Background
The customer is a large American steel sheet producer with multiple locations throughout the US. They are the largest and most diverse supplier of steel, serving industries such as:
- Construction
- Automotive
- Infrastructure
- Oil & Gas
- Transportation
- Agriculture
- Energy Generation
- Transmission & Heavy Equipment
The Avon Engineering team was called upon and tasked with developing a solution for the steel operations that would reduce downtime.
Problem
Ladle beams are specialized lifting devices used in steel mills and foundries to handle ladles containing molten metal. These high capacity systems are used to transport molten metal 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in a steel production operation. Ladle beams typically incorporate multiple sheaves, or pulleys that are reeved directly into the crane.
When a sheave or bearing fails, or the beam requires servicing, the operation comes to a halt so the beam can be removed from the crane for servicing. This involves unreeving the wire rope from which the beam is suspended from. This results in downtime of up to 20 hrs, which in turn means loss of production and revenue.
Solution
Using our design software, the Avon Engineering team was able to improve the customer’s process by redesigning and modifying how the sheaves are mounted on the beam. Stress analysis was performed to ensure that the new design was safe and designed within ASME B30.20 & BTH-1-2023 guidelines.
Sheaves are normally mounted between upright plates welded to the beam as you can see in the before photo. The Avon redesign consists of housing the sheaves in detachable baskets that are suspended from the crane and pinned directly to the beam as seen below. This allows for a quick interchange of the beam without the need to unreeve the wire rope.
The next phase was determining how to remove the baskets from the crane without removing the wire rope. Our team devised a solution by bolting the side stiffener plates rather than welding them. This enables the plates to be removed quickly, the wire rope dropped down below the basket and removed. New baskets assemblies with sheaves and bearings can now be installed quickly.
Results
The new beam handling system has resulted in tremendous productivity gains for the steel operation. The removal and installation of the beam was reduced from 20 hrs to only 6 hrs. Our solution has provided ease of maintenance and repair as well as a significant reduction in downtime, saving the customer time and money.