On the roof of the old dairy building in the center of Bryne stands a hand three meters high and four meters wide in aluminium. This is attached to a large steel stand. The hand is part of Pøbel's artwork by Erling Braut Haaland .
How do we know that the hand is going to withstand the environment it is in? That it is still there after storm, hurricane, rain and snow?
Senior project manager Thorbjørn Jensen in Nordic Steel explains:
- We have designed the hand and the steel stand to withstand the forces of nature. Parts of it should not fly, nor should it move. It is designed to withstand the weather and wind in this part of the country. The standards tell us what is the basis for what a construction like this must withstand.
Erling's hand is attached to the steel frame with bolts. How many bolts were needed and where they should be placed, so that the stand is also attached to the base, has also been calculated.
- Before we could attach the stand on top of the roof, we had to find out what the surface of the roof is, how the roofing is done. The stand must also be stuck to something, and here we found concrete to attach it to, Jensen elaborates.
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At Nordic Steel, we have engineers with long experience and broad expertise in mechanical calculations, material knowledge and analysis models. Important tasks for the engineers are to look at how we utilize materials and when advanced construction techniques and analysis are required. The environment is a key element we think about, in order to use as little steel as possible.
For aquaculture, much of the equipment we produce must withstand feed, salt water, waves and strong currents. Production for the oil and energy industry must have enormous strength, because the equipment must withstand extreme stresses offshore. We are talking about the use of equipment, temperatures, weight, vibrations and stress loads . We also carry out seismic calculations to calculate what equipment can withstand during an earthquake.
- We produce equipment that must stand safely for 50 years, 1,000 meters underwater. It requires a greater degree of planning. On the seabed there is high pressure and currents, and the equipment we make must have room to move, or stretch. The steel we use must be correctly dimensioned. Our equipment can also be part of a larger installation on the seabed and vibrations from one part of the equipment can affect another. We also calculate that before we start production, says Thorbjørn Jensen.
One of the methods we use to calculate what Erling's hand must be made of to stand safely on a roof in central Bryne, and how advanced subsea equipment for the oil and energy industry must be produced, is called FEM analysis .
FEM analysis (Finite Element Method) is used for all forms of strength and thermal calculations. Computer simulation, calculation and calculation in the analysis method show how an object reacts under various circumstances and physical influences.
The method is both versatile and useful, because it can calculate many different problems and combinations of them. FEM analysis divides complex systems into simple parts with known and understood properties. The information is moved from part to part and the method simulates what happens when all the properties of a system are put together.
- There are different standards for everything we carry out and everything is documented. It is very important to choose the right standard, for all industries. Then we get an accurate description of how strong the equipment is and how it reacts to various factors such as temperatures, water, vibrations, pressure and explosion calculations, says Thorbjørn Jensen.
