Accurate pipe head measurement

Ensuring decisive and accurate dimension of the pipes during extrusion is an added requirement that most pipe manufacturers find necessary in today’s highly competitive industry. Many pipe measurement systems have been introduced and accepted in the market for their ability to meet the target.

A new pipe measurement technology was recently launched at K 2019 by SIKORA, manufacturer and worldwide supplier of innovative measuring and testing technology.

With the world premiere of the CENTERWAVE 6000/1600, SIKORA presents a measuring system of a new dimension. The system was developed especially for quality control of plastic tubes and pipes during extrusion. Due to its design, the system offers a precise measurement of tubes with a diameter from 250 to 1,600 mm. The CENTERWAVE 6000 is based on innovative millimeter wave technology and measures continuously and completely over 360 degrees of the​ circumference of the pipe the wall thickness, the diameter, the ovality, the inner profile and the sagging. “The CENTERWAVE 6000 does not only impress because of its dimensions,” says Christian Schalich, Head of Sales Business Unit Hose & Tube at SIKORA, “but foremost due to its benefits resulting from the technology for the extrusion process.”

Nominal dimensions are quickly reached, start-up scrap is avoided, the highest quality guaranteed and processes are optimally controlled. Furthermore, the system does not require any coupling media, it measures precisely and independently to external influences, such as temperature or plastics material, and does not require calibration. “Furthermore, the device determines automatically the exact refractive index”, says Mr. Schalich. It defines the intensity and how fast radiation travels through the material and is therefore decisive for the measuring accuracy. Manual input of modifications of the production conditions is not required. “The operator benefits from a system that, integrated in the line, delivers reliable and reproducible measurement values directly after start-up”, adds Mr. Schalich.

Next to the pipe head