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16.08.2019, 12:54 Uhr
Menzitowoc
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Interview mit Peter Dalla Riva über Humma Cranes – Posting 1 von 2
Hallo,
in der australischen Zeitschrift „Cranes and Lifting“ erschien vor einiger Zeit ein Interview mit Peter Dalla Riva, dem Gründer von DRA Industries, Muttergesellschaft von Humma Cranes. Es ging darin um die Initiative zur Entwicklung von knickgelnkten Pick&Carry Kranen, die 1997 mit dem Construct RC18 starte und mit dem riesigen Humma 55-25 ihren aktuellen Höhepunkt hat.
Das Interview wurde unter dem Titel „Where to now Humma?“ am 16. Mai 2019 in der Cranes and Lifting veröffentlicht:
Cranes and Lifting gets and inside look at the Humma range of pick and carry cranes.
The Humma range has evolved from its foundation in 1996 to producing a range of models, culminating in the release of the worlds largest articulated pick and carry crane with auto levelling.
Cranes and Lifting Magazine was interested in the plans for the range and how the new Humma 55t will impact on the industry. We spoke to DRA Industries founder, Peter Dalla Riva.
Cranes and Lifting: DRA was established in 1971 and was operating in other industries when the Humma project was launched in 1996. Why was the pick and carry crane market chosen when DRA had no design background and knowledge of the market?
Peter Dalla Riva: In 1984, DRA acquired Construct Engineering, an experienced design and build business in the field of material handling. The in-house experience both at the engineering and manufacturing level was high and diversified under DRA stewardship. Construct expanded, carrying out design, build, install and commissioning projects throughout Australia and later overseas in New Zealand, Ireland, Botswana, India, Qatar and Italy. The flow of overseas projects diminished and with a skilled group of staff it was necessary to find alternative work or retrench. Rather than lose the company’s skill level, other engineering markets were investigated. Following an Australian wide survey, the pick and carry crane market was chosen, as the industry confirmed it was open to change. At the time, there was only one manufacturer, Franna in Brisbane, the other was Linmac in Perth which had recently ceased operations. The first Humma 18 was built in 1997.
Quelle/Source: Ausschnitt aus Datenblatt „Construct RC18“; Copyright: Humma Cranes
Zu diesem Construct 18 Knicklenkerkran gibt es hier im Thread ein Posting mit einem Bild und einem Datenblatt.
Cranes and Lifting: Without experienced crane engineers how was the Humma specification and design established?
Peter Dalla Riva: It was a steep learning curve. During the period 1998/2000, pick and carry crane owners and others, made jokes about Construct Engineering and the Humma when early models had occasional breakdowns in the field. We saw it as being part of debugging of early designs.
The design team had not designed a crane with the exception of an engineer from Linmac, but the range of design experience was considerable over a variety of industries, food processing, cereal storage and transfer, fertiliser blending, storage and dispatch and a range of specialized items of plant. One such item of plant is the hyperbaric chamber at the Fremantle Hospital for treating burns patients. With this wide range of expertise the Construct engineers adopted a specification and design criteria not used by either Franna or Linmac and unknown by the market. Even today, Humma has difficulty in gaining acceptance with some buyers after more than twenty years of manufacture.
Your question goes to the heart of design and specification when designing manufacturing plants and machines. The design criteria includes that it must be safe to operate, it must be reliable as often they run 24/7 and componentry must be quality extending the working life before major overhauls are required. The buyer will consider all of the costs to the major overhaul, purchase price, maintenance, downtime and operating costs. Humma takes all of the above into consideration and more, and after twenty years of operation there is the proof. The air suspension, minimal wear and no replacement on any Humma to date, articulation joint after fifteen years one millimetre wear and no line boring required and fabricated boom damage is rare and only when operators exceed the design safety limit.
Cranes and Lifting: You have explained how the engineering teams’ experience in other industries is adopted in the Humma design, but were there specific design and objectives?
Peter Dalla Riva: Yes, there was a range of technical criteria covering safety, reliability, low running and maintenance costs and a design capable of being used on all future model. If you look at all Humma models, from 20t through to 55t, the footprint is the same only the size changes to suit the lifting capacity. Standardisation was an integral part of the design criteria set in 1996. Also, the initial plan was to build about thirty Humma over a period of a few years, having them available for dry hire, for heavy construction and maintenance in the mining industry. There was no plan to sell the crane’s various models as they were developed in the initial ten years as this would enable Construct to track performance and incorporate the upgrades into new models.
The 1996 specification has been followed and the benefits are now well proven. Take the footprint, it has become heavier with size with no warranty issues as debugging of earlier models has increased reliability dramatically. Because of the design changes all current models 25t, 35t and 55t do not have a problem attributed to standardisation. The air suspension introduced in the design specification in 1996 was laughed at and industry operators said a crane must have a rigid leaf spring suspension because Franna and Linmac cranes used them. The opposition could not offer any technical reasons why air spring could not be used. Construct designed and tested a number of versions and, yes there were failures in the field. The development cost was high but perseverance won the day, the Humma air suspension has contributed to the quality and performance it has shown over many years.
Damage to the crane when working comes down to operator misuse such as over-lifting. The major damage occurs when the crane is driven especially at high speed. The air suspension confines the road conditions to the axles as the air spring absorbs most of the vibration and does not transfer it to the crane structure, this destroys bearings, cracks welds, enlarges the articulation joint, increases cabin noise and loosens bolts and fittings.
Leaf spring suspension exhibits all of the above problems and although this model of crane should not exceed 80kph, if this is exceeded the driver can lose control when vibration is high. Air spring as designed and installed in all Humma, has been tested at 105kpm on Humma 35 with the driver having full control.
Modular construction was another design feature to enhance the speed of manufacture in the case of the cabin, ease of assembly, ease of replacement in the event of a turnover and by mounting on rubber supports reduces cabin noise from engine and road whilst driving. The noise level is well within the standard at 65 to 70 decibels.
The industry survey established that the market wanted a crane with fully powered booms which did not exist, larger reach, heavier lift capability, more comfortable ride, greater reliability, lower maintenance and operating costs and increased safety.
It has taken time, but Construct has met all of the survey and more, worthy of mention is the automotive Cummins engine used in all three models, as is the driveline. The engine power can be electronically adjusted from 230hp to 315hp. Apart from saving in standardised parts the engine has been tested against industrial versions achieving up to 25% lower fuel consumption with lower pollution.
Fortsetzung im nächsten Posting.
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Mal was ganz Anderes: Marion Walking Dragline aus Constructor (Holzbaukasten)
Dieser Post wurde am 16.08.2019 um 22:35 Uhr von Menzitowoc editiert. |
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