Table of Contents

    • 50

    • The Evolution of the AIST Cranes Technology Committee: Ambitions, Membership and Collaborations

      The Association of Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers was organized in 1907. In October 1909, Technical Report No. 6 was adapted, originally titled “The General Crane Specification,” as a bidders’ specification for electrical overhead traveling cranes. From this 107-year history, the AIST Cranes Technology Committee has successfully maintained a healthy membership and traveled through constantly changing technological advancements. The evolution, ambitions, membership and collaborations of this group will be revealed.

    • 60

    • The New Age of Scale House Management

      This paper will present innovation with new technologies for improving shipments and deliveries through a single scale house operation. Plant travel logistics and shipment errors have been improved by utilizing automated scale house kiosks.

    • 66

    • World-Class Performance of EOT Cranes of Steelmaking Plants Through Technology, Innovation and a System-Based Maintenance Approach

      Tata Steel Jamshedpur is an 11-mtpa integrated steel plant with more than 100 electric overhead traveling (EOT) cranes in its steel melting shops. These cranes are deployed for production, service and maintenance activities. In the last 2 years, substantial improvement in safety, reliability and productivity of these cranes has been achieved with the help of technology, innovations and a system-based maintenance philosophy. A previous level of 70% interruptions resulting in production losses has been reduced, and a 50% unsafe incident rate was also reduced. Several failures and unsafe incidents were eliminated. This paper presents the journey for improving the performance of EOT cranes and the way forward to achieve world-class performance of cranes.

    • 78

    • AC-Sourced, DC Magnet Control

      AC-powered cranes do not need a DC source to operate a lifting magnet. This paper will present the advantages of AC power to control a DC lifting magnet. The advantages include faster lifts and drops as well as consistent lift performance that does not degrade with increased magnet operating temperature. The discussion will include how this technology eliminates the traditional components required in operating a DC lifting magnet. It will also cover the energy management of this new technology and applying it to material handling applications.

    • 82

    • Mega Superloads Over Road and Water — Today’s Transportation Challenges and Benefits

      Due to reduced maintenance and the failing infrastructure of roads, bridges and waterways, navigating the highways and waterways of the United States with oversized loads has become very challenging for suppliers of large equipment. Designing and building equipment that needs to conform to traditional highway transport dimensional limitations has added costs for suppliers of domestically made equipment. These costs are borne by the supplier and customer through additional design times needed, start-up delays due to the field work needed to re-assemble equipment as well as potential quality issues. The transporting of mega superloads, though expensive and difficult, has many advantages to delivering equipment in multiple pieces.

    • 88

    • The Effect of Mixed Charging of Slabs on Their Rolling Practice and Mechanical Behavior

      The reheating furnace designed for hot charging of slabs is composed of two zones: heating (charging) and soaking (discharge) zones. A lack of a pre-heating zone significantly prolongs the residence time of cold-charged slabs in the charge zone due to high demand of heat flux. In order to improve the throughput of the reheating furnace for the cold-charged slabs, a strategy of mixed charging of cold and hot slabs was implemented. Comparing mixed charge with cold and hot charges in regard to slab residence time, slab temperature profile, mill drafting schedule and mechanical property of plates, the effect of mixed charging of slabs on their rolling practice and mechanical behavior is investigated. In addition, temperature profiles with various layout patterns of slabs in the furnace are predicted through a numerical algorithm and validated by the surface temperature measurements.