Sewage tank access platform passes FEA simulation
An
Idac product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Mar 18, 2009
Idac has confirmed that a recently built temporary access platform, constructed for a sewage treatment settlement tank, is structurally safe.
Idac carried out a finite element analysis (FEA) safety simulation to ensure that the structure of the platform conformed to design criteria.
Eriks designed and built the platform, made of aluminium, for Thames Water.
Periodically, settlement tanks are drained for engineers to gain access for inspection and/or maintenance works and, as such, a safe platform is required to enable access.
Idac carred out a linear structural analysis of the access platform and checked the safety factors.
It created two 3D models of the platform using the Autodesk Inventor computer-aided design system to represent two configurations of the platform: legs forward and legs back.
The geometry was simplified to remove any small features that were deemed unnecessary for the analysis.
Contact conditions were set for all the interfaces and fully fixed constraints were used at the supports.
Although the platform is only required to carry one person, area loads were applied at two locations to simulate two people standing on the platform in case of emergency.
The safety factors were also calculated for the entire structure and the minimum safety factor for both leg configurations was found to be five.
This showed that the access platform was well designed for its purpose.
The analyses showed that the factors of safety for both leg configurations, when carrying double the load, were above five throughout the model.
This means that the platform can potentially carry up to five people and still have a safety margin of 100 per cent.
The deflections in the structure under normal operating conditions were in the order of 1.5 mm, which implies a stiff structure that is unlikely to 'sway' during usage.
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