Saarschmiede ships final delivery for giant project in the field of press construction

Hydraulic press will be largest privately invested forging press in the world

30. June 2017

Saarschmiede supplied SMS group GmbH – one of the global leaders in the area of metallurgy and rolling mill technology – with forging pieces for a giant press construction project. Around 65 forged pieces were delivered, among them press cylinders, tension anchorage, column nuts and pressure plates.

The components are employed for the construction of a hydraulic closed-die forging press whose pressing force will lie at 60,000 US tons. The final customer is one of the largest aerospace industry suppliers which will use the press for the manufacture of outsized forged pieces of aluminum, titanium and nickel materials, which must withstand high loads and will mainly find application in aircraft fuselage, wings, landing gear and jet engines. After commissioning, the hydraulic press will be the strongest press on the American continent and, moreover, it will be the most advanced machine of its kind in the world. After full assembly, with 8,500 t, it will weigh more than the bare steel construction of the Eiffel Tower – which already boasts of 7,300 t.

Further enterprises of our group contributed to the manufacture of the roughly 65 forged pieces delivered by Saarschmiede: Of the total of 4 press cylinders, the two “small” press cylinders (fully mounted 185 t each) were welded by Saar Stahlbau, the two large press cylinders (fully mounted 300 t each) were welded by Dillinger. The welding seams generated in the welding of the cylinder tube and the cylinder base with a thickness of round about 500 mm are unique in the world.