TRIAL ASSEMBLY OF COLUMNS & CEILING GIRDERS

GENERAL
- All components shall be complete except for those operations which are necessarily to be done during or after trial assembly
- All NDE & PWHT shall be complete
- When all pieces are not possible to be assembled in one stage, minimum of 3 pieces shall be assembled at a time starting from bottom
- The last piece of first set shall be retained for subsequent assembly
- Match drilling of cover plates of flanges and webs shall be done before dismantling of trial assembly
- I beams shall be trial assembled in H position, i.e. web shall be horizontal
- Plus columns shall be trial assembled in I position, i.e. T sections shall be horizontal
- Match marking shall be done for all components before dismantling of trial assembly

TRIAL ASSEMBLY OF WELDED TYPE COLUMNS

- Welding edges of flanges and web shall be checked for straightness / squareness before trial assembly
- Ensure proper preheating for tack welding during trial assembly
- Trial assembly shall be done by butting the ends without any root gap. Variation in gap shall be ≤ 2 mm
- Alignment of centre line of adjacent sections shall be ≤ 2 mm
- Check horizontal plane by water level and vertical plane by piano wire
- Out of straightness of total length shall be ≤ 18 mm. For part assemblies up to 3 pieces, it shall be ≤ 10 mm
- Tolerance on overall assembly length shall be ± 15 mm. If assembly is done in stages of 3 pieces or more at a time, it shall be ± 5 mm

TRIAL ASSEMBLY OF BOLTED TYPE COLUMNS

- End faces of individual pieces shall be machined flat and square by end milling / end grinding / hand grinding or scraping
- Blue matching shall be done and minimum matching area shall be ≥ 80% of the total area
- Localised gaps checked using feeler gauge shall be ≤ 0.2 mm
- Offset of flange width at joints shall be ≤ 3 mm. If more, the same shall be ground to give a taper of 1 in 4
- Gap between cover plates seating on flange and web faces shall be ≤ 1 mm in hand tight condition
- In the area of rest plate and cover plate, maximum gap shall be ≤ 3 mm
- Level difference between adjacent flanges shall be adjusted by:
- using suitable shims when thinner section is on bolting side
- grinding when thicker section is on bolting side
- While grinding, ensure that the final thickness is ≥ 90% of nominal thickness
- Out of straightness of total length shall be ≤ 18 mm. For part assemblies up to 3 pieces, it shall be ≤ 10 mm
- Tolerance on overall assembly length shall be ± 15 mm. If assembly is done in stages of 3 pieces or more at a time, it shall be ± 5 mm

TRIAL ASSEMBLY OF PLUS COLUMN WITH END PLATES

- Check for flatness and squareness of end plates after welding
- Difference in sections at matching faces shall be equally distributed on both sides of the web and properly matched with flange centreline
- Level difference between adjacent flanges shall be adjusted by using shims or grinding
- While grinding, ensure that the final thickness is ≥ 90% of nominal thickness
- Gap between cover plates seating on flange and web faces shall be ≤ 1 mm in hand tight condition
- In the area of rest plate and cover plate, maximum gap shall be ≤ 3 mm
- Centreline alignment of adjacent sections shall be within 2 mm tolerance
- Out of straightness of total length shall be ≤ 18 mm. For part assemblies up to 3 pieces, it shall be ≤ 10 mm
- Tolerance on overall assembly length shall be ± 15 mm. If assembly is done in stages of 3 pieces or more at a time, it shall be ± 5 mm
- Octagonal rest plates:
- Maximum gap between rest plates shall be 0.1 mm
- Flatness tolerance on rest plate of PLUS section shall be 0.1 mm
- Maximum of 0.5 mm deep local depressions to a maximum of 20% of total area of rest plate is permitted
- Rectangular extended rest plates:
- Maximum gap between rest plates shall be 0.5 mm
- Flatness tolerance on rest plate of Plus section shall be 0.1 mm
- Maximum of 0.5 mm deep local depressions to a maximum of 20% of total area of rest plate is permitted
- Uneven gaps can be rectified by grinding on the end plates

TRIAL ASSEMBLY OF CEILING GIRDERS

- Trial assembly shall be done in I position, i.e. web shall be vertical
- Girder pieces shall be set to water level and assembled by butting flange & web without any root gap
- Variation in gap shall be ≤ 2 mm
- Atleast 2 consecutive girders with cross members bolted to main girders shall be assembled at a time
- Rolled beams (parallel to main girder) shall be trial assembled if they are bolted to cross members. Not required if welded
- First girder shall be aligned with next girder by maintaining the top level of bottom flange
- Verticality of girders shall be checked by plumb
- Location of welded beams shall be transferred to top of flange of girders to ensure full alignment of welded beams of all girders at site
- Tolerances:
- Distance between two girders ± 5 mm
- Distance between cross beams: for individual ± 2 mm, overall from centre line ± 5 mm
- Location of load bearing stiffener in ceiling girder from boiler axis ± 4 mm
- Water level variation: for girders 3 mm, for cross beams 2 mm
- Web verticality at both ends & at matching ends ≤ 0.005H or 10 mm whichever is less (where H is height of web)
- Diagonal difference: for each compartment ≤ 10 mm, for total assembly ≤ 25 mm