World's largest all-electric pipe bender to be built

Machine will be designed in the UK and exported to US shipyard

An all-electric CNC machine capable of bending large-bore tubing and piping up to eight inches in diameter (219mm OD) is to be designed and built by UK manufacturing company Unison.

The machine has been ordered by Newport News Shipbuilding of Virginia, which supplies nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines to the US Navy.

The machine is said to be the first of its type ever built. It will extend the shipbuilder’s range of precision software-controlled bending facilities to include fabrication of large-diameter pipes that previously could only be bent on very high-torque hydraulic machines.

All-electric benders offer advantages over the hydraulically powered machines traditionally used in heavy industries such as shipbuilding. Their precision servomotor-based motion control means that they can be configured automatically using parts data downloaded from the design database over a network. They are also easy to operate and very quiet.

The machine's bending axes are driven by closed-loop servomotors under software control to facilitate fast set-up and to provide accurate and repeatable performance. This automated approach eliminates operator error and the need to produce trial parts, and minimises the creation of expensive scrap material. It also contributes significantly to manufacturing flexibility and rapid changeover. This is especially important in shipyards where many tube and pipe components are fabricated as needed, and often in batch sizes of just one.

The new machine will be equipped with Unison's laser-controlled spring-back measurement and correction system. This will ensure bending precision by automatically compensating for the natural tendency of metal pipes and tubes to spring back slightly after being bent – providing a tool that delivers right-first-time manufacturing even when fabricating just one part.