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Tension Leveler

Tension levelers level and improve the flatness of materials such as hot rolled steel, cold rolled steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper and specialized materials, and finish them into a final product. The range of the materials that can be used for leveling are those with a thickness of between 0.05mm-8.0mm, a width of between 300m-2,300mm and a yield strength of between 50MPa-1,500MPa. Tests of various materials using original testing equipment have been carried out on Steel Plantech’s tension levelers since 1970. Theories have been constructed, tested, and supply of tension levelers made, with this repeated many times over the years. 194 sets have been supplied around the world, practically making Steel Plantech a specialist in tension levelers.

News List

6. Jun, 2023
at METEC 2023: TechnologiesWorld Premiere of the Super Hybrid Leveler/Splitter Line

Solutions

Product Quality Improvement

The tension leveler is equipped with an optimum roll layout and an originally-developed wet system.
This enables the product of steel sheets with only few marks on the surface from leveling force.

Product Range Expansion

  • 0.05~8.0 mm

    thickness

  • 300~2300 mm

    width

  • 50~1500 MPa

    yield strength

The customers have various needs, so there are many different kinds of materials that need to be leveled. Steel Plantech provides tension levelers that are optimal for use with a wide variety of materials and specifications.

Production Volume Increase

In the past, we have supplied a tension leveler with a line speed of 1,340mpm, among the fastest in the world.
Furthermore, we have supplied 6 tension levelers with line speeds of more than 1,000mpm .

References

since 1965 194 units

Supply Records

Supplied To Country Capacity Start Up
  • Asia・Oceania
  • various companies Japan overwhelming No.1 share with more than 100 units supplied to various companies in Japan
  • POSCO, etc. South Korea 13 units
  • Baoshan Iron & Steel, etc. China 13 units
  • China Steel (CSC), etc. Taiwan 13 units
  • supplied to customers in New Zealand, Australia, Bahrain, Thailand, Vietnam and India
  • North America
  • National Steel USA Tension leveler for CGL 1999
  • California Steel Industries USA Tension leveler for CGL 1992
  • DNN Canada Tension leveler for CGL 1992
  • South America
  • CSN Brazil Tension leveler for ETL 1979
  • Europe・Middle East
  • Arcelor Mittal Liege Belgium Tension leveler for CAL Super High Tensile Strength steel 2014 (Scheduled startup)
  • ThyssenKrupp-AST Italy Tension leveler for SUS 2001
  • ELEGRI Turkey Tension leveler for CGL 2001
  • Acerinox Spain Tension leveler for SUS 2000
  • Nippon Steel Spain Tension leveler for CGL 1979
  • Africa
  • Mabati Kenya Tension leveler for CGL 2000

Technical Information

Tension Leveler Roll Helper Drive technology

In the case of tension levelers for stainless steel, aluminum and specialized materials, wet leveling is sometimes adopted to prevent marks on the surface made from leveling force.
However, if the materials are soft or if the requirements for the quality of the surface are very severe, there is a need to drive the roll that comes in contact with the board in order to prevent roll slippage.
Steel Plantech is the only company that possesses the technology for driving the small diameter roll of a tension leveler.
Because of roll placement technology, resulting from tests on various materials using test facilities, and differential technologies, such as the helper drive, Steel Plantech is the only company in Japan that currently makes tension levelers.

Wet Leveling Technology of Tension Levelers for Stainless Materials

The quality of the surface of the finished product is particularly severe for stainless steel. Marks occurred by leveling force were the biggest challenge in the case of tension levelers for stainless steel.
Our technology for the resolution of this problem was jointly developed with Japanese users, resulting in this leveler. It is currently the de facto standard in Asia of tension levelers for stainless steel.

Mechanical Drive Technology for Bridle Rolls—Enabling High Elongation Accuracy Control

Differential gear reducer is used in this drive unit. It provides elongation rate control of a precision that is 30 to 50 times greater to each of two motors—the main motor and elongation rate motor.
This technology is used in ultra-fast lines and lines that require high-grade surface quality.

Ultra-fast Tension Leveler Technology

In the past, the maximum speed was 1,200mpm, but a tension leveler with an even higher line speed of 1,340mpm, among the fastest in the world, was supplied in 2006 to JFE Steel East Japan Works (Chiba).

Tension Leveler with Ultra-high Tensile Strength

In 1986, we supplied to the Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation, Hikari Works, a tension leveler with tension of 50 tons, which was the highest at the time.
 Currently, we are producing a tension leveler with the world’s top-level tensile strength of 100 tons (world’s top class) for use with 1,500Mpa super-high tensile materials.

Tension Leveler with a Multi-roll Unit for Reduction of Residual Stress and Stabilization of Bow

Tension levelers for aluminum and copper may, depending on the intended use of the materials, require the reduction of residual stress for the next process, such as longitudinal cutting, edging and processing into chips.
The tension leveler with a multi-roll unit was developed for this purpose.

Tension Leveler with Rotational Upper Frame for Easy Maintenance

One of the characteristics of a Steel Plantech tension leveler is that the upper frame can be rotated 180 degrees to enable quick upper roll changes.
This is a feature original to Steel Plantech and cannot be found in the tension levelers of other companies.