Results pilot on sensor detection for manageability
assets at Tata Steel positive
Techport companies Intures and SHM NEXT recently completed a pilot at Tata Steel using sensor technology to help customers keep assets manageable. The outcome? The sensor works and has detected crack growth. Next up? The potential has been seen and a second pilot is being launched.
Inspection company Intures received a 2021 Smart Industry Northwest feasibility voucher with the help of Techport. Intures was able to use the voucher to start a use case at Tata Steel within the Fieldlab Smart Maintenance to confirm the operation of sensors. This took place at a crane runway construction at Tata Steel over which huge cranes with pans of liquid steel drive. The sensors used were from startup SHM NEXT. Daniel Tajari, SHM NEXT: "These sensors are unique because in addition to monitoring existing cracks, they can also detect new cracks in a large area. With this type of sensor, you don't need to know the location of a crack in advance, and the sensor additionally measures how fast the crack is growing."
The study
For this pilot, sensors were installed at two locations. Dennis Heemskerk, Intures: "Before we installed the sensors, we did a visual inspection of the structure and a baseline measurement was done via Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) to visualize the existing crack pattern. We looked at how large the existing fatigue cracks were and close to the cracks we hung sensors. This so that we could also monitor existing cracks that were there in a targeted way. Then we measured for two months during which we recorded many signals.
After this period, the baseline measurement was performed again by NDT at the same locations in exactly the same form. Ultimately, this examination showed that one crack had grown. This growth also showed exactly from the measurement of the sensor of SHM NEXT. This proved that the sensor was working properly. Another crack showed no crack growth, but the sensors measured activity. This is due to the type of study that was performed and because it is a crack that has already been repaired once." Daniel adds: "In this pilot phase, we learned a lot and always moved quickly. We are very satisfied with what we found and it is completely in line with the independent investigation."
Bob Vrenegoor, crane job manager Tata Steel: "We are happy to have participated in this pilot and to have installed the sensors. The results are good. For places where you can't reach well, these sensors are certainly suitable for detecting crack growth properly. We do have to keep doing a pre-inspection and we are now going to make arrangements about where we are going to store the data. It is a new technology and that also introduces a new way of collaboration and management. In any case, the conversation has started with this pilot and we are well on our way. The scope of the pilot has been successfully completed, but the
whole process is certainly not yet complete."
Collaboration is decisive
The cooperation between SHM NEXT, Tata Steel, Techport and Intures was decisive in achieving this result, according to the gentlemen. Jarno Water, Intures: "Putting an innovation into practice is possible, but it takes a lot of perseverance. Asset owners can think conservatively about new technologies, we as an organization invest a lot of time and energy to convince asset owners that more is possible. Together with Techport, we were able to change this and also turn this into an opportunity. And we like to join these kinds of opportunities. We are happy that Tata Steel offered us the opportunity to monitor an asset. You enter into a new working methodology and collaboration with this pilot. You get results that you didn't get before, so you also create new needs. This is a normal state of affairs, it shows that you hit something that releases energy. This is why we are now going to start a second pilot and we see many more possibilities and areas of application."
"We know the sensor works and we know we can strategically place the sensors in places that are difficult to access. We see opportunities in performing short-term measurements and, in some situations, measurements over a longer period of time so that you can build a trend with the data. In this way we can gain more experience and even better predict what influences the failure behavior of assets and even more accurately approach the failure moment of assets. There are also already discussions with other parties who want to know what knowledge we have gained. We see more opportunities to start cases at other companies with this technology. So from now on we will take this application with us as an addition to our toolbox."