Two Italian wire-rod producers, Arlenico SpA and Feralpi Siderurgica SpA, have each ordered a four-stand MEERdrive^®PLUS finishing block from the SMS Group.

A press release said that both wire-rod finishing blocks will be integrated in the companies’ existing plants. The technology, which includes a thermomechanical rolling process and a sophisticated water cooling line for the heavy-duty machine, will enable it to produce wire rod to "the tightest tolerances ever produced."

Arlenico, owned equally by Duferco Italia Holding and Feralpi Siderurgica SpA, a special quality wire rod producer located beside the Lecco Lake, chose the four-stand MEERdrive^®PLUS block to be installed in the existing wire rod line at its Caleotto plant.

Feralpi, a producer of wire rod and rebar, will use the new four-stand block to increase production and rolling speeds as well as the range of product sizes it can offer and enable enhanced final mechanical properties.

Per SMS, MEERdrive^®PLUS is a variant of the MEERdrive^® technology that uses individual drives with small low-voltage motors for each stand. Since all finished sizes are rolled in the block, it is possible to realize "one-family rolling" in the rolling mill reducing the otherwise required mill downtimes for size and ring changing.

For the two announced contracts, the finishing blocks (oval-round-round-round) will be installed after an existing ten-passes block. They are designed to roll wire rod from 4.55 to 27 mm at speeds up to 120 mtps, at a temperature as low as 750 degrees centigrade. Excellent tolerances down to 0.05 millimeters and 50% ovality can be achieved.

"These two new finishing blocks to be supplied to Arlenico and Feralpi are references number eleven and twelve, documenting the long success story of the MEERdrive technology which started with block number one supplied to Sinobras in 2007," the release said.