Análise da certificação de dispositivos de içamento de cargas para o setor eólico

Abstract

The Wind Sector is growing in Brazil, mainly in the Northeast. Thanks to the constancy and potential of the wind in this region, the emergence of new wind farms is notorious. Wind turbines are formed by several components and each component presents a characteristic weight. For mounting of Wind Turbines it is necessary the support of load lifting machines, such as cranes of different capacities. The cranes in lifting and assembling these components make use of Lifting Devices, which are designed and manufactured with different formats and capacities, and with specific characteristics for each component. These Lifting Devices after being manufactured must undergo a process of analysis and certification so that they can be released for operation. This certification process consists of the analysis and testing of welded joints, used during fabrication, and the load test of the device structure. For the analysis of welds, non-destructive tests are used, which detect faults and discontinuities in the welded structure of the part that could compromise the work of the equipment. The charge certification process aims to test the device using actual loads similar to those it has been scaled for operation. Due to the fact that many lifting devices have long, high measurements, it is difficult to perform actual tests with the equipment in full. Therefore the load tests are applied to the critical elements of the device. These critical elements are almost always summed up by hoisting eyes where shackles, pins or belts are attached. This work aims to analyze the certification of lifting devices for the wind sector, detailing the processes used in this type of service, pointing out the failures and proposing possible improvements that contribute to the better execution of certification of these equipments.