2016 9th International Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Design

Optimization Analysis on Steel Module Lifting System

Wenxiang Li1, Qing Zhang1, Zhao Xie1

1. College of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
Email: liwenxiangcumt@163.com, zqtju@263.net, xiezhao124578@163.com

Abstract—The tower of the lifting system is the key analysis on key components. On the premise of ensuring its
equipment which ensures the modules being lifted and strength requirement of lifting work, this paper has
installed on the deep sea oil extraction platform. As the determined reasonable structure parameters.
important bearing structure in the lifting system, the tower has
complex force conditions and its quality has great influence on II. GANTRY LIFTING STRUCTURE
the working performance of the whole lifting system. In terms
The lifting system uses the cooperation between towers
of the designed gantry tower structure, this paper will use the
length and wall thickness of the steel pipe of the gantry tower
and brackets to lift modules. As can be seen in FIG.1, the
system as the design variables, the minimum total weight of the two towers and two chunks corbel at the establishment of
tower system as the objective function, the strength and four lifting points. Block brackets are on the mounting
stiffness of the tower system as the constraints. The gantry platform. The two support towers are using 4 cross-linking
tower structure is the direct load-bearing structure of the tube rows. The outer frame of towers uses 4 trusses. Two
lifting system. Conducting optimization analysis on the gantry towers are erected on the outside of the module which needs
tower structure will significantly reduce its weight, make its lifting. In the post weld ends long corbel. And hydraulic
structure simpler and more reasonable, thus increasing its jacks placed on corbels. Lifting process will enable the
dependability. module in place in the joists. The hanging bracket points
inside joists are connected with the jack on the outer side of
Keywords- Steel Module; lifting system; gantry tower; the joist. The hanging bracket points outside joists are
optimization analysis connected with the jack of the tower. The operator
synchronously drives jacks and lift joists to set height. He
I. INTRODUCTION uses the link plate to connect bracket and joists, and then
removes the jack on the bracket, and then drags and slips
With the adjustment of our country’s energy structure,
modules with jacks to the mounting position and put them
the development of marine resources is receiving more and
down. Now he completes the lifting and installation of the
more attention. In the whole assembling process of large-
module.
scale oil platforms, the lifting technology of large-scale
modules is crucial. The lifting technology has overcome the
deficiency of traditional hoisting installation methods, and
avoided assembling module by module on the sea, and
increased installation rate [1-3].In the whole lifting system of
large-scale oil platforms, mechanical scaffold system is the
main stressed member which bears most stress and strain in
lifting process. Thus, the quality of the mechanical properties
of the mechanical tower systems such as overall strength,
stiffness and stability greatly affects work quality and work
efficiency in the working process of large-scale oil platform
lifting system [4]. Figure 1. Whole Lifting System
The installation of large-scale ocean modules requires
onshore construction, shipping transportation, load transfer As can be seen in FIG. 2, every hanging point of gantry
and other process. After being constructed on the land, structure scaffold system consists of a single gantry structure.
modules need assembling. This module is as high as 40m Below each hanging point there are two main support
and as heavy as more than one thousand tons. The hoisting structures. This design to some extent improves the load-
capacity of traditional lifting equipment is not enough. bearing capacity of hanging points, so that the weight range
Therefore, the module requires a hydraulic system upgrade. of the large-scale tower oil platform modules that the tower
The lifting system will cooperate with the lift tower by can lift is extended. Accordingly, each main support
hydraulic lifter. As the direct bearing member of the lifting structure is connected with a ramp supporting to assist main
system, the tower structure’s structure and strength has a support structure and improve the stability of the tower in the
direct impact on security and stability of lifting work [5]. lifting process. The main support structures are fixedly
Due to the deficiency of existing lifting systems, this connected via beams, so that the support structures of two
paper presents a new gantry tower lifting system. For its lifting points form a gantry structure.
load-bearing structure, this paper uses the finite element
software ANSYS to conduct the system's optimization

2473-3547/16 $31.00 © 2016 IEEE 87

DOI 10.1109/ISCID.2016.134
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 Web member of the sway brace 75 5

B. ANSYS Software Optimization Method

Known as the finite element analysis software, ANSYS
software has prominent optimization function which
provides users with a variety of optimization toolboxes.
ANSYS optimization feature is based on mathematical
programming deals and computer programming, and create
functional relationship among design variables, state
variables and target variables by elastic mechanics, elastic-
plastic mechanics and finite element basic theory [8].
IV. OPTIMIZATION ANALYSIS ON THE LIFTING TOWER

A. Optimization Parameters of Tower

Figure 2. Gantry Structure Scaffold System The parameters of design optimization are mainly
specifications of the steel pipe that make up the gantry
structure scaffold system, namely the side length and wall
III. MATHEMATICAL MODEL AND METHOD OF thickness of the steel pipe. In the previously proposed
OPTIMIZATION DESIGN schemes, based on past experience in design and some of the
previous theoretical support, the design parameters of the
A. Mathematical Model of Optimization Design side length and wall thickness of the pipe are shown in Table
Optimization design refers to one design which makes 1. However, this specification is not the best design
the minimum weight, area, volume, and cost, etc. of the parameter. After analyzing it by statics, we find that although
product [6]. Design variables, state variables and target the maximum stress that the tower system receives in
variables are the three elements which ensure that the design working process is within the allowable range, the value of
can proceed smoothly. Design variables are the design the maximum stress is very large. In order to further reduce
parameters which require to be changed. At first, determine the maximum stress that the tower system receives and
the upper and lower limits of every design parameter, and improve the safety and carrying capacity of tower system in
then constantly adjust the design value within this range to the lifting process, we need to make corresponding
get the design parameters which make the structure quality optimization design of the specifications and parameters of
best. State variables are restrictions that must be met in the the steel pipe which make up the tower system. However,
optimization process. They are functions of design variables. this parameter optimization is not just simply built on the
State variable parameters which are commonly used include basis of increasing pipe wall thickness. Simply increasing the
a maximum stress, maximum deformation, etc. Target wall thickness of the pipe will indeed reduce the stress the
variables are the minimum objective parameters of tower system receives at work, but this potentially also
optimization design. They are functions of the expression of increases the weight of the tower system. In construction, the
design variables. The change of design variables can directly tower system will consumes more steel, thus increasing
reflect the number of objective function [7]. General manufacturing cost of tower system.
mathematical model is:
B. Optimization Analysis
­ mi n f ( X ) = f ( x 1, x 2, ⋅ ⋅ ⋅, x n )
° In the parameter optimization design of the structural
®x mi n ≤ x i ≤ x max i = 1, 2, ⋅ ⋅ ⋅, n ˄1˅ dimension of the scaffold system, the design goal should be
° to make positive stress that the scaffold system receives
°̄ gj ( X ) ≤ 0
minimum and the total volume of the scaffold system
X = ( x 1, x 2 , ⋅ ⋅ ⋅, x n ) is the design variable, f ( X ) is the minimum. The design variables are side length and wall
objective function., and g j ( X ) is the state variable, namely thickness of the steel pipes that make up the scaffold system.
restriction function. It includes equality and inequality The steps of parameter optimization design in the ANSYS
constraints. Workbench are the followings:
• To build the geometry according to the size
TABLE I. THE SPECIFICATION PARAMETERS OF THE parameters in the initial program and to simplify
STEEL PIPE appropriately.
• To define the material properties of the model: the
Side Length Wall Thickness
Parts
(mm) (mm) choice of materials is Q235. Its density of is 7850kg
Main chord of the main / m3, modulus of elasticity is 200GPa, poisson's ratio
300 12 is 0.3.
supporting structure
Main chord of the sway brace 150 6 • To mesh: take the way of Body Sizing to divide. The
Web member of the main Relevance Center is set to Fine. It is divided into
150 6
supporting structure
6660 units and 12520 nodes.

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 • To define the boundary conditions: the bottom of the of the main side chord of the main supporting structure;
main support structure and the sway brace are followed by the wall thickness of the main support
respectively added Fixed Support constraint and add structure‘s web member and the sway brace’s main chord.
Standard Earth Gravity. Other design variables’ affect on the total volume can be
• To solve: get the stress contours, and vibration shape negligible [9].
diagram of the scaffold system.
• Take the side length and wall thickness of the steel
pipe of the scaffold system as design variables. The
set range of the design variables are shown in the
Table 2. Select the maximum normal stress and
minimum total volume as objective variables to
solve.

TABLE II. THE RANGE OF DESIGN VARIABLES

Minimu Maximu
Parts Specification
m (mm) m (mm)
Main chord of the main
side length 270 330
supporting structure
Main chord of the main
wall thickness 5 20
supporting structure 
Main chord of sway Figure 4. Sensitive figure
side length 135 165
brace
Main chord of sway
wall thickness 3 10
brace
Web member of the
TABLE III. THE OPTIMAL RESULTS ROUNDED
main supporting side length 135 165 side length wall thickness
structure Parts
(mm) (mm)
Web member of the
Main chord of the main supporting
main supporting wall thickness 3 10 286 15
structure
structure
Main chord of the sway brace 160 3
Web member of the
side length 65 85 Web member of the main
sway brace 160 3
supporting structure
Web member of the
wall thickness 2 10 Web member of the sway brace 80 6
sway brace

Result as shown in figure 3. C. Verification of the Optimization Results

In the last section’s solution, five groups of analysis
results are gotten. Considering the stress optimization
situation, the second group of parameters is chosen as the
final result. After being rounded, the second group of
parameters is shown in Table 3.
Take the rounded specifications of the steel pipe as actual
parameters to reconstruct the geometry model and take static
analysis and modal analysis on the geometry model. The
result of the static analysis is shown in FIG. 5, and the low-
order natural frequency of modal analysis is shown in Table
4.

TABLE IV. THE FIRST SIX NATURAL FREQUENCIES OF

Figure 3. Parameters optimization results.
OPTIMIZED SCAFFOLD SYSTEM
Sensitivity map can directly show the degree of each Frequency
1 2 3 4 5 6
design variable’s influence on the objective variable in the Order
given whole range, and the degree of the design variables’ Natural 0.67 0.81 0.85
1.4257
1.44 1.470
impact on the target variables can be shown from the Frequency 55 17 65 29 6
proportion of the rectangular area FIG. 4. As can be seen
from FIG sensitivity, the greatest impact on the normal stress
is the wall thickness of the main chord of the main support
structure, followed by the side length of the main side chord
of the main support structure. The impact of other design
variables on the maximum normal stress can be negligible;
the greatest impact on the total volume is the wall thickness

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 manufacturing cost is saved, the structure is more
reasonable and simpler, the flexibility of the lifting
system is increased. Therefore, this optimization
method is verified to be correct.
• The study is limited to the optimization analysis
issue of the supporting tower of the lifting system,
but this optimization method can also be used to
structure optimization issues based on finite element
analysis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to acknowledge the Key Laboratory of
Mechanism Theory, Equipment Design of Ministry of
Education, Tianjin hydraulic cylinder Engineering Center
and the financial support by the Innovation and development
of regional marine economy demonstration projects
including Deep-sea oil and gas fields to build large structures
critical equipment industry (No.CXSF2014-01), offshore oil
 and gas construction of large modules and complete sets of
Figure 5. Optimized stress contours non-skid equipment industry engineering (No.CXSF2014-
13).
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