ANDRITZ Schuler shows newly developed ring roller in action at Erfurt site

2025/09/10

ANDRITZ Schuler today presented an innovative ring roller to the professional public for the first time at its Erfurt site.

The system is intended for a manufacturer of railway wheels in Kazakhstan, who can use it to produce rings with a diameter of up to 2,000 mm and a height of up to 400 mm. Commissioning at the customer's site is scheduled for spring 2026.

In addition to the ring roller, the entire production line includes a rotary hearth furnace for heating the blanks, forging robots for automation, an upstream 10,000 t press for the production of the ring preform, a marking press, two laser measuring units, a 1000 t open-die forging press for the production of the railway axles and the heat treatment for the various products. All relevant production data is documented with the automation and digitization solution Metris Track and Trace and is available for evaluation and production optimization.

During the demonstration of the newly developed system with a radial force of 200 t and an axial force of 160 t, customers from the forging industry were able to observe how a wheel tire was rolled from a red-hot ring preform. During the rolling process, it was possible to see how the diameter of the rolled part increased – typical for the ring rolling process – and the well-known railway wheel profile including the wheel flange was created on the outer surface.

A special feature of the ring roller from ANDRITZ Schuler is that the upper bearing of the mandrel roller can be locked at different heights. This means that mandrels of different lengths can be used, which can be ideally adapted to the respective ring height. For this reason, thin and short mandrels can be used with high rolling forces.

- End -

The system can be used to roll rings with a diameter of up to 2,000 mm and a height of up to 400 mm

ANDRITZ GROUP
International technology group ANDRITZ provides advanced plants, equipment, services, and digital solutions for a wide range of industries, including pulp and paper, metals, hydropower, environmental, and others. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in Austria, the publicly listed group employs about 30,000 people at 280 locations in over 80 countries.
As a global leader in technology and innovation, ANDRITZ is committed to fostering progress that benefits customers, partners, employees, society, and the environment. The company’s growth is driven by sustainable solutions enabling the green transition, advanced digitalization for highest industrial performance, and comprehensive services that maximize the value of customers’ plants over their entire life cycle. ANDRITZ. FOR GROWTH THAT MATTERS.

ANDRITZ METALS
ANDRITZ Metals is – via ANDRITZ Schuler – one of the world’s leading suppliers of technologies, plants and digital solutions in metal forming. The product portfolio also includes automation and software solutions, process know-how and service. In the metals processing segment, the business area offers innovative, sustainable and market-leading solutions for the production and processing of flat products, for welding systems and furnaces with its own burner solutions, as well as services for the metals processing industry