Unison Ltd, the UK’s leading manufacturer of tube bending technologies and the inventor of all-electric tube manipulation, has launched a new, ultra-precise tube and pipe end coning & thread-rolling machine.
Called the Unison CT-38, the machine has been developed with a particular focus on creating the gas-tight seals required for many of the components used in the growing hydrogen energy sector, as well as in the global oil & gas industry.
That said, Unison believes the CT-38 will also be of significant interest to organisations in the hydraulics, lubricants, liquid processing and chemical industries.
Depending on customer requirement, the CT-38 will cone and thread medium pressure (up to 20,000 psi), high pressure (up to 60,000 psi) and ultra-high-pressure (up to 150,000 psi) connections in stainless steel and exotic alloys, such as thick-wall super duplex pipes.
The maximum tube diameter the machine will accept is 38 mm (1 ½ inches).
Machine setup time is rapid, and the coning/threading cycle typically takes around five minutes to complete, including tool changes, for a one-off component.
Additionally, as a further time-saving benefit, in many cases the tube or pipe can be pre-bent before threading and coning takes place.
As the quality of the coning surface is critical to ensure a successful seal, the CT-38 machine completes an ‘overturn’ clean-up process following thread rolling and before precision coning occurs.
Thread rolling produces a stronger thread than thread cutting and also generates zero swarf.
