Many wind power equipment manufacturers have adopted an Industry 4.0 approach at their plants with a view to making their production more efficient, more ergonomic and traceable.
As a severe contrast, a large amount of manual work is still normal practice in the assembly and maintenance of wind turbines in the field. This also includes the manual transfer of assembly data with all the associated deficiencies.
Joshua Fohs is determined to ensure that this situation changes as rapidly as possible. The wind energy project manager with Atlas Copco Tools Central Europe GmbH is a specialist in smart assembly solutions and he has provided support for several assembly and maintenance teams over the past few months. In this interview, Joshua Fohs describes how easy it is to achieve smart factory quality in the assembly and maintenance of wind turbines and indicates how risks can be reliably eliminated.
The smart factory in the field
Expert Hub: Mr. Fohs, you have experienced the extremely challenging situation on wind turbine construction sites in the field and are committed to improving assembly procedures. Why is this the case?
Joshua Fohs: First, I would like to say that I really admire the assembly and maintenance teams out in the field. We owe the greatest respect to the achievements of these specialists working to tight time schedules under the most arduous conditions at considerable heights exposed to wind and weather.
For me, improved assembly procedures mean making the difficult work of these teams easier with new, smart solutions. This way, it will be possible to save far more than just time and money.
Expert Hub: Even so, many of the companies involved will be extremely interested in saving time and money. What other benefits does improved assembly offer?
Joshua Fohs: Of course, cost savings are important. The other key aspect is the significant improvement in assembly quality and ergonomics through the use of lighter, safer tools. The automatic documentation of all steps in the field brings additional benefits. For example, it may be possible to extend scheduled maintenance intervals thanks to the traceable quality of each individual bolted joint. In the long term, this approach can improve the availability and output of wind turbines and therefore also its profitability.
Expert Hub: How precisely do you intend to ensure that users in the wind energy sector achieve this objective?
Joshua Fohs: By adopting solutions already used in sectors which are successfully practicing our Industry 4.0 approach in their smart factories. For example, a carmaker can prove which airbag or steering wheel joint was tightened with what torque and rotational angle at what time. This is precisely what we need to achieve in the energy sector. Today, seamless documentation capabilities have mainly been limited to production in a factory hall or at a manufacturing complex. Our new assembly solutions overcome this boundary and take smart connected assembly out into the field.
Expert Hub: Do you mean that it would practically be possible to work everywhere with monitoring and traceability now?
Joshua Fohs: Yes, that’s precisely what I mean. Regardless of whether we are working onshore or offshore, every joint can be tightened correctly first time AND automatically documented. In addition, this work can be completed faster than with most of the solutions used to date. This modern approach saves time and provides additional safety. This is why we call our new concept “Smart Connected Bolting”.
Smart Connected Bolting with Atlas Copco
Expert Hub: Mr. Fohs, what do you precisely mean by Smart Connected Bolting?
Joshua Fohs: Perhaps I should start with the third word, “bolting”. We are talking about assembly with high torque and prestressing force values. Our bolting range includes tools for tightening torque values of up to 70,000 Nm and is rounded off by bolt tensioners that can apply a tensile force of up to 4,000 Kilonewtons (kN) to a joint.
This approach is “smart” because tools have their own “intelligence” in the form of sensors. It is “connected” because the tools operate in a fully networked way and can communicate and document all the relevant results.
Expert Hub: So everything is quicker, safer and smarter. That sounds almost utopian.
Joshua Fohs: I have to admit that you are right. Until quite recently, our Industry 4.0 version for the smart factory in the field was rather utopian. However, we have now developed the flexibility of quicker, safer and smarter working with our ergonomic, economical bolting solutions to the point where these systems are absolutely ready for use in the field. One good example is our SRB HA, a series of battery nutrunners for torque values up to 4,000 Nm which can be combined with any mobile device. They allow the recording of torque, rotational angle and batch data without any additional software. As connected models, these innovative high-torque nutrunners can be integrated in higher-level systems for real-time data transmission and analysis. This means that smart connected assembly can be implemented even on remote construction sites. Thanks to worker guidance, users can be guided through the assembly process step-by-step.
Expert Hub: Mr. Fohs, thank you very much for this interview.
