What is a Silicon Steel Slitting Line?

A silicon steel slitting line is usually called a slitting line or plate cutting line. This is a metal processing line that cuts wide steel coils into narrower or shorter strips. Although called a silicon steel slitting line, such processing lines are sometimes used to process sheet metal coils other than steel. For example cold-rolled, hot-rolled coils, silicon steel coils, stainless steel coils, etc.

The silicon steel slitting line uses a compound console-type machine called a steel metal slitting machine to cut the steel coil into strips. The steel coil fed into the slitter is called the main coil, and the metal strip produced is called the composite strip. Composite materials come in a variety of specifications depending on the final application of the product. By adjusting the pair of knives and cutters on the slitter, the length and width of the compound can be varied.

The slitting machine is sometimes called a cross-slitting machine; the silicon steel slitting line is therefore also called a cross-slitting line. In this process, the slitter plays a key role as it is responsible for cutting the main roll into multiple strands. In some cases, the slitter works with the winder at the last station of the line to collect the composite material and sort them into rolls, which is why the slitting line is called a roll-to-roll slitting line.

Depending on the material, workload, and application setup of the slitting line, the silicon steel slitting line may consist of machines with automatic control systems arranged in several stations, or it may be a simple slitting machine with the main roll being manually rolled by the operator feed. For simple manual slitters, the entire slitting operation is done on the workbench. As for heavy-duty slitting lines for high-volume production, there are uncoilers, feeders, slitters, press-cutters, coilers, and other safety or guiding accessories on the line. In this article, the functions of several main components in the slitting line are introduced.

Uncoilers are often used in conjunction with coil feeders to insert sheet metal into the slitter. The uncoiler, as the name suggests, uncoils the sheet metal from the coiler and sends it to the coil feeder. The coil feeder is used to flatten the main coil and ensure that the steel plate is evenly fed into the slitter. In some silicon steel slitting lines, uncoiler and coil feeders are integrated into one machine. In this case, the sheet flattening attachment can replace the coil feeder.

Sheet slitters are the main components in a slitting line that perform the actual slitting tasks. The slitting machine is composed of rollers, slide rails, distance adjustment devices, and knife pairs. Parts and accessories may vary by slitter model, but knife pairing and adjustments are necessary. Pairs of knives cut sheet metal into narrower composites. Most slitters use a roller blade to cut the board.

The number of mults determines the tool pairs set on the machine. The gauge adjustment or adjustment slider controls the width of the mults coming out of the machine. Gauge adjustments also determine the width of the main coils processed by the slitter. In a highly automated slitting line, all these adjustments are controlled by a computer control unit. Adjustments are arranged manually by the operator using a light simple slitter.

A sheet slitting machine is crucial in a slitting line, not only because it slits the coils, but also controls the quality of the result. One of the problems that arise during slitting is the rough edges of the composite material. Rough edges can occur when the knife pair is not set up properly or the blade becomes dull. In order to avoid such problems, the blade clearance and adjustment tolerance should be checked in advance before each production. The mults go into the press cut after being cut.

A press cutter is a machine that chops multiple strands into desired lengths. This is where the cut-to-length part comes in. While cutters are usually powered by a press, they can also be operated using other types of power sources. Although the cutter generally follows the slitter in the coil slitting line, in rare cases it may precede the cutter. In modern slitting lines, cutters are often combined with slitters. By integrating multiple sites into one, the duty cycle and workspace can be reduced.

The winder collects and winds the composite material at the end of the slitting line. The setting of the rewinder should be synchronized with the slitter so that the composite material can be rewound well. Rewinders are important in specific slitting processes that produce long composite materials. However, in most cases, it is excluded from the slitting line. Coilers are not used because the composites produced by small workshops or most cut-to-length slitting lines are rather short. After rewinding multiple pieces, they are packaged and sent to the end production line for processing.

The above briefly introduces what a silicon steel slitting line is. If you want to buy a silicon steel slitting line, please contact us.

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