Japan unveils 14,000-ton punch press and super-large lathe

Japan Steel Works Muroran Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has disclosed the world's largest 14,000-ton hydraulic press and machining plant owned by the company. The 14,000-ton hydraulic press is 17.5m high, about 5 stories high, and can forge steel ingots with a maximum weight of 600 tons. For example, when forging a turbine rotor shaft, a large steel ingot can be hoisted with a crane, and pressure can be applied while changing the angle to process it into a shape close to a cylinder. If it is a 600-ton ingot, it takes about 25 days to make a turbine rotor shaft shape due to repeated heating and forging. The machine factory is equipped with a large lathe and the like that can carry workpieces weighing 350 tons. Here, we can perform surface machining and hole machining of turbine rotor shafts, machining of turbine rotor shaft casings, and ultrasonic inspection of pressure vessel heads. When the reporter visited, the factory was processing thick plate rolling mill backup rolls, using large rolls with a diameter of 2.4m and a length of 12m to support the rolls from the back. Most of these large lathes are said to be made in Eastern Europe. Nippon Steel Works was originally a company established in 1907 to manufacture large-caliber guns. Before the end of the Pacific War, the main business of Muroran Works was the manufacture of weapons. From this, it cultivated the manufacture of large-scale cast and forged steel parts such as pressure vessels and turbine rotor shafts. Required basic technologies such as steel making and refining, heat treatment, and forging. 'The turbine rotor shaft has something in common with the gun body in terms of long dimensions, hollowness, and high-strength, high-toughness low-alloy steel' (Nihon Steel Works).