The Stretcher Leveling Process
Stretcher Leveling is a coil processing technique designed to eliminate internal stress and achieve flat steel sheets. This technique is paramount for industries that demand laser flat/dead flat steel, as it ensures superior quality and consistency essential for high-precision applications. In this blog, we'll dive into exploring how Stretcher Leveling works and highlighting its numerous benefits. From enhancing product reliability to boosting manufacturing efficiency, discover why stretcher leveling with Alliance Steel sets the industry standard for excellence and precision.
What is Stretcher Leveling?
Stretcher Leveling is a process that stretches material sufficiently to exceed the yield point in all its fibers, equalizing internal trapped stresses. This activity produces flat material even after laser cutting, notching, punching, or subsequent shearing operations. Eliminating post-cutting stress spring back can make additional processes like welding and forming easier. Stretcher Leveling uses a series of E-Drive Levelers to flatten and reduce the crossbow (curvature) before it continues to the stretcher. At the Stretcher, clamps grab 40 feet of material and applies 2 million pounds of force, uniformly stretching the material past its yield point. Stretcher Leveling can remove all internal stress, eliminating the risk of post-cutting spring back.
Comparison With Other Steel Flattening Techniques
Temper Passing and Stretcher Leveling are both processes used in metal fabrication, to improve the material's flatness, surface quality, and mechanical properties. However, they are distinct processes with different objectives and methods:
Temper Passing vs. Stretcher Leveling
The main goal of temper passing is to enhance the material's flatness and surface quality by subjecting it to a series of rolling and tension leveling processes. In temper passing, the material passes through a series of rollers that apply pressure to flatten and smooth out any surface imperfections or irregularities. This process can also help to relieve internal stresses in the material. Temper passing is commonly used in sheet metal production for applications where flatness and surface quality are critical, such as in automotive panels, appliances, and construction materials.
Stretcher Leveling is primarily used to remove residual stresses and improve the flatness of metal sheets, particularly thicker materials. In Stretcher Leveling, the material is clamped at its edges and stretched beyond its yield point. Stretcher Leveling can remove all internal stress, eliminating the risk of post-cutting spring back, unlike temper passing. This process helps to relieve internal stresses and deformations, resulting in improved flatness. Stretcher Leveling is commonly used for thicker materials that cannot be flattened through the traditional temper passing process. It is often used to produce heavy-duty components for agriculture, shipbuilding, and heavy machinery.
Benefits of Stretcher Leveling
Stretcher Leveling offers several unique selling points, making it an attractive choice for customers looking for high-quality, flat steel sheets.
It ensures exceptional flatness across the entire steel surface, eliminating waves and imperfections, which is ideal for precision machining, welding, and surface finishing. Stretcher Leveling helps achieve uniform thickness throughout the material; this is crucial for precise dimensional control, ensuring accurate part fit and performance. By relieving internal stresses and strains, Stretcher Leveling minimizes the risk of distortion during subsequent processing or use, maintaining shape and integrity even under demanding conditions. Flat and uniform steel materials produced through Stretcher Leveling are easier to work with during fabrication, leading to higher productivity and lower scrap rates. Tight tolerances achieved by Stretcher Leveling machines allow customers to meet demanding industry specifications and quality standards.
Metal Stretcher Leveling Capabilities
We have the capability to perform stretcher leveling on hot rolled steel, hot rolled pickled and oiled steel, hot rolled pickled dry steel, cold rolled steel, and coated steel products like hot dipped galvanized, electrogalvanized, galvannealed and galvalume.
Material Thickness: | .040" - .375" |
Max Coil: | 80,000lbs |
ID: | 23” - 27” |
Entry Width: | 75" |
Length: | 400" |
Width/Length Tolerance: | +/-.010" |
Max Skid: | 10,000 lbs |
Alliance Steel's Stretcher Leveled Laser Flat Steel Sheets
Alliance Steel sets a benchmark in the steel industry with a remarkably low rejection rate of one-half of one percent (.05%). As an ISO-certified company, Alliance Steel adheres to international quality management standards, reinforcing its commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction.
Stretcher Leveled steel offers significant application-specific benefits across various industries. These materials provide unparalleled flatness and consistency, crucial for precision manufacturing processes.
For example, in the automotive industry, superior flatness ensures uniform surface quality, enhancing vehicle components' aesthetic appeal and structural integrity. In the construction sector, the impressive flatness of these steel sheets facilitates easier installation and alignment. This reduces labor costs and improves overall project efficiency. Additionally, stretcher leveled steel is ideal for producing high-precision parts in the electronics and appliance industries. This is where exact dimensions and minimal distortion are critical. The enhanced flatness also minimizes residual stress, reducing the risk of warping during machining or fabrication. Using stretcher-level steel improves product quality, increases operational efficiency, and significant cost savings in various high-demand applications.
About Alliance Steel
Alliance Steel is a flat-rolled steel supplier, coil processor, and material distributor dedicated to supporting various manufacturing needs across many industrial sectors for over 20 years. We provide unmatched service and supply chain solutions to large OEMs and fabricators on a regional and national basis.
In May 2020, we relocated to Gary, Indiana, strategically placing ourselves near significant highways, mills, and ports. We are headquartered in Northwest Indiana, with two additional locations in Atlanta and Memphis.
Our temperature-controlled 500,000-square-foot facility has full rail service, multiple slitters, a heavy-gauge line, numerous fiber lasers, multi–blank, cut-to-length, stretcher leveling, and metallurgical capabilities. We are prepared to support your specific physical market needs with client-tailored solutions for future hedging, index pricing, and spot buys.
Alliance Steel has an extensive inventory of flat-rolled sheet and coil products. We maintain a selection of hot-rolled steel, hot-rolled pickled and oiled, hot-rolled pickled dry, cold-rolled steel, motor lam, and coated steel products. For more information, please call 219-427-5400 or send us a contact form.
