MATERIAL HANDLING

Bases on Design features and operational characteristics, material handling equipment may be broadly classified as:

Hoisting Equipment’s:

It constitute a group of equipment which are employed mainly for lifting or lowering of unit load or piece goods in batches. This group of equipment’s can be further sub classified into:

1. Pure Hoisting Machineries

• Jack
• Winches
• Hand Hoists
• Pulley Blocks

2. Cranes

• EOT Crane
• Jib Crane
• Cantilever Crane

3. Elevators

• Lift
• Bucket Elevators

Conveying Equipment’s:

It comprises of a number of equipment which are employed for handling principally bulk load (occasionally piece goods or unit load may also be handled) in continuous flow. Such machines do not have separate lifting or lowering gear. This group of equipment also can have further sub classifications as:

1. Belt Conveyor

2. Hydraulic Conveyor

3. Pneumatic Conveyor

4. Apron Conveyor

5. Screw Conveyor

6. Flight Conveyor

Surface/ Overhead Equipment’s:

These are the group of equipment’s which are employed for handling unit load or bulk load in batches on a horizontal surface. This group of equipment may be further sub classified into:

1. Truck and Lorries

2. Railway Cars and Wagons

3. Fork Lifts

4. Overhead mono-rail / Equipment

5. Scrapers and Skidders

Types of Material Handling Equipment Loads:

It usually classified into:

1. Unit Load

2. Bulk Load

Unit Load:

Unit loads are those which are counted by numbers or units. A component of a machine, a complete machine, a structural element, a beam, a girder, building block are some examples of unit load.

Sometimes certain quantities of free flowing materials can be placed in a container and can be handled as unit load. Hoisting equipment are primarily used for handling unit load. Unit loads are usually specified by it’s weight.

Bulk Load:

When the load is in the form of particles or lumps of homogeneous materials or powder like materials, which can not be counted by numbers, it is called as “Bulk load”.

Examples are:

Sand, Cement, Coal, Mineral, Stone, Clay etc.,

A bulk material may be classified by it’s:

1. Bulk Density

2. Lump-Size

3. Flowability

4. Abrasiveness

5. Miscellaneous Characteristics

MECHANICAL TESTING

Various tests:

• Tensile Test

A tensile test, also known as a tension test, tests a material’s strength. It’s a mechanical test where a pulling force is applied to a material from both sides until the sample changes its shape or breaks. It’s is a common and important test that provides a variety of information about the material being tested, including the elongation, yield point, tensile strength, and ultimate strength of the material. Tensile tests are commonly performed on substances such as metals, plastics, wood, and ceramics.

Tensile testing systems use a number of different units of measurement. The International System of Units, or SI, recommends the use of either Pascals (Pa) or Newtons per square meter (N/m²) for describing tensile strength. In the United States, many engineers measure tensile strength in kilo-pound per square inch (KSI).

• Tensile test with electronic extensometer

This instrument is to be used on Tensile or Universal testing machines to find out Proof stress & Young’s modulus values. In case of many brittle materials such as high carbon steels, alloy steels, light aluminium & magnesium alloys, it is difficult to get yield values. For such materials stress corresponding to a certain allowable amount of plastic deformation is termed as proof stress say 0.1% or 0.2% proof stress. The measuring range is up to 5mm & resolution is 0.001mm.

• Tensile testing at elevated temperature.

High temperature tensile testing is a procedure to test the properties of a material at above room temperature. It will determine the following parameters:

• Tensile strength (breaking strength)
• Yield strength
• Elongation
• Reduction of area

Specialist testing, measurement and control equipment is required to perform this test.
The results of such a test will provide a good indication of the static load bearing capacity of the material and therefore establishes the suitability of a material for its intended purpose.

• Tensile test on Tor steel Bars

TOR steel is one of the best grade of steel used in concrete reinforced. It’s a kind of high adherence steel. Other types of steel are used for less resistance concrete. Thermo mechanically Treated (TMT) bars are a type of corrosion resistant steel reinforcing bar used in concrete construction.

• Bend test on plates

A bend test is used to determine whether a specific piece of metal in question will break or fracture under pressure. This is important in the construction of any project using metal, otherwise the building or the item being made could collapse from the immense pressure exerted on it. Every piece of metal made cannot be tested, therefore certain pieces are tested and if they pass, the other pieces are made using the same process. The results of a bend test are reported differently depending on the type of material tested. There is no standard method for reporting the durability that applies to all materials, rather each group has its own set by which it is judged and compared to other metals in that group.

The bend test is essentially measuring a metal’s ductility. Ductility defines how easily a metal can bend without breaking. The higher the ductility of a metal, the more it can bend without breaking or becoming deformed from its original shape. This is important because certain metals must handle pressure without snapping yet still be ductile enough to bend slightly and not lose their support or shape. Copper and steel are two metals that have a high ductility and do well under pressure.

• Bend test on pipes

Bending tests are carried out to ensure that a metal has sufficient ductility to stand bending without fracturing. A standard specimen is bent through a specified arc and in the case of strip, the direction of grain flow is noted and whether the bend is with or across the grain.

• Bend Test on Tor steel

The purpose is to make certain the weld and the base metal are properly fused, and that the weld metal and the heat affected zone (HAZ) have appropriate mechanical properties

• Re-Bend test on Tor steel

The purpose of re-bend test is to measure the effect of strain ageing on steel. Strain ageing has embrittlement effect which takes place after cold deformation by diffusion of nitrogen in steel. Hence, there is limitation stated in some design codes to restrict the nitrogen content of steel to 0.012%.

• Nick Break Test

The NICK-BREAK TEST is useful for determining the internal quality of the weld metal. This test reveals various internal defects (if present), such as slag inclusions,  gas  pockets,  lack of  fusion,  and  oxidized  or burned metal. To accomplish the nick-break test for checking a butt weld, you must first flame-cut the test specimens from a sample weld.

MECHANICAL TESTING

Various tests:

• Tensile Test

A tensile test, also known as a tension test, tests a material’s strength. It’s a mechanical test where a pulling force is applied to a material from both sides until the sample changes its shape or breaks. It’s is a common and important test that provides a variety of information about the material being tested, including the elongation, yield point, tensile strength, and ultimate strength of the material. Tensile tests are commonly performed on substances such as metals, plastics, wood, and ceramics.

Tensile testing systems use a number of different units of measurement. The International System of Units, or SI, recommends the use of either Pascals (Pa) or Newtons per square meter (N/m²) for describing tensile strength. In the United States, many engineers measure tensile strength in kilo-pound per square inch (KSI).

• Tensile test with electronic extensometer

This instrument is to be used on Tensile or Universal testing machines to find out Proof stress & Young’s modulus values. In case of many brittle materials such as high carbon steels, alloy steels, light aluminium & magnesium alloys, it is difficult to get yield values. For such materials stress corresponding to a certain allowable amount of plastic deformation is termed as proof stress say 0.1% or 0.2% proof stress. The measuring range is up to 5mm & resolution is 0.001mm.

• Tensile testing at elevated temperature.

High temperature tensile testing is a procedure to test the properties of a material at above room temperature. It will determine the following parameters:

• Tensile strength (breaking strength)
• Yield strength
• Elongation
• Reduction of area

Specialist testing, measurement and control equipment is required to perform this test.
The results of such a test will provide a good indication of the static load bearing capacity of the material and therefore establishes the suitability of a material for its intended purpose.

• Tensile test on Tor steel Bars

TOR steel is one of the best grade of steel used in concrete reinforced. It’s a kind of high adherence steel. Other types of steel are used for less resistance concrete. Thermo mechanically Treated (TMT) bars are a type of corrosion resistant steel reinforcing bar used in concrete construction.

• Bend test on plates

A bend test is used to determine whether a specific piece of metal in question will break or fracture under pressure. This is important in the construction of any project using metal, otherwise the building or the item being made could collapse from the immense pressure exerted on it. Every piece of metal made cannot be tested, therefore certain pieces are tested and if they pass, the other pieces are made using the same process. The results of a bend test are reported differently depending on the type of material tested. There is no standard method for reporting the durability that applies to all materials, rather each group has its own set by which it is judged and compared to other metals in that group.

The bend test is essentially measuring a metal’s ductility. Ductility defines how easily a metal can bend without breaking. The higher the ductility of a metal, the more it can bend without breaking or becoming deformed from its original shape. This is important because certain metals must handle pressure without snapping yet still be ductile enough to bend slightly and not lose their support or shape. Copper and steel are two metals that have a high ductility and do well under pressure.

• Bend test on pipes

Bending tests are carried out to ensure that a metal has sufficient ductility to stand bending without fracturing. A standard specimen is bent through a specified arc and in the case of strip, the direction of grain flow is noted and whether the bend is with or across the grain.

• Bend Test on Tor steel

The purpose is to make certain the weld and the base metal are properly fused, and that the weld metal and the heat affected zone (HAZ) have appropriate mechanical properties

• Re-Bend test on Tor steel

The purpose of re-bend test is to measure the effect of strain ageing on steel. Strain ageing has embrittlement effect which takes place after cold deformation by diffusion of nitrogen in steel. Hence, there is limitation stated in some design codes to restrict the nitrogen content of steel to 0.012%.

• Nick Break Test

The NICK-BREAK TEST is useful for determining the internal quality of the weld metal. This test reveals various internal defects (if present), such as slag inclusions,  gas  pockets,  lack of  fusion,  and  oxidized  or burned metal. To accomplish the nick-break test for checking a butt weld, you must first flame-cut the test specimens from a sample weld.