Edge milling machine designed for PSPC rules

Currently, yards manually grinding all plate edges. Kranendonk, which specialises in robotic welding and production systems, has now launched a new machine, claimed to be the first, which can automate this milling process. The edge preparation system uses a force‐guided milling head that can move in three orientations, which mills a constant 2mm radius to any plate contour.

The machine’s force controlled milling head is designed to cope with inaccuracies in plate manufacture, thanks to a combination of hardware and software components.

Both the top and bottom sides of the plates can be milled in the same orientation, because the plates are lifted in such a way as to create space for the tooling to mill the bottom side. As the edge preparation system can be programmed by the same files that are used by the plate cutters, it can be easily integrated into a yard production system.

The company has recently supplied a flange welding system to IHC Piping of the Netherlands. This pioneering robotic welding machinery is used to produce bespoke pipe constructions for the offshore, shipbuilding and petrochemical industries. The system has been developed to incorporate four ABB simultaneously operating robots and vision technology to position, tack and weld a range of flanges and welding sockets. Optionally, the system can be equipped with cutting and drilling functions. By integrating offline programming software with the current CAD/CAM system, cost savings are anticipated in work preparation.

IHC Piping, a business unit of the IHC Merwede Group, specialises in CNC production and assembly of piping systems for the maritime, dredging and offshore markets. It employs Lean Manufacturing and Just-in-time processes to help boost efficiency and reduce waste.