RotaBolts on Piling Hammer

BSP International Foundations Ltd has fitted RotaBolt® measurement fasteners to the largest hydraulic piling hammer that it manufactures. The hammer, which has a 40 tonne drop weight, has been operating on a site in Venezuela for the past year and has been trouble free. The company has subsequently fitted RotaBolts on another two smaller 20 tonne hammers and is now making RotaBolt fasteners standard fit.

The RotaBolts have been used to connect the main flanged segments of the pile sleeve. “The hammers are subject to continuous high vibration and shock loads throughout their life,” commented Matthew Liddle, Chief Engineer at BSP, “we had tried all sorts of locking methods to prevent bolt loosening, but RotaBolts have helped to give us product integrity and have also made inspection and maintenance in the field much easier.”

BSP manufacture a range of hydraulic piling hammers from 1 tonne drop weight up to 40 tonnes. The CGL 590 KNm hammers are 14 metres high and can accommodate a 2 metre diameter pile. The complete assembly weighs 84 tonnes and has two main sleeve flanges which are now fitted with M24 and M36 RotaBolts to assure overall integrity.

Once the RotaBolts have been installed to the correct design tension, the RotaCaps on the top of each RotaBolt lock and then throughout the hammer’s operational life they can then be instantly finger checked to ensure that they are still maintaining the correct tension across the joint. If any tension should be lost, the cap rotates freely and this can be quickly and easily detected.

90% of the hammers that BSP manufacture are exported for use in a wide range of environments and climates. The use of RotaBolts is helping them to ensure that the hammers are not only assembled correctly, but they are also operated as efficiently as possible.

RotaBolt technology is also being used to assure bolted joint integrity across a wide range of heavy engineering applications where vibration, fatigue and structural slippage can be problematic. The fasteners are being used on longwall mining shearers, large crane grab jaws, stacker reclaimers, military bridging systems, as well as on pedestal and tower cranes.

Original article here : http://www.rotabolt.co.uk/rotabolts-on-piling-hammer/