TECHNOLOGY NEWS:
Metal tube laser welding line for OPGW cables
Rosendahl Maschinen GmbH, Austria, has recently extended its product portfolio by offering metal tape forming and welding equipment for several wire and cable applications. This includes manufacturing solutions for the production of RF-cables having copper or aluminium conductors, special metal cable protections for enhanced demands, as well as manufacturing solutions for the production of Optical Ground Wires (OPGW). Ground wires are used in high-voltage overhead power transmission lines to protect the transmission line from damage and outages caused by lightning. Due to the liberalisation of the telecom market, power utilities begin to substitute the traditional large metallic cross section ground wires with composite OPGW in order to assure both lightning protection and data transmission capabilities. These OPGW consists of helically stranded steel and aluminium, respectively aluminium clad steel wires, or new high-temperature aluminium alloy conductors having jelly-filled metal tubes, typically including up to 48 optical fibres. The metal tubes are either made of stainless steel for stranded or of aluminium for central tube cable constructions.
To enhance the production of these cables, Rosendahl has developed a metal tape forming and welding line that allows for the manufacturing of jelly-filled metal tubes containing up to 60 optical fibres. Based on the main product range, the manufacturing process can be either carried-out in one step or can be separated into three separate processes (tape preparation, welding and fibre insertion, and customised over length generation and product length according to reel sizes) to increase the flexibility and operating range. The modular line concept supports the production of a wide range of various cable constructions, starting from 1.8mm stainless steel tubes up to 8mm aluminium tubes in the standard line configuration. Product length of up to 50km in one process step also encompasses requirements for submarine cable applications. In addition, the excess fibre length (EFL) can be adjusted in the range of 0.1 to 0.6% according to requirements.
Rosendahl has chosen the most suitable welding technology for achieving reasonable production speeds for several types of metal tape materials and dimensions. The line can also be equipped with additional equipment for the manufacture of non-OPGW related products, such as corrugated pipes, metal screens and other products according to customer demands.
Company: |
Rosendahl Maschinen GmbH |
Country: |
Austria |
Fax: |
+43 3113 5100-59 |
Email: |
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Website: |
www.rosendahlaustria.com |