of foaming.

Rosendahl & Nextrom at Wire & Cable India 2010 See and learn more about Rosendahl and Nextrom products at Wire & Cable India 2010 in Mumbai.

At Wire & Cable India, 18th- 20th November, both companies will present their manufacturing solutions—including RF cables, metal forming and welding for power cables, high-speed building wire insulation lines, automotive lines, and from preforms to fiber optic cables—at booth #B2.

Rosendahl, is the world technology leader and global supplier of crossheads and manufacturing solutions for cables including datacom; RF and coaxial; automotive; low voltage power; and fiber optic. Nextrom supplies premium manufacturing solutions for optical fiber glass preforms (VAD, OVD, MCVD), fiber drawing, fiber UV coating, and optical cables.

Together Rosendahl and Nextrom offer first class products and turnkey solutions for extrusion, SZ-stranding, forming, welding and corrugation, optical fiber and fiber optic cable by combining leading edge expertise and state-of-the-art technology in close cooperation with their customers and product suppliers.

Contact: www.rosendahlaustria.com.|WB

Temperature control, shear stress, pressure drop, and flow speed optimization in the crosshead are significant factors for achieving higher foam expansion rates on the final cable.

OCTOBER 2010 | 15

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