Rautomead commissions new Brass EDM Wire Rod Plant in Taiwan
Continuous casting technology specialists Rautomead have commissioned a new brass EDM wire rod casting plant for JIA BAO Company, Taiwan.
The new plant comprises a Rautomead RS 2500 upwards-vertical casting machine producing eight strands of 8mm diameter brass rod, formed into coils. Output is a nominal 6,000 tonnes per year. In this Rautomead process, grade A quality copper cathode and high quality zinc ingot are melted in an Induga GmbH channel type induction melting furnace, where alloy composition is checked before pouring to the casting machine.
After casting, 8mm diameter wire rod is drawn and annealed to make the final wire at 0.1mm to 0.2mm, according to customer requirement. Rautomead has always specialised in technology that achieves near-net-shape in the continuous casting process, thereby eliminating some of the intermediate process steps associated with traditional manufacturing routes and reducing manufacturing costs. In the case of brass EDM wire, it is customary to cast the brass rod at 16-20mm diameter and then produce the initial size by rolling or drawing to 8mm.
This new Rautomead technology removes the need for these initial reductions. In addition, the benefit of casting at 8mm in brass production is enhanced by the relatively poor cold working properties of 60:40 and 65:35 brass, thus also eliminating at least some of the inter-stage annealing required, with important cost reduction implications.
