Garnalex awards FAC to SMS group for HybrEx®35 extrusion line

Garner Aluminium Extrusions, also known as Garnalex, based in Denby, United Kingdom, has awarded SMS group the final acceptance certificate for the extrusion line it supplied. Together with OMAV S.p.A, consortium leader SMS group installed an integrated line with the HybrEx®35 as the core machine. OMAV S.p.A supplied a billet heating system with billet furnace and billet saw, a runout system including an intensive profile cooling station, a profile stretcher, and a finishing saw. The addition of an ageing furnace rounds off the production chain.  

The company, founded in 2018, plans to use the new press to manufacture aluminum profiles for a fully integrated door and window system. "The philosophy of our newly established business is to offer excellent products at high quality standard and competitive prices. With this HybrEx® extrusion line, we are not only investing in advanced technology from the market's leading plant constructor, but also benefiting from lower investment costs at the same time," emphasizes CEO Roger Hartshorn.

The new HybrEx® technology will enable Garner Aluminium Extrusions to boost its productivity by up to 20 percent, depending on the relevant application, and to continue manufacturing high-quality products for its customers in an environmentally-friendly and resource-efficient way thanks to significantly lower energy consumption levels. With the hybrid drive concept developed for the HybrEx® extrusion press, the hydraulics are only used to generate the required forming forces. The ancillary movements of the extrusion press are performed by dynamic, electric servo drives.  

The installed HybrEx®35 is capable of extruding billets with a diameter of up to 9" (228.6 millimeters) and a maximum length of 1,400 millimeters to produce aluminum and aluminum alloy profiles. The aluminum billets are loaded quickly and precisely into the center of the press using a patented linear loader. What’s more, the HybrEx® boasts a deflection-resistant, three-part triple-layer counter beam and patented precision guide for the container and moving crosshead, thus enabling the production of high-precision profiles with extremely thin walls. It’s really compact design is possible thanks to the hydraulic system concept developed for the HybrEx®. The entire hydraulic drive unit has been integrated in the machine's soundproof enclosure. The enclosure design not only looks state-of-the-art, it also considers all aspects of operational safety while also ensuring better machine accessibility.

Source and graphic: SMS group