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NEWS METALWORKING EQUIPMENT
AND TOOLS
German Kloeckner wants to be Amazon's 10 factors determining the use of the method

equivalent in metal trading of products processing on HFC set

According to them, the company is showing interest in acquiring independent trading The inductive method of heat treatment of products,
companies and metal service centers. While it is too early to talk about specific purchases, the so-called processing at high-frequency currents (HFC),
Kloeckner will be monitoring opportunities has been known since the times of the Soviet Union and
as they arise. was widespread at machine-building enterprises. The main
Earlier it was reported that Kloeckner advantages of HFC sets were simplicity, reliability and high
may acquire the distribution network of processing speed. As a rule, this method was used in repair service companies or tool shops.
the German corporation Thyssenkrupp. During the processing method (Fig. 1) the heated part 1 is placed in the electromagnetic
According to Gisbert Ruehl, the company high-frequency field of the inductor 2. The AC energy of the inductor is transferred to the heated
is not yet large enough to handle such a
deal alone. However, in September this
year Ruhl will be replaced at the head of
Kloeckner by Guido Kerkhoff, the former
CEO of Thyssenkrupp, so nothing can be
ruled out.
In the second quarter of 2020,
Kloeckner delivered approximately 1.1 million tonnes of steel to customers, down 27.6 % from
the same period last year. For the second half of the year, the company predicts a 20 % decline
in real consumption of steel products in the US and Europe.
With the aim of restructuring, Kloeckner closed 19 sites in March-July, mainly in France,
and cut 1.2 thousand jobs. Moreover, about half of them were released due to digitalization.

www.allmetals.ru

Fig. 1. Examples of the location of the part and the inductor on the HFC set

part by a magnetic flux penetrating it, where high-frequency eddy alternating currents are
The USA tightens import controls induced. The density of these currents is uneven across the cross section; as they are displaced

by the magnetic field to the surface of the heated part: a "surface effect" appears. Due to the
high density of the induced currents, its surface layer is rapidly heated. The copper inductor is
The US Department of Commerce has prepared a number of proposals to strengthen water-cooled during operation, so it does not overheat. The shape of the inductor corresponds
import controls aimed at tightening anti-dumping and countervailing measures. to the external shape of the work piece, which is due to the need to take into account the
In particular, the Ministry has developed new rules that should prevent the circumvention constant gap between the inductor and the surface of the work piece.
of existing duties by organizing the supply of sanctioned goods through third countries and The use of equipment was limited by the active dissemination of the technology of heat
introducing more thorough monitoring of imports, which should speed up the detection of such treatment of products in protective atmospheres and vacuum, which followed this change in
cases. product requirements, and the high efficiency of the introduced cutting tool with replaceable
According to the Ministry, since January 2017, that is, since the current administration carbide inserts. This forced most of the enterprises in the engineering sector to abandon the
of Donald Trump came to power, more than 280 new anti- use of this processing method. The lack of a control system that meets modern requirements,
dumping and countervailing duties have been introduced in the complexity of automation of existing facilities, the need for personnel with extensive
the United States, which is 3.6 times more than in the previous experience in its maintenance and operation,
administration of Barack Obama. the involvement of which increased economic
Meanwhile, the Mexican Ministry of Economy announced
the establishment of export controls on a number of steel efficiency due to the low degree of error
protection in the operation of the equipment
products to the United States in order to prevent the imposition
of new US tariffs on Mexican steel. This applies primarily to were the main reasons for the refusal of
enterprises to use this type of equipment, in
fittings, slabs, standard and industrial pipes.
addition to external factors.
The development of technologies in
mechanical engineering and the imposition of
Fig. 2. Examples of HFC sets more stringent requirements for the quality of
product processing stimulated the development
of equipment for HFC hardening. The use of
the latest developments in the field of heat
treatment equipment allows us to solve the
above issues.
steel-t.ru

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