Steel cord & bead wire : when polymer quench becomes a reliable leadfree industrial solution

A 52 strands steel cord patenting line has been successfully commissioned in Japan. The equipment includes the very high thermal efficiency open fire furnace, the IMFLEX® followed by a polymer quenching unit. Metallography shows that the structure has fully achieved the same structure as the classical patenting process in lead bath patenting. The design of the polymer patenting has been made to optimize the flexibility of the handling of the process and breaks the limits that have been pointed out by other technologies. Dedicated to the handling of bead wire and steel cord, FIB polymer quenching technology fits with the same length as existing quenching equipment.