APPLICATION | AEROSPACE
The ‘Blue Brick’ engine transportation hoist at Rolls Royce
capable of handling sensitive and high- value components.” So ordinary cranes will not normally hack it.
Specially-designed units – indeed systems – are the norm. Rolls-Royce, for example, at its plant and test bed site in Derby has a multi- unit mechanical handling system to move its engines. It was designed by SCX, now part of the Kinetic Solutions Group. The need was to manoeuvre engine assemblies around multiple build stands before transporting them between test beds and onto the engine test cell for final testing before release. The process of transporting them was hindered by a lack of engine orientation capability, and by lifting equipment that was confined to specific test beds. The solution, collectively called the
Engine Transportation System, consists of a Transporter Bridge with turntable, an Engine Transportation Hoist, known as the Blue Brick, and a Package Transportation Hoist which is known as the Red Brick. Partially completed engines are transported on the Blue Brick; complete engine packages are transported on the Red Brick; and the Transporter Bridge delivers blue and red bricks between appropriate work stations. An existing 15-metre-high overhead
runway was part of the new solution, and a key design objective was to minimise the overall mass of the solution to avoid imposing extra stresses on it. The transporter bridge was integrated seamlessly into that runway. It solved the main problem of rotating a suspended load – Rolls-Royce previously had to lower loads to the ground and rotate them manually on carts. A 60-ton capacity slewing ring
provides a turntable to safely orient the Bricks while suspended. To facilitate the brick’s transition from
the transporter bridge to each build stand, the entire turntable translates horizontally across the bridge. As the turntable meets the build stand’s runway it latches on hydraulically, creating a smooth path for the brick to travel along. The latching system also eliminates cantilevered loads between the bridge and the build stand during transfer. The ‘Blue Brick’ element, or ETH (Engine
Transportation Hoist) is an integrated lifting frame and hoist arrangement compete with load measurement and data displays. It is an underslung travelling design with a 42-ton SWL de-rated from 46-ton for additional safety and giving a four-point true vertical lift of 11 metres with a host speed of 5.0/0.8 metres per minute and a long travel speed of 20.0/2.0 metres per minute. To traverse the runway, it has powered
articulated trolleys with 32 low-profile wheels and VSD controls for smooth accelerations and decelerations. Integrated load cells detect and prevent overload; radio control gives good operator visibility of the load. Like the Blue Brick, the Red Brick is a mechanical handling solution but this time for complete engine packages. It, too, comprises a lifting frame and a hoist arrangement; it has also an X-frame grapple. The hoists are twin-barrel designs, from Street Crane, with a true four-point vertical lift and 25-ton SWL. The Red Brick’s controls and sensors communicate constantly with Rolls-Royce’s Supervisory Control System. Proximity switches ensure that the lifting frame is docked and locked correctly before
The Orion spacecraft launch.
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