A screw conveyor may look relatively simple from the outside, a rotating screw inside a trough, but designing and manufacturing one for a real-world bulk material handling application involves much more than selecting a diameter and length.
Material characteristics, required capacity, inlet and discharge requirements, wear concerns, and the surrounding process all influence the final design. At ISC Manufacturing, screw conveyors are where we got our start and remain one of our core product lines today.
From replacement screws and components to complete conveyor systems, our equipment is engineered and manufactured around the requirements of each application.
Below is a look inside our manufacturing facility at how some of those screw conveyors come together.
It Starts With the Application
Before steel reaches the shop floor, the conveyor has to be designed around what it is being asked to do. Material type and bulk density, required capacity, conveyor length and orientation, operating environment, and wear characteristics can affect the screw diameter, flight configuration, trough loading, materials of construction, inlets and discharges, shafts, bearings, and drive arrangement. That is why two screw conveyors performing seemingly similar jobs can look very different once they reach the shop floor.
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From Steel to Screw Flighting
Manufacturing the screw begins with the flighting. Depending on the design, flighting can vary in diameter, thickness, pitch, material, and configuration.
ISC manufactures screws using both helicoid and sectional flighting. For sectional construction, individual flights begin as steel plate that is cut and formed to produce the dimensions and pitch required for the screw.
Standard-pitch flighting is common for many conveying applications, while short-pitch, variable-pitch, ribbon, cut-flight, and other configurations can be incorporated when required by the process.
Fitting and Welding the Screw
Once the flighting is prepared, the flights are fitted over the center pipe, positioned to the required pitch, aligned, and welded into a complete screw assembly.
For sectional construction, maintaining the specified pitch and alignment as individual flights are fitted and welded is an important part of producing the finished screw. Flight thickness, pipe size, materials of construction, and conveyor duty can also influence how the assembly is fabricated.
The completed screw may also incorporate drive shafts, end shafts, and coupling shafts depending on the conveyor arrangement.
Different Applications, Different Screws
The differences between applications become easy to see when several completed screws are viewed side by side.
Diameter, pitch, center pipe size, flight thickness, overall length, shaft arrangement, and materials of construction can all vary from one project to another.
A screw feeder operating beneath a hopper, for example, has different requirements than a conveyor transferring material between two points. Abrasive materials, inclined conveying, and other demanding applications can introduce additional design considerations.
This is where custom manufacturing matters: the equipment can be built around the process rather than forcing the process to fit an off-the-shelf conveyor.
Forming the Conveyor Trough
The screw is only one part of the finished conveyor. The trough or housing surrounding it also has to be fabricated to match the engineered design.
For a typical U-trough conveyor, steel is cut to the required dimensions and formed to produce the trough profile. The housing can then move through fit-up and welding as flanges, ends, inlets, discharges, supports, and other components are added.
Depending on the application, ISC can manufacture U-trough, tubular, flared, rectangular, and other conveyor housing configurations in different materials and thicknesses.
Components and Final Assembly
A complete screw conveyor brings together the screw and housing with shafts, bearings, seals, trough ends, covers, hanger assemblies, inlets, discharges, supports, liners, and drive components.
As fabrication is completed, these individual components come together during final fit-up and assembly. The screw is installed within the trough or housing along with the associated shafts, bearings, ends, covers, and other components.
What began as steel plate, pipe, flighting, and individual components has now become a complete piece of bulk material handling equipment built for a specific application.
At our 200,000+ square foot manufacturing facility just outside Fort Worth, Texas, ISC has in-house engineering, machining, forming, welding, and fabrication capabilities to support everything from individual conveyor components to complete bulk material handling systems.
Replacement Screws, Components, and Complete Conveyors
Not every project requires an entirely new conveyor. Existing equipment may need a replacement screw, shaft, trough section, or other component due to wear, increased capacity requirements, process changes, or equipment modifications.
ISC manufactures replacement screws and augers, conveyor components, complete screw conveyors, screw feeders, and engineered bulk material handling systems. We can work from existing drawings and equipment information or help determine the requirements for a new application.
Whether the project starts with a replacement component or an entirely new conveyor, the goal remains the same: build equipment around what the material and process actually require—not simply what is available off the shelf.
Have a Screw Conveyor Project?
Need a replacement screw, a new conveyor, or help with a bulk material handling application?
Contact ISC Manufacturing to send us your application information, existing equipment drawings, or project requirements. Our engineering and manufacturing teams can help develop a solution for your material and process.
