Walther Trowal is using new dosing technology to reduce the amount of process materials and energy required in the production of ammunition for firearms by up to 25 percent. The company has developed a new three-stage process for treating the surfaces of the cases between the individual forming stages, which also shortens the cycle times in the entire process chain from degreasing and washing to rinsing, pickling and passivation.
Reduce consumption of process materials and water
The new system is an integral part of the overall "ammunition" solution and precisely controls the addition of process media - for example acid, cleaning or passivating agents - and process water between the individual forming stages. Walther Trowal is using it for the first time on a new production line of one of the world's leading manufacturers of ammunition. Tests prior to delivery of the system have shown that the system reduces the consumption of process agents and water by up to 25 percent.
Surface treatment of ammunition casings with CM round vibrator
The condition of the surface of the sleeves plays a decisive role in the forming of the blanks into the finished projectile. After each of the individual process steps in this highly interlinked process, different surface treatment methods must be applied. Walther Trowal uses one type of machine for all stages of surface treatment: the CM circular vibrator.
Walther Trowal develops and produces both the processing agents (compounds) used for the individual process steps and the process water treatment systems in-house. This ensures that they are optimally matched to each other.
Surface treatment from a single source
Christoph Cruse, Sales Director at Walther Trowal: "Walther Trowal is one of the few companies to offer an integrated surface treatment solution from the blank to the finished cartridge case: Machines, process media and process water technology come from our company and are coordinated with each other. This guarantees efficient processes and high quality of the finished ammunition. With the experience gained from more than a hundred machines supplied to the ammunition industry, our experts know the processes involved in the production of ammunition and optimally integrate the surface treatment into our customers' forming process."
One of the largest producers of ammunition for the military alone operates almost 40 Walther Trowal rotary vibrators, which perform various tasks between the individual process stages in the production of cartridge cases (OM-9/25).
In the production of ammunition, blanks are first punched from brass coils, which are then deep-drawn into cups. The bullet casings are then formed from these - also by deep drawing. After each forming stage, the surface of the cases produced step by step must be treated differently to ensure the safe functioning of the ammunition. This includes pickling, washing, drying and passivation. The CM circular vibrators from Walther Trowal have proven themselves for all these processes. They bring the surface of the blanks, cups and cases into intensive contact with the compounds and remove adhesions.
After each forming stage, the surface of the cores must be treated using different processes. For example, it has to be washed, degreased, pickled, dried or passivated. All these steps take place in Walther Trowal's CM rotary vibrators, which are arranged along the entire ammunition production process chain. They differ essentially only in the compounds used. This uniformity makes maintenance and servicing considerably easier. A particular advantage of the circular vibrators, especially in the production of bullet casings, is that the vibration means that new processing agent is not only constantly applied to the outside of the casing, but also to the inside. This significantly reduces the consumption of compounds and shortens the processing time. CM circular vibrators are also used in the production of projectiles to deburr and round the edges of the projectiles, which are usually made of lead.
Contact
Walther Trowal GmbH & Co. KG
Rheinische Straße 35 - 37
42781 Haan (Germany)
Phone: +49 (0) 2129 571-0
E-mail: info@walther-trowal.de
www.walther-trowal.com
About Walther Trowal
Walther Trowal has been developing and producing process solutions for surface finishing since 1931. Starting with mass finishing technology - the term "Trowalizing" is derived from "Trommel Walther" - the company has continuously expanded its product range. This has resulted in a variety of systems and machines for the surface treatment of metal components, primarily for mass finishing and shot blasting.