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THESIS

 
THESIS
THE EQUIPMENT AND OPERATION OF A STRUCTURAL STERL PLANT
By
G. W. HEBBLEWHITE
191

 
-l-

The equipment of a structural steel plant depends
very much upon the kind of work to be done and the tonnage
to be fabricated. .

I have taken a plant with a capacity of 1800 tons
per month of such work as mill buildings, trestles,
riveted truss bridges and plate girder bridges, which do
not weigh more than 30 tons per girder.

Drawing No. 1 ‘is @ ground plan of the plant, which
shows the location of the different departments and build-
ings, with the exception of the estimating and contracting
department.

The departments and buildings in the order they are
connected with the plant are as follows: :

1. Estimating and contracting department

2. Office department.

oO. Drawing department

4. Store House

5. Boiler House

6. Power House

7. Machine Shop

8, Templet Shop

9. Receiving Shed

10 Structural Shop

11 Loading Yard

The estimating & contracting Dept. is located in the
heart. of the city, where it is convenient for the trans-
action of business. In this department is the President
and Secretary of the company, an architect, an engineer,

two designers, two estimators, an operator of the

401181
- ae eee om
op-

comptometer, a stenographer and an office boy.

They design and submit bids on structural steel work
and if the bid is accepted, the designs are sent out to
the Drawing Room at the plant. This department alsc has
charge of erection work.

The office department is situated on the first floor
of a building 30° by 60°, which is shown in plan on
drawing !'c.4.

The Superintendent's room is No. 1. The bookkeeper
and shipping clerk occupy room No. 2. The stenographer
and time-keeper are in room No. 3. No. 4 is used as a
store-room and No, 5 is a vault.

The office department has charge of all work done
at the plant.

The Drawing Department is on the second floor of the
office building. In this department iw the chief engineer,
& checkers and designers, 8 detailers and a blue-print
boy. There are 12 large drawing tables arranged along
the outside of the room, so that each man has good light.
The blue-print room in which there is an electric blue-
print machine is above room No, 4.

There is a vault above the one on the first floor,
for the safe keeping and filing of all drawings.

This department details and checks drawings for the shop.
They also make out field rivets and bolt lists for erection
and write the shipping bills.

The Store House is a building 50° by 100° 6",

This is shom in plan on drawing No. 1, and in cross-

section drawing No. 2. It is used for paint, oil, rivets
~3~

and bolts, the erection outfits and as a general store
house for the plant. The trolley beam at the peak of the
trues extends 4' out from the building so that some things
can be raised to the second floor by the hand hoist, or
by dropping a platform from the doorway on the second
floor, so that a truck can be run out. The loading yard
crane is used for raising heavy objects to this truck,
which is then run back into the building.

The Boiler House next to the Store House has the same
cross-section, Two 250 H.P. boilers with automatic stokers
are shown at 50 & 51. It is only necessary to run one
boiler at a time, this permits changing from one to the
other, for cleaning and repairing. Coal is unloaded from
the cars to the second floor by a bucket conveyor through
the side wall. A bin is hung from the floor over each
stoker, so that it requires very little labor in handling
coal. It requires only one man to take care of the
Boiler & Power Houses.

- The Power House which is 50’ by 60° has the same
cross-section as the store house, except that there is
no floor in the bottom chord of the trusses. A 225 H.P.
engine is located at 55, and a 200 H.P. dynamo at 56.
Power is tranamitted from the engine by a belt to a line
shaft supported on the bottom chord of the trusses, and
thence by a belt to the dynamo. 57 is a 200 H.P. engine
which is used in case of emergency. There is a flange
coupling on each side of the pulley to the dynamo, so
that it only requires a few minutes to transfer from one

engine to the other. The dynamo developes electric current
-5-

A joiner is located at 70, which is used to get a
straight edge on the templets.

7. is a 3/4" band saw, which is used for sawing curved
and irregular pieces.

72 is a 12" circular saw.

75 is a 5° knife for cutting cardboard.

A boring machine for boring holes in all wooden
templets is located at 74.

The second floor is used for storing patterns,
templets and lumber. The tenplets are kept until after
a job is erected.

The trolley beam extends out to the Receiving Shed
crane, and is hung from the bottom chord of a truss; with
this arrangement lumber is transferred from a car by the
Receiving Shed crane to the hand hoist, and then run back
into the building.

The Receiving Shed is shown in plan on drawing No. l
and in cross-section drawing No. 3. A space is kept for
each section of material. It is lifted from the cars by
a 10 ton electric crane, then carried to the place desired
and run out between the columns.

Material which is ordered to length, and will be used
immediately, is placed in front of the structural shop.

Stock lengths which vary from 25° to 65° (depending
upon the sections) are placed at either end of the shed.

The short ends which are left over in cutting from
stock material » are placed near the shop, and used when-
ever it is possible.

One man is required to run the crane, and two men to

handla tha «b--~~{
-6-

On drawing No. 1 the scale is shown at 7 3 and is
used for weighing a mixed carload of material. When the
car is loaded with the same section it is weighed on the
large scale in the loading yard, shown at 80,

The industrial tracks with 3° gauge, run from the
recéiving shed through the structural shop and loading
yard, as shown on drawing No. l. |

The Structural Shop is a building 90° wide and 400’
long, which is shown in plan on drawing No, 1, and in cross
section drawing No.c.

A Bethlehem rolled steel 8" H section is used in the
bottom chord. This makes a stiff member, and the inside
of the flange gives nearly a flat running surface for the
trolleys.

The knee braces which are made of 2 angles are
separated 12" back to back, so that the trolleys can run
up near the posts.

The bottom flanges are cut flush at the post, so
that by removing the stop angles, a trolley can be taken
down for repairs,

On account of the number of machines in the
Structural Shop, and the variety of work done by some of
the machines, I will locate each machine and give ina
general way the part it has to do in connection with the
fabrication of material, then I will take up the movement
of the different structural shapes, from the time they
leave the Receiving Yard, until they are fabricated and

ready for shipment.
=Ja

Referring to drawing No.1. Each machine is numbered
and pictures of the various machines are found from
pages 22 to 48.

The central part of nearly every built up section is
a plate, so I will deal first with those machines which
are equipped for plate work,

1, is a plate straightening rolls, which consists of
8 rolls, 98" between housings. Plates are very often
curved on the edge, and by tightening the rolls on this
side it lengthens the concave side of the plate by rolling
it thinner; unless a plate is exceptionally crooked, it
can be straightened by one pass through the machine.

There is a table composed of a series of inverted
casters in the front and rear, and of the same height as
the rolls, this makes it possible to move the plate in
either direction.

2, is a heavy gate shears, Which is 98" between
housings, with a throat depth of 12". The upper blade is
Bet at a slight angle, so that it does not cut the full
length, It has a capacity for shearing plates 96" by 5/8"
or 48" by 1°. This machine also has a table like the
straightening rolls.

5, is a multiple puneh, it is 90" between housings,
and has a capacity for punching 36 holes 13/16" dia.
through a 1" plate, or 28 holes 1-1/16" dia. through
the same plate. Each punch is controlled by a separate
Zag, and they can be moved to suit the spacing in the
material. One or all puncheg may be used at the same
time. It has a table 65° long in front. and 50° long
~8-

in the rear instead of the short table as shown in the
print. This machine will also punch angles. A"V" shaped
guide may be substituted for the rollers, which is for |
plates, and two angles, one of which is opposite hand to
the other, may be clamped back to back with these legs
down, and placed in the guide, and they can then be
punched similar to plates. If there is one line of holes
in each angle, two punches are used and four punches

for two lines of holes in each angle. The other two legs
may be punched if necessary, in the same way.

4, is a single punch with a 60" throat, which has a
capacity for punching holes 1-1/2" dia. through 1" plate.
It is located in the rear of the miltiple punch for con-
venience in punching any holes which may have been over-
looked, and also for punching different sized holes, as
it does not pay to stop and change punches in the multiple
punch for holes which are of different diameter.

5, 18 a plate bending rolls which consists of 3
rolls 11' between housings. Plates which have a curved
surface, such as round tanks or smoke stacks are run
through this machine after the holes have been punched.

A bench for laying angles on in marking and center
punching is located at 6. It is made by placing several
6" I-beams across two wooden sleepers.

7, 18 a double puncs 4s’ ear for angles, which has a
capacity for shearing 6x 6x 5/8 angles and punching a
2-3/4" hole through a 5/8.angle. The punch and shear can
be operated at the same time. There are some rollers in

front and rear of the shear end on which to run the angles.
~9-

8, is a bench on which to lay plates for marking and
center punching, it 18 similar to the one at 6,

A double machine for punching and splitting or
trimming plates is located at 9. The punch end has a
48" throat and the shear end a 60" throat. It is used for
punching plates in which the holes are not conveniently
located for the maltiple punch and also when there are
only a few plates of a kind, so that it would not pay to
arrange the punches to fit the spacing. Plates which have
an uneven edge are trinmed on this machine, it is also
used for splitting plates which are too wide for the
gate shears.

10, is a solid top bench to lay gussets on in mark-
ing and center punching.

ll, is a shear with a 16" blade, which is used for
shearing gussets, in which the longest cut does not exceed
16". The larger gussets are sheared on the gate shears.

A double punch is located at 12, both ends have two
punches set at positive centers. Each punch is controlled
by a gag, so that either or both can be used at one stroke.
The left hand end is equipped with a 11/16" punch and a
13/16" punch. The right hand end has a 13/16" punch and
other punches of larger diameter. However, all the
punches may be changed if necessary, as it only requires
about 10 minutes to change one punch and die.

15, is a straightening or bending machine and a
horizontal punch combined. Very often angles become
curved or bent in punching or handling, and they are then

straightened on.this machine, before being assembled.
-10-

It is used for bending angles or plates when necessary.
Tre punch is used for punching angles.

A double angle shear on a turntable is located at
14, which has a capacity for shearing 8 x 8 x 1" angles.
There are several rollers in front and rear at the heisht
of the shearing table on which to run the angles, Zt
is mounted on a turntable, so that the machine can be set
at an angle for shearing bevel cuts.

15, is a double punch same as at lz.

A punch with 60" throat is located at 15, which has
three punches, generally a 11/16", 13/16" and 15/16" dia.
which can be ope rated independently, with this arrangement
a piece with three sized holes can be punched at one pass
through the machine.

17, i8 a double machine. The right end is used for
punching ring fills which are generally 2-1/2" dia. with
a 13/16" hole. The left hand end is equipped for punch-
ing lattice bars. It cuts a curved end and punches one
hole at a stroke, so that it requires two strokes for each
bar.

A high speed friction saw for cutting channels and
beams is located at 18. This will cut a 15"- 80# I-beam
in 28 seconds. The saw has no teeth, but is nicked with
a chisel, the rough edge and high speed causes it to
burn its way through the steel. A stream of cold water
flows over the saw.

19 & 19-A which are shown as two machines are

combined with one driving wheel as shown for 17,
-li-

By having them combined in this way it only requires one
motor and it also takes up less floor space.

19, is a beam punch. The two punches can be moved
and also worked independently. For punching web holes
the punches are generally set at 2-1/2" or 3" centers,
which is the distance for nearly all standard connections.
For flange holes the punches are spaced for the standard
flange gauge on the bean,

19-A, is a coping and notching machine. One or both
sides of a flange may be coped at once, the beam is then
turned over if necessary, and the other flange coped.

It is also used for notching any structural shape.

A punch for beams and channels is located at. 20.

21, is a combined horizontal punch and bending or
straightening machine. This punch is for punching beams
or channels, and the other end is for bending beams,
channels or angles which are to be bent. It is also used
in straightening material which has been bent in punching
or handling.

22, is a high speed drill, which is used for counter-
sinking holes in base piates and drilling holes when
necessary.

A disc grinder is located at 23. The emery wheels are
26" in dia. The tables have a rocking motion across the
face of the disc, and they also have an angular adjust-
ment with the face of the disc. -It is used for grinding
stiffner angles and other pieces which require a tight fit.

24, is a rotary planer. The diameter of the cutting
head is 36" and it has a cutting travel of 8° and is used
-12-

for milling the ends of columns and bents to get a true
bearing surface.

25, is a rotary planer on a turntable. The dia. of
the cutting head is 50", and it also has a cutting travel
of 8*. It is mounted on a turntable for the convenience
in milling material, where the base is at an angle with
the axis of the piece. The machine can be turned to the
proper angle instead of having to skew the piece across
the bench.

A bulldozer is located at 26.

I was unfortunate in not getting a picture of this
machine. It is equipped with dies for forging a variety
of work. Some of the important uses however are for
crimping anglesf#. ;late girders and bending the end of
knee brace angles to make a connection.

A forge furnace is located at 27, which is used for
heating material for the bulldozer and pneumatic hammer.
Oil is used as a fuel.

2’-A is a forge for small work.

28, is a 250% pneumatic hanmer, which is used for
welding heavy rods and bars and for flattening rods for
pin holes.

29 & 29-A are two threading machines, they are used
for threading anchor bolts, brace and sag rods.

A furnace for heating rods to make rivets and bolt
heads is located at 30. Oil is used as a fuel.

Sl, is a heading machine for making rivet and bolt
heads and also upsetting rods. The rods are heated in

the furnace and then fed into the machine.
-13-

52, is an assembling and riveting bench and :180 a
table for the rotary planers. This is made of lz x 14"
timbers with a railroad rail spiked on top. The skids
are 10° centers and at the height of the planer bed.

Five radial drills with 16° arms are attached to the
face of the building columns as shown at 35, They are
used for reaming holes, which is very often required on
heavy bridge work, and for drilling holes which do not
match in assembling, they are also used for counter-
sinking holes.

54, i8 a platform for the rivet heaters, which is
4" wide and 10' above the ground floor. There are four
furnaces on this platform which are show at J34-A,

The rivets are stored in bins below.

55, is a space for riveting.

S5-A, are riveters. There are eight of them suspended
on trolleys, so that they can be run in either direction.
The shop foreman's office is show at 36, it is

10° by 16°.

57, ig a tool room 16° by 20°. To avoid loss of
tools, each man has to give a check for each tool he has
at work.

On drawing No.2, the hoist shown at 40 consists of
two 1 ton hand hoists, which run on an I-beam suspended
from the bottom chord of the trusses by two or three
trolleys, depending upon the length of the beam. By this
arrangement long material can be picked up from the cars
and passed through the machine.

Over the following machines 4-7-9-12-15-19 the beam
wl 4

is suspended from three trusses and is 56° long, since
it projects 8° beyond each truss. It is suspended from
two trusses and is 32° long over the following machines
§-13-16-20 & 21

41, shows a 5 ton electric hoist. There are 31 of
these in the shop, only one being used on some trusses
where thsre is not much heavy material to handle.

Each machine is run by a motor. In the pictures
where the motor is not shown, it is set near the machine
and connected by a belt.

There are several small cars for transferring
material.

About 120 men are required in the structural shop.

Now that we have in mind the location of the machines,
we will continue with the movement of the steel through
the shop.

A plate is picked up by the Receiving Shed crane
and placed on the table in front of the straightening
rolls at 1, the rolls are adjusted and the plate is run
through; from here it is shoved over to the table in
front of the gate shears, and marked for the required
length to be sheared. It is then cut off, or it may be
cut into several pieces. If there are a number of plates
alike, amd with holes conveniently arranged for the
multiple punch, they are run over to this table.

The punches are set for the proper spacing.

A templet which is the full length of the plate is
clamped to the table, on this templet there is a system
of marks for the punching of holes. |
-15-

The carriage is clamped to the rear end of the plate.
When the plate is run through a dog on the carriage slides
over the templet and when it coincides with a mark, a
man watching the templet signals to the operator of the
punch to punch the desired holes. If some of the holes
have been omitted, or there are some of different diameter,
the plate is picked up by the hoist runway and taken to
the punch at 4, where the remaining holes are punched.
The. plate is then placed ona car and run over to the
assembling bench at 32.

If there are a few plates with holes not conveniently
located for the multiple punch, they are taken from the
gate shears to the marking bench at 8, where they are
marked and center punched. The holes are then punched
on the plate punch, and from here it is transferred to
the assembling bench.

Gusset plates are cut to the right length on the
gate shears, they are then taken to the marking bench at
10 to be marked and center punched, trimmed on the shears
at 11 and punched at lz and are now ready to be assembled,

Base plates are cut on the gate shears and punched
on the double punch at 12, and are then taken to the drill
at 22 ,» Where the holes are countersunk on the bottom, from
here they are taken to the assembling bench.

Angles which are to be punched on the miltiple punch
are picked up by the receiving shed crane and placed on
cars on the south track. They are then run into the build-
ing, and sheared on the angle shear at 7, from here they
are punched on the miltiple punch, and then transferred
-16-

to the assembling bench. .

The angles in which the holes are not arranged for
multiple punching and those which have bevel cuts are
run in on the north track, and placed on the bench at 6
for marking and center punching, they are then cut on the
angle shear at 14 and punched on the double punch at 15.
If there is any bending or straightening required they
are taken to the machine at 21, and then to the assembling
bench.

Beams or channels when taken from stock are cut on
the friction saw, but they are generally ordered from the
mill cut to length. They are marked and center punched
on the bench at the rear of the saw, from here they are
picked up by a hoist runway and punched at 19, also coped
if necessary.on 119A.

Short beams and channels are punched at 20 and 2] and
straightened, if necessary, on the straightening machine
at 21. If shop riveted connections are necessary, they
are taken to the assembling bench.

Pieces to be forged are heated in the furnace at 27,
and then swung over to the bulldozer at. 26, or tle pneu-
matic hammer at 28,

Lattice bars which are used instead of plates on
colums and struts are cut and punched on the left hand
end of 17, and ring fills which are used with stitch rivets
are punched on the right. hand end.

All material in which there is no shop rivets to be

driven is taken directly from the punches to the loadirg
yard .
~17-

The various sections which have been brought to the
assembling bench are bolted together in forming trusses,
columms, etc., which are then riveted with the portable
riveters shown in figure 35A.

Columns and other pieces which require milling are
taken to the rotary planers at 24 or 25.

As soon as the shop rivets are driven, the material
is run into the loading yard.

The shop inspector examines the work and sees that
it conforms with the drawings, after which each piece is
given one coat of paint; parts not accessible after
riveting, are painted before assembling.

This campletes the fabrication of the steel, and is
now ready for shipping.

When shipments are made, each piece is weighed on
the scale at 81, or by the carload on scale at 80,
 
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