It was in the early 1950s that the engineer and company founder Karl Fuhr developed a procedure for the ribbing of construction steel wire – marking the inception of the cold rolling process for reinforcing steels. On the basis of its uniqueness, this procedure was patented at that time and formed the foundation stone for the later continuous economic success of the company.
In the following decades, the possibilities of applying our rolling technology in building construction were successively extended: In bridge construction, the stranding machines for the construction of bridge cables are increasingly equipped with FUHR cables. Against the background of the steadily growing dimensions of suspension bridges, the material properties of these bridge cables acquire ever increasing importance.
In the construction of modern ultramodern cable cars, the greatest possible running smoothness and silence of the transport cabins is a key aspect. The carrier cables of these cable cars typically consist of cold rolled closed profiles in the sheath area, whose good surface characteristics provide the cable with additional protection against soiling.
The use of our technologies in building construction extends as far as the production of flat bands for the positioning mechanics of window systems. Today the economic production of these components can only be achieved by the use of cold rolling mills.
What started over 60 years ago with the production of reinforcing steel, has meanwhile established itself as a fixed processing procedure in the building industry.
REINFORCED STEEL BAR
Reinforcement steel or concrete steel serves as reinforcement (strengthening) of reinforced concrete components and is covered with liquid concrete after insertion in the formwork. It is also often referred to as rebar.
An important characteristic of the reinforcing steel is its bonding to the surrounding concrete. To improve the bonding, ribs are rolled onto it. The ribs have a maximal height of 4.5 % and a separation of 60 % of the rod diameter. The ribs produce a local interlocking of concrete and steel, which allows optimal force transfer across a short bond length.
FUHR supplies rib roll heads and replacement rolls for the production of ribbed reinforcing and prestressing steels. The photo shows a stainless steel ribbed wire.
Until the late 20th century, single glazing was very widespread. Accordingly, window design and construction was relatively simple. Since the 1970s and 80s, insulation glazing became more and more the standard, and is generally characterized by several sheets of glass arranged behind one another. But not only did the number of glass layers increase, the internal construction of the windows is also considerably more complex than previously the case.
The construction of windows consists essentially in a window frame, a casement with a frame for a variable number of glass surfaces, window glass (in modern insulating windows a composite layer), mechanics for opening and closing the window in the frame as well as insulation and reinforcing material. The components of the adjustment mechanics are mostly cold rolled flat steels that receive their typical openings in post-processing, such as in stamping.
FUHR rolling mills produce flat wires from round low carbon steel wire for further processing into window fittings.
TRACK ROPE (ROPEWAYS)
In the “classical” ropeway, one or two cars on a track rope travel back and forth between two end stations, drawn by a hauling rope. Smaller installations and group aerial ropeways often need only a single rope which simultaneously carries and moves the cars (single-rope ropeway).
The circulating rope car has an endless spliced traction rope which runs continually between the stations, on which a row of gondolas, seats or material tubs are attached, which therefore travel from one station to the other on one side, and return on the other side. The direction of motion of the vehicles is therefore always forwards. Circulating cable cars thereby function as continuous conveyors.
It is important for the safe operation and quiet running of the transport vehicles to have a cable cross section with cold rolled interlocking profiles in the outer area. This provides an extremely flat surface which, besides the quiet running already mentioned, has the additional advantage of providing the highest possible protection against the penetration of dirt particles.
With FUHR rolling mills, cable interlocking profile wires (the three outer layers in the photo) are produced from round high carbon steel wire in the cold rolling procedure. The advantages of the rolling process as opposed to the also current profiling with a die lie in the adjustability of the caliber and the lower overall reshaping which strains the material less.
Thread nails are needed especially when facade paneling has to be fixed onto a wooden substructure.
The special thread on the nail holds it firmly in the wood, prevents splitting of the wood and also retains its resistance to extraction when the weather exposes the wood to high humidity.
Due to their external use, thread nails are generally made of stainless steel. In most instances, the lengths are between 35 and 80 mm.
With FUHR rolling mills, round wires are profiled in the longitudinal direction. In the nail production machine, the wires are then twisted to obtain a steep thread.