Supplier to BAe pioneers new wing handling technology

Citation

(2001), "Supplier to BAe pioneers new wing handling technology", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 73 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2001.12773fab.001

Supplier to BAe pioneers new wing handling technology

Supplier to BAe pioneers new wing handling technology

Keywords: Street Crane Company, Wings, Cranes

BAe Systems now benefits from a world class treatment facility at Hawarden near Chester for processing aircraft wings. The new plant demonstrates new handling technology and was made possible by technical collaboration with Metal Improvement Company – an international company in aerospace metal treatment and Street Crane Company, one of the UK's largest volume overhead crane manufacturers, and an established aerospace supplier.

The overhead crane system installed by Street handles single wing panels of up to 107 feet in length (see Plate 1). This allows them to be loaded and unloaded from the shot peening machines, transported along the bay and rotated through 180 degrees for location in storage racks. "This was a technically challenging and immensely rewarding project", commented Street's managing director Andrew Pimblett.

Plate 1 This specially engineered handling system at BAe Systems in Chester by Street Crane Company saves space and time

New Airbus models have greater wing panel lengths than earlier models. Therefore, Metal Improvement Co. have located their new facility within the BAC site to avoid road transport. By shot peening, the company impart a curvature to the wing panel, removing tensile stresses, imparting a compressive surface stress and greatly increasing the fatigue resistance of the component.

Extreme care is taken in handling the wing panels – a requirement that is complicated by the need to rotate them. Street's answer to this was a specially engineered handling system for the cranes. A turntable is located between the beams of the double girder crane and a supplementary support beam enables the wing panel to be secured at several points for safe and stress-free handling.

The wing panels are bulky, but light. Load swing and instability were therefore potential threats. These problems have reportedly been overcome by the use of Thyrister soft-start control to give progressive acceleration and deceleration on both long and cross travel.

A total of seven double girder Street cranes have been installed with a maximum safe working load of five tonnes. All units have Street ZX hoists and two of the cranes are fitted with a turntable. Some units are of twin hoist design with load summation. Besides its contribution to productivity, the novel mechanical handling system devised by Street has also enabled Metal Improvement Co. to use space more efficiently.

Street has made a speciality of engineering special systems for the aerospace industry. Construction bays typically are wide with lightweight roofs. Often there are limitations regarding crane depth to preserve maximum working height. Street has developed a range of solutions to these problems featuring strong lightweight beam designs, compact lifting gear and even cranes that can flex as lightweight roof structures respond to snow loading and wind pressure.

Further details are available from Street Crane Co. Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 1298 812456; Fax: +44 (0) 1298 814945; E-mail: admin@streetcrane.co.uk; Web site: www.streetcrane.co.uk