Andritz

Not Afraid of Heavy Parts
 

Equipped with PolyWorks|Inspector™, Andritz Hydro faces quality control challenges that large-sized parts pose.

Headquartered in Graz, Austria, the Andritz Group (composed of Andritz Hydro, Andritz Pulp & Paper, Andritz Metals, Andritz Separation, and Andritz Automation) is a global leading supplier of plants, equipment, and services provided to hydropower stations, the pulp and paper industry, the metalworking and steel industries, and the municipal and industrial sectors for solid/liquid separation. 

Over the past 170 years, Andritz Hydro has earned its reputation as a leader in the world market for hydraulic power generation. Today, it is a global supplier of electro-mechanical systems and services for hydropower plants. Andritz Hydro’s headquarters are in Vienna, Austria, and it has more than 50 locations in 20 countries worldwide. The company is organized in five main divisions as follows: Large Hydro, Service & Rehab, Compact Hydro, Generator Turbo, and Pumps. So, when it comes to hydropower, they know what they’re talking about. 

At Andritz Hydro, ensuring the quality control of a 200-ton part poses a unique set of challenges. For starters, the physical size of the Francis turbine is an obstacle that makes the task of taking measurements extremely difficult, and without the proper equipment, practically impossible. Add to that the fact that despite the massive size of these parts, precision needs to be at 1/100th of a millimeter. 

Yener Korkmaz, Director of Test and Measurement at Andritz Hydro Ravensburg and responsible for quality assurance, inspection and repair of incoming goods, stated that “taking the measurements themselves, such as target points, alignment, analysis, etc., doesn’t pose a challenge, our key challenge really lies in accessing the part, since space is often limited and we physically cannot move to a better position.”

Due to the fact that the components are not freestanding on a measurement table, nor are they accessible from all sides, in the past, Korkmaz and his team had to resort to measuring the massive parts directly where they were being welded into place, i.e., among all the other parts and tools. Also, measurements taken with gauges were simply not precise because they varied according to the material of the gauge. 

The Solution

Andritz Hydro turned to 3D metrology to perform the quality assurance on turbines. Since many of the measurement points on a turbine are partially hidden and access to them is limited, it was decided that a tactile measuring device would be the solution of choice. This was especially practical since the amount of points to be measured was not astronomical. The selected 3D metrology solution was a FaroArm, Faro laser tracker, and the PolyWorks|Inspector™ software. Equipped with this solution, the size and weight of a part were no longer obstacles. 

Korkmaz added that every department within the organization is treated as a customer, and they all have different data-processing requirements. PolyWorks has proven that it can seamlessly use each of the required formats. “We chose PolyWorks because of the flexibility that it offered us and for its various reporting formats, and also because of the technical support that Duwe-3d provided!” Korkmaz added. Korkmaz also greatly appreciated that his employees received basic training for the PolyWorks|Inspector software solution and that support for macro programming was available for them at the production site by Duwe-3d AG, based in Lindau.

Thanks to this 3D measurement solution, the challenges created by the enormous size of the part have been eliminated. Yet even with this solution in place, measuring these large-sized turbines is far from becoming routine work. This is in large part due to the fact that Andritz Hydro produces unique parts that are not serial, meaning that each wheel is custom to the customer’s requirements. Therefore, the measurement requirements always change. "Each turbine that we measure is a separate project altogether!" said Klimm. 

CAD model of a part in PolyWorks with reference and measurement points. 

Change Device Location

The size and limited accessibility to the part require frequent relocation of the measurement arm or the tracker. Changing the position of the 3D measuring device is simplified by PolyWorks since it provides two ways to register the arm in the coordinate system:

• Via points measureable from several positions: points of the old position are still in reach of the new one
• By combining the tracker and the arm and registering the arm in the coordinate system of the tracker

When a location is changed, the arm takes its reference on the coordinate system of the tracker. PolyWorks automatically registers the arm in the tracker’s coordinate system, without requiring that additional reference points be taken.