OPTIMISATION OF SHEARINGLINE BY THE DESIGN OF HYDAULIC LIFT MECHANISM

At

Steel Authority of India Limited - Salem

Project Members

S.Kumaravel S.Sukunakumar J.Syed Nausad P.Varathapandi

IV Year Production Engineering Velammal Engineering College Chennai

Under the Guidance of

Mr. V.Srikanth M.E. (Asst Proff)

Introduction
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL is one of the largest state-owned steel makers in India. The plant consists of Hot Rolling Section, Cold Rolling Section, Shearing Line, Blanking Line. Their products are both basic and special steels for domestic construction, engineering, power, railway, automotive and defence industries And the area we have Chosen to do project is in the shearing line.

Shearing Line
A machine line used to cut steel sheets into varying length and thickness after being hot rolled according to customers requirement. The machine consists of an vacuum clamp arrangement to collect the sheets after cut and they are stacked. They are stacked into three different sections based on quality of sheet. The defects in the sheet are also identified before cut and they are collected after cut below the shearing line. The cut to length is controlled by PLC system. This machine plays a major role in the production of the company.

LEVELER

PVC TAPE FLYING SHEAR

VACUUM PILER

INTER LEAVING PAPER

PRIME QUALITY

COMMERCIAL QUALITY

Operation
The Cutting line or shearing line uncoils, straightens, cross cuts the steel and arrange them in different stacks based on their quality Initially sheet from coil is fed into the rollers at initial straightening Then a PVC tape is fed with the sheets below it to preserve the surface finish Next the sheets are cut according to the required length in the Flying Shear Machine After that the sheets are brought near the vacuum clamp by the conveyors Then it is stacked with the help of vacuum clamp In stacking It is divided into three qualities namely a) Prime Quality b) Second Quality c) Commercial Quality

Problem Definition
If there is any defective sheet, it should be separately collected in the scrap collector after the cutting process. It is directed towards the scrap collector by a slide lifting mechanism. The mechanism is actuated by an Bolt and nut arrangement which is a time consuming one. The same problem exist during the gap adjustments by slide lift for varying thickness of sheets And also at times height variation may occur in the gap adjustments This process needs some tedious work to be performed by two workers who are in need of adjusting the bolt and nut according to size and this hinders the continuous production process.

Bolt and nut mechanism for gap adjustment

Vacuum conveyor belt

Gap adjustment from vacuum conveyor to trans port conveyor sheet

Transport conveyor - II

Mechanical jacking arrangement

Abstract
The above mentioned problems forms a major setback to the process and it is time consuming. So a better a replacement is to be considered, which is the replacement of bolt and nut using hydraulic lift mechanism. And the method will be easy and an very efficient one. Manufacturing Lead time is reduced. No variations in Gap adjustments. Our objective is to design the Hydraulic Lifting Slide Mechanism for the given problem and Neglect it.

Possible Solution
The solution for this problem is that it can be substituted with the any one of Fluid power arrangement

In case of pneumatics it cannot be used for high pressure application and also its positioning accuracy is poor.
So that it can be substituted with an hydraulic arrangement. Since it can be used for high pressure application and also it has several arrangement over pneumatics. The hydraulic arrangement consists of an hydraulic cylinders, pressure control valves and an DCV.

Specification Of Shearing line

Length of Shearing Loop 1 2.5m Length of Shearing Loop 2 2m Width of Loop Weight Of Loop - 1.65m 700kg

Area of Loop

7.425m

Specifications Of Sheet Handled

Length of the Sheet 4.5m

Width of the Sheet

Thickness of the Sheet Density of the Sheet Line Speed

1.3m
0.3mm 4mm 7.8mm/cc 0-40 m/min

Works to be done
Elements that are to be designed and selected for our hydraulic mechanism Parts

Control Valves Hydraulic Cylinder

Fluid Power Circuit

Pump

Design and Selection Of Components

Design Calculations

Cylinder Design
Mass Weight = = = = 700kg Mass * g ( g = 9.81) 700 * 9.81 6867 N

Since the force to be lifted is of 6867 N. So the cylinder should be designed in a way to lift this load.

Continued
Let us consider the cylinder parameters as follows Bore Diameter D ( in mm) Area of cylinder A ( mm2) Pressure P (in N/mm2) = P*A = P * pi/4 * D2 In order to lift slide the force obtained from cylinder must be greater than the weight of slide. F > 6867 2 (P * pi/4 * D2) > 6867 2( P * 3.14/4 * D2) > 6867 P * D2 > 8743.34 Force Supplied by each cylinder

Continued
By trial and error method we have made the following calculations by taking standard pressure valves Case 1: if P = 10 bar ( 1 N/mm2) 1 * D2 > 8743.34 D > 93.5mm if P = 20 bar (2 N/mm2) 2 * D2 > 8743.34 D > 66.11mm if P = 30 bar ( 3 N/mm2) 3 * D2 > 8743.34 D > 53.98mm

Case 2:

Case 3:

Continued
Case 4 : if P = 35bar ( 3.5 N/mm2) 3.5 * D2 > 8743.34 D > 49.98mm

From the above analysis it is evident that the case 4 will be more economical when compared to that of the other. Also standard size of 50mm is easily available in cylinders. So we have preferred to use the cylinder of this diameter. The pressure required is 35 bar, since we are using two cylinders, each one requires a pressure of 17.5 bar.

Specifications of Project Components

Hydraulic Cylinders We have used two hydraulic cylinders of double acting type with the following specifications for our project. Bore Diameter = 50mm Stroke Length = 100mm Max Pressure = 20 bar Material = Aluminum

Continued
Direction Control Valve The Direction Control Valve has 4 - Ports(A,B,P,T), 3 Position type( Forward, Ideal, Retract). Since for our operation the two flow operations are possible. So it will be good enough to use 4/3 DCV. And also it is of spring type solenoid controlled DCV. Pressure Relief Valve This valve is meant for reducing or regulating the pressure level of fluid entering into the system. It is of unidirectional. No reverse flow is possible.

Continued
Fluid Pipe Lines Pipe lines are used for the transmission of fluid in the respective circuit. These are of made of aluminium. Pump For the transmission of hydraulic fluid to cylinders, axial piston pump is used. Hydraulic Fluid The hydraulic fluid used for transmission is servo 40 type oil

Construction of Hydraulic Circuit

The arrangement consists of two cylinders, pressure relief valves, and a 4/3 DCV, and two pressure line. The input is given from the Line I. The pressure is about 90 bar. The arrangement consists of an FRL unit for filtering, regulating , and lubricating the fluid. The DCV used is of 4/3 valve. It of spring type solenoid operated. Their positions are a) Position 1 From Port B to A b) Position 2 Idle Mode c) Position 3 From Port P to T The pressure relief valve is used to control the amount pressure of fluid entering onto the cylinder. The cylinders used is of double acting type.

Hydraulic Circuit

Existing Shearing Line Model

Modified Model

Hydraulic cylinder provided instead of bolt and nut mechanism for gap adjustment
Vaccum conveyor belt

Gap adjustment from vacuum conveyor to trans port conveyor

Transport conveyor - II

Flow control valve

DC valve

Production Analysis
Production rate of the shearing line before and after the introduction hydraulic mechanism
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 before modification after modification production rate/ hr

Continued
From the above data it is evident that the production rate has been increased tremendously . Initially before modification the production rate is 15 sheets/hour But after the introduction of hydraulic mechanism it is increased to 45 sheets/ hour At same time, the losses incurred due to this problem are reduced ultimately

Cost reduction

Cost due to Bolt and Nut Arrangement One month delay time = 30 hours One hour delay time cost = Rs.15,000 For 30 hours = Rs.4,50,000 For one year delay time cost = Rs.54,00,000

Cost due to Hydraulic Arrangement One month delay time = 2 hours One hour delay time cost = Rs.15,000 For two hours= Rs.30,000 For one year delay time cost = Rs.3,60,000

Cost reduction Continued.

From the above data we come to know that an amount of Rs. 5040000/- is saved per year in the production of steels sheets in the shearing line.

Advantages
Productivity improvement in shearing line The production rate earlier was 15 sheets/hour when nut and bolt arrangement was used. And now after the implementation of hydraulic cylinder the production rate has been increased to 45 sheets/hour. Reduction in setup time The total time taken for the adjustment of slide has been decreased with ease of hydraulic arrangements Minimization of loss due to time delay Earlier due to the time delay of 1 hour, the loss was estimated to be Rs.15000. So in our project, time delay has been reduced which in jturn minimized the loss.

Advantages Continued.. Continued

Additional benefits of hydraulic system a) Uniform Force distribution b) Durability of the mechanism is longer c) Easy and accurate positioning of the slide for gap adjustment d) Noise Reduction

Cost Analysis
Cost Estimation of the Project Components
S.No 1. 2. 3. 4. Components Hydraulic Cylinder Double acting 4/3 Directional Control Valve Pressure Relief Valve Pipe Linings Total Cost Quantity 2 1 2 N/A Price (INR) 3500 700 1200 800 6200

Conclusion
Thus the shearing line in the cold rolling mill of SAIL is optimized with the implementation of hydraulic lift arrangement for the gap adjustment and this is more efficient to be implemented. The productivity of the line is increased and the manual effort of labor is so decreased that they are satisfied with this design change. Loss due to time delay is greatly reduced.

Thank You