DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPTIMIZED WELDING PROCEDURE TO BUILD A LOAD SPREADER USING INDIVIDUAL BEAMS

In order to move a fully developed 2,400 ton ship’s superstructure from a transport barge to the receiving hull of the iAOR project, currently ongoing at Chantier Davie Canadas Inc., a unique Load Spreader Beam, capable of supporting the weight of the superstructure, had to be designed and fabricated. It was critical that this beam be built with minimal induced distortions to allow for a smooth transition between barge and receiving platform.

The Load Spreader was fabricated using fourteen individual steel beams in three separate sections with each beam being 25 metres in length with an average thickness between 19 mm to 25 mm. Fabrication was done using the “Submerge Arc Welding” process allowing the Spreader to be fabricated with minimal induced distortion.

Due to the individual beam lengths involved it was difficult to fabricate the Load Spreader without inducing distortions at the welded joints. To compensate for this, a special welding procedure was developed to limit any weld induced distortions from occurring.