Software implementation of a new analytical methodology applied to the multi-stage wire drawing process: the case study of the copper wire manufacturing line optimization

摘要

This paper presents the PullWorks software, an expert system that has been developed for the fast and simple design with the aim of optimizing the multi-stage copper wire drawing process. This software has been implemented applying the analytical method and complemented with the results of a series of experimental tests for the correct characterization of the processed material. The expert software system created has been used to model a real drawing line (Cunext Copper Industries S.L., Crdoba, Spain), with a production capacity of more than 30,000 t/year and an installed capacity of 1700 kW. PullWorks has made it possible to propose two modifications in the industrial process reducing its energy consumption by at least 1260 MWh/year: thanks to a reduction in the number of stages in the process lines (from 8 to 5, in the roughing line; from 19 to 13 in finishing) and by the elimination of the annealing treatment between them. The validity of these results has been verified through of the corresponding simulations made by the software Deform2D by means of which the numerical method of the finite elements analysis has been applied, and the solution was partially checked in the industrial process in operation.