Case Study - Design Engineering - Linkspan Design
Sector: Engineering
Design optimisation
The Resource Centre for Innovation & Design (RCID) worked with Burness Corlett - Three Quays (Northern) Ltd, a major supplier of port equipment, to optimise the design of a new linkspan and associated equipment. This was part of the new Liverpool Cruise Liner Facility.
RCID was involved through all stages of the project with full responsibility for the structural design calculations.
High-level Analysis
As the design progressed the RCID was involved in the design and analysis of the steel structure.
This included the detailed assessment of load cases and finite element modelling of over 350 Tonnes of fabricated steelwork including two truss bridges and the main restraint collars for the facility. All of this work was undertaken in cooperation with the client’s own engineers with a two-way flow of technical information and design decisions.
Detailed analysis was carried out using the Pro/Mechanica and COSMOS/M packages. This work included the effects of environmental loads caused by waves hitting the structure and storm force winds. Full live loading was also considered - including up to 300 Tonnes of passenger vehicles or special cargo loads of over 100 Tonnes. The effects of extreme loadings were considered and a fatigue analysis carried out at hot-spot locations.
Cost-effective solutions
The team working on the project needed to keep in mind the need to reduce the amount of steel being used. This was an important driver of the design for cost and weight reasons – the latter was of particular importance because the bridges are supported on pontoons.
Creating confidence
The RCID’s calculations were subjected to third party checking by two approval bodies before fabrication commenced. Burness Corlett - Three Quays (Northern) Ltd was able to gain confidence in the final design because of the higher-end analysis tools used by the RCID on this project.
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