April 2006 — Padana Tubi SpA, Italy, has placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, for the supply of an RD 355 tube welding line.

SMS Meer’s scope of supply includes a strip preparation section, spiral strip accumulator, tube welding machine with straightedge forming section and change equipment as well as a tubular section cut-off machine. The stands of the tube welding line will have SMS Meer’s proven URD^® design, which will work together with the computer-aided Quicksetting system to facilitate exact and reproducible roll settings. An automated roll quick-changing system will help to ensure short size-changing times. The line will operate at a maximum welding speed of 60 meters/minute.

The line’s product mix predominantly covers structurals – round, square and rectangular – to EN 10 219 DIN. Tubes can be produced in the following size ranges: Round tubes with outside diameters from 127.0 to 355.6 mm and hollow sections in the corresponding size range, i.e. square from 100 to 280 mm square and rectangular from 150 x 50 mm to 360 x 200 mm.

SMS Meer GmbH forms part of the Tube, Long Product and Forging Technology Business Area of the SMS group. SMS GmbH is the holding for a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering relating to the processing of steel, non-ferrous metals and plastics. The group is divided into the Business Areas of Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology, Tube, Long Product and Forging Technology and Plastics Technology. In the year 2004 some 9,500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of about EUR 2.20 billion.