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Tinsley Bridge Group

Emergency Weld Contract for Drive Coupling

The Tinsley Bridge Refurbishment Team recently carried out complex repairs to critical rolling mill after an emergency breakdown at one of Europe's largest steel manufacturing plants.

The six-tonne main coupling which drives a large steel mill was heavily damaged in service. As the unit is a critical component to the operation of the steel mill, Tinsley Bridge were tasked to urgently refurbish the damaged coupling within a crash lead time.

The repair involved complex welding, NDT, on site stress relief, hot working, machining, fitting and assembly, together with completion of a detailed inspection report to certify the component back in line with drawing specifications.

Prior to welding the component was pre-machined and stress relieved on site at over 600C, whilst a preheat over 300 degrees was needed for the duration of the weld reclamation. In order to protect highly toleranced existing machined features from heat exposure, the component was cooled at one end by a chiller unit whilst simultaneous local stress relieving the working area.

Jonathan Cheeseman, Tinsley Bridge Sales Manager, said “It was a big technical challenge to complete the complex weld reclamation without damaging the delicate metallurgical structure within the coupling. The result is a great success, and the refurbished equipment was installed and back up and running within the short deadline”.

During 2018 Tinsley Bridge employed several key ex-personnel from heavy engineering giant DavyMarkham and invested in expanded facilities to provide expert refurbishment services to the Steel and Quarrying Sectors.

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