A system and method are disclosed for polishing and lubricating an aluminum welding wire. The system and method draw stock aluminum wire from a spool, subject the stock wire to a plurality of drawing and thermal treatment steps to obtain a wire having a final diameter suitable for use in a continuous welding apparatus. Immediately after the final drawing step, the wire is subjected to a polishing and lubricating process in which a cord that is impregnated with a lubricant is passed over the surface of the wire. The cord serves to remove contaminants, such as metal fines, from the surface of the wire, and also to provide a layer of lubricant over the surface of the wire. The resulting wire has an improved appearance, will not clog the automatic welding apparatus, and the lubricant will not contribute adversely to weld porosity in use.

A system and method are disclosed for polishing and lubricating an aluminum welding wire. The system and method draw stock aluminum wire from a spool, subject the stock wire to a plurality of drawing and thermal treatment steps to obtain a wire having a final diameter suitable for use in a continuous welding apparatus. Immediately after the final drawing step, the wire is subjected to a polishing and lubricating process in which a cord that is impregnated with a lubricant is passed over the surface of the wire. The cord serves to remove contaminants, such as metal fines, from the surface of the wire, and also to provide a layer of lubricant over the surface of the wire. The resulting wire has an improved appearance, will not clog the automatic welding apparatus, and the lubricant will not contribute adversely to weld porosity in use.

Provided is a carbon steel wire excellent in shear resistance as compared with a conventional one and a method of manufacturing such a carbon steel wire. Provided is a carbon steel wire 1 having a wire diameter of from 0.1 to 0.6 mm, and when the radius of a circular cross-section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is r and a region from the outer periphery of the circular cross-section toward the center to 0.4r is a surface layer portion 2, the occupancy ratio of a crystal texture in the [110] orientation with respect to the longitudinal direction in the surface layer portion 2 is 60% or less.

Provided is a carbon steel wire excellent in shear resistance as compared with a conventional one and a method of manufacturing such a carbon steel wire. Provided is a carbon steel wire 1 having a wire diameter of from 0.1 to 0.6 mm, and when the radius of a circular cross-section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is r and a region from the outer periphery of the circular cross-section toward the center to 0.4r is a surface layer portion 2, the occupancy ratio of a crystal texture in the [110] orientation with respect to the longitudinal direction in the surface layer portion 2 is 60% or less.

A method for manufacturing an aluminum wire is provided. The aluminum wire includes an inner-layer conductor having one or a plurality of inner-layer alloy wires including aluminum and an outer-layer conductor having a plurality of outer-layer alloy wires including aluminum and provided on the inner-layer conductor. The method includes an outer-layer twisting step of twisting, over the inner-layer conductor, the outer-layer alloy wires provided on the inner-layer conductor, and an outer-layer rotational compression step of compressing the outer-layer alloy wires twisted in the outer-layer twisting step while being rotated in the same direction as the direction of the twisting in the outer-layer twisting step.

A method for manufacturing an aluminum wire is provided. The aluminum wire includes an inner-layer conductor having one or a plurality of inner-layer alloy wires including aluminum and an outer-layer conductor having a plurality of outer-layer alloy wires including aluminum and provided on the inner-layer conductor. The method includes an outer-layer twisting step of twisting, over the inner-layer conductor, the outer-layer alloy wires provided on the inner-layer conductor, and an outer-layer rotational compression step of compressing the outer-layer alloy wires twisted in the outer-layer twisting step while being rotated in the same direction as the direction of the twisting in the outer-layer twisting step.

An apparatus for producing an inner spiral grooved tube, the apparatus includes first and second bobbins, one of which is an unwinding bobbin and the other of which is a winding bobbin; a floating frame that supports a shaft of the first bobbin; a rotary shaft that supports the floating frame though bearings and rotates in a direction perpendicular to an axis of a bobbin in the floating frame; a revolving flyer configured to invert a tube route of a tubular material between the first bobbin and the second bobbin, to convey the tubular material, and to revolve the tubular material around the floating frame as being supported by the rotary shaft; and first and second drawing dies positioned on a front stage and a rear stage of the revolving flyer, respectively, in the tube route of the tubular material

An apparatus for producing an inner spiral grooved tube, the apparatus includes first and second bobbins, one of which is an unwinding bobbin and the other of which is a winding bobbin; a floating frame that supports a shaft of the first bobbin; a rotary shaft that supports the floating frame though bearings and rotates in a direction perpendicular to an axis of a bobbin in the floating frame; a revolving flyer configured to invert a tube route of a tubular material between the first bobbin and the second bobbin, to convey the tubular material, and to revolve the tubular material around the floating frame as being supported by the rotary shaft; and first and second drawing dies positioned on a front stage and a rear stage of the revolving flyer, respectively, in the tube route of the tubular material

A contour of a cross-section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of a wire 2 is a circle having a diameter of D. An imaginary circle 4 which is concentric with the circle of the contour of the wire 2 and has a diameter that is of the diameter D, is assumed. On the imaginary circle 4, a first measurement point M1, a second measurement point M2, a third measurement point M3, a fourth measurement point M4, a fifth measurement point M5, a sixth measurement point M6, a seventh measurement point M7, and an eighth measurement point M8 are assumed. A Vickers hardness (Hv) is measured at each of the eight measurement points. A standard deviation of the eight measurement values is not greater than 10. The average of the eight measurement values is preferably not less than 670 and preferably not greater than 770.

A method produces an inner spiral grooved tube using a first drawing die, a second drawing die, and a revolving flyer. The method includes two twisting-drawing steps. The first twisting-drawing step forms an intermediate twisted tube by reducing the diameter of a linear grooved tube, which has plural straight grooves formed along the longitudinal direction on its inner surface, by passing the linear grooved tube through the first drawing die and then by revolving the liner grooved tube wrapped around the revolving flyer with the revolving flyer, in conjunction with imparting twist to the linear grooved tube. The second twisting-drawing step forms the inner spiral grooved tube by reducing the diameter of the intermediate twisted tube by passing the intermediate twisted tube, which revolves with the revolving flyer, through the second drawing die in conjunction with imparting twist to the intermediate twisted tube.