We have been busy and refurbished resp. upgraded 3 machines of our North German offshore customer Steelwind Nordenham GmbH.
This 100% Dillinger subsidiary specializes in the production of wind farm foundations, so-called monopiles. Monopiles are installed deep in the seabed and form the basis of wind towers.
These giant, extremely rigid steel foundations consist of individual pipe sections, which in turn are made of several large-format plates. All sections run through our machines during the production process. These include
- 1 bending press
- 2 4-roll bending machines
- 2 long seam milling machines
- 1 calibration press
- several circ seam milling machines
How are monopiles produced, and what exactly is done by the machines and what have we optimized?
Since monopiles have large diameters, several individual plates are first joined together to form a long plate strip. Its ends are then bent.
-> For the pre-bending press, we converted the Bosch Rexroth MLC control system to a Siemens PLC. It now controls the main cylinders, the other axes and the safety function.
The plates are then bent in one of the two 4-roll bending machines, which means that the plates are formed into a cylindrical or conical shape.
-> We have retrofitted a support device on the outfeed side. This enables even very large and thin-walled pipes to be formed safely. The support unit is equipped with an adjustable roller and is operated hydraulically - a “deluxe” version compared to other solutions available on the market.
The resulting pipe section still has a gap between the original plate ends that need to be closed. For this purpose, the plate edges are machined on a longitudinal seam milling machine and then welded.
Last but not least, the pipe section is fine tuned in the calibration press. This machine ensures that the section is evenly round.
-> We have retrofitted our patented alignment unit here. This unit is used to compensate for the sharp joints on the pipe seams. The process is now even faster, easier and more precise.
The finished pipe sections have to be joined together to form the long monopile sections. For this purpose, the plate edges are machined again - this time with a circ seam milling machine - and subsequently welded together.
Voilà!