SECTION TITLE
DESIGN SOFTWARE
The computer design brought to life
3D MODELLING SUCCESS STORY A
mong the many challenges of operating in a highly specialist area, such as the manufacture of vacuum and pressure vessels, is ensuring that components operate to their maximum capacity whilst complying fully with rigorous testing and performance requirements – all while making sure that they come in at the right price point. Tis was exactly the scenario faced
by LTi Metaltech, a specialist in the fabrication and welding of high- end pressure vessel structure, when its client, vacuum-specialist West Technology, tasked it with designing and manufacturing an autoclave pressure vessel capable of withstanding extreme positive and negative pressures. Te vessel was to be used by West Technology’s customer, Megger, for the impregnation of electrical windings in one of its high- voltage testing machines. LTi’s design team’s initial task was
to review West Technology’s existing designs to identify where, if possible, any improvements could be made to the pressure vessel, both in terms of the cost-efficiency of its manufacture and
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the performance of such an advanced component. Firstly, a number of its major parts were designed to be manufactured from large billets of stainless steel, which LTi’s team considered to be both labour-intensive and costly to finish to the required state. Secondly, the vessel’s counterweight was designed to be made out of a single bar of stainless steel with a mass of 115kg – again, an expensive option against the alternatives. Te original designs also posed some geometric challenges, most notably the cone top structure on the lid of the vessel. In its original state, this part of the structure would
Meeting customer requirements and design for manufacture challenges using innovative practices
have been expensive for LTi to manufacture within existing tooling capabilities, necessitating the part to go through more than one round of this manufacturing process, again adding unnecessary labour costs. To address these issues and thereby enhance the manufacturability of the autoclave vessel, LTi needed to come up with innovative design for manufacture (DFM) changes. It was here that its expertise in computer-aided design (CAD) came into its own.
Model of the final version
USING 3D MODELLING AND CAD TECHNIQUES TO IMPLEMENT DFM CHANGES Following a detailed review of all aspects of the original design and intended manufacturing processes, LTi’s team of specialists used 3D modelling to identify structural changes that could make the vessel more cost effective to produce. Working to EN 13445 European Pressure Vessel Standards, which sets the minimum quality standards in the design, fabrication and inspection of vessels, LTi made a number of fundamental design alterations.
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