BlueScope Steel (Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia)
BlueScope Steel required structural assessment of the 23C Coke Stacker machine to increase throughput, operational/safe machine tie down wind speed and mechanical/structural upgrade requirements. Structural assessment of 23C Coke Stacker machine including stability of the wheel, slew bearing loads, long drive loads and luff cylinder was required in accordance with standard AS 4100 to verify equivalent serviceability and strength of the existing design, with loading conditions to be applied in accordance with standards AS 4324.1 and AS/NZS 1170.2 considering permanent, imposed (coke bulk material) and wind loads.
What we did:
- Performed detailed stress/stability analysis (static structural FEA) of stacker machine applying permanent, imposed (coke bulk material) and nominal lateral wind loads (derived from standard AS/NZS 1170.2) with worst case luffing angles and considering load combinations as per standard AS 4324.1.
- Performed scaling of wind load to determine maximum operational wind speed applying standard AS 4100 structural capacity requirements (based on stress analysis results and critical member/welded joint/bolted connection capacity calculations) and confirmed machine tie-down wind speed based on standard AS 4324.1 stability requirements.
- Reviewed stacker machine long drive, slew drive and luffing cylinder capacity requirements applying structural FEA derived loads (with elevated bulk material feed rate) considering maximum operational/machine tie-down wind speeds, determined long drive/slew drive motor/gear box/brake system and luffing cylinder loads and compared with current equipment rated capacity.
Outcome:
Avesta Consulting confirmed a limiting operational/machine tie-down wind speed for safe operation and verified structural integrity as per standard AS 4100 and stability considering permanent, imposed (bulk material) and wind loads as per standards AS 4324.1 and AS/NZS 1170.2.
