Sandvik uses strip making expertise for doctor blades

Sandvik uses strip making expertise for doctor blades

Keywords: Steel, Blades, Printing

Sandvik Materials Technology is using its steel melting and strip producing expertise to optimise the material properties for doctor blades for gravure and flexographic printing processes (Plate 2).

Sandvik's key advantage is that, it has totally integrated production from steel melting to the finished strip steel product. Combined with extensive in-house R&D, a range of stainless and carbon strip steels has been designed and developed to give optimum performance and long life.

 Plate 2Sandvik doctor blade

Control and balancing of the steel's metallurgy result in strip steel with consistent properties. Specially developed hardening and slitting processes result in almost stress free material. Process control in the cold rolling mills ensures a high degree of straightness and flatness, high strength and wear resistance. Excellent surface finish contributes to both corrosion resistance and fatigue strength.

Such is the level of process control that Sandvik can tailor the properties of strip steel for doctor blades to suit customer requirements. For example,strip can be supplied with excellent straightness and flatness. This ensures perfect contact between the blade and the cylinder in a printing press or a paper-producing machine. It means that blade pressure can be reduced, resulting in less blade and cylinder wear, extended service life and fewer blade changes. Sandvik claims that it will meet any straightness requirements specified by customers.

Strip is also delivered with very smooth, burr free edges. Edge shaving and grinding techniques have been developed over many years and can be adapted to meet customer specifications.

There are two carbon steel material grades – Sandvik 20C and 20C2. For more corrosive environments, required as a result of the increased use of water-based inks, there are three stainless steel grades – Sandvik Chromflex 77C27Mo2, 13C26 and 6C27. Stainless grades resist oxidation and emit less contaminants into the ink system. The choice of material grade relies mainly on customer emphasis and requirements for the levels of wear and corrosion resistance.

Sandvik has issued an eight page technical brochure on its strip steel for the printing and paper industries. It includes strip for doctor blades and also coater and creping blades. Details include chemical analysis, physical properties, strip steel sizes available and supply tolerances on thickness,surface and straightness. Copies of the new brochure can be obtained from Sandvik Materials Technology UK, Manor Way, Halesowen, West Midlands B62 8QZ. Tel: +44 (0)121 504 5100; Fax: +44 (0)121 504 5151.