A report on

Repairing of bracket cracks in a concrete pump

Submitted to

Arab Contractors Company The owner

Submitted by

Dr. Mostafa Rostom A. Atia

Date

24-12-2006
1

Introduction
Upon the request of the Arab Contractors Company, represented by Eng. Osama Kamal, a meeting was held in Saturday 23-12-2006. In this meeting, the company requested a procedure for repairing cracks in one of its concrete pumps. According to this request, I moved to the location of the concrete pump in sewage water treatment project in ElTebeen. I investigated the pump and the cracks. Based on this investigation this report has been prepared.

Objective
The objective of this report is repairing of the cracks in the brackets of the hydraulic cylinder of the boom first stage of the concrete pump.

Figure 1 Concrete pump

Problem definition
The actuator of the pump boom first stage consists of two hydraulic cylinders. Each cylinder is supported on a double flange bracket. From site observation it was found that there is a crack in the upper side tension side of the outer bracket of each cylinder.

Figure 2 Left side

Figure 3 Right side

Crack description
Left side crack
The crack in the left side is deep and appears in both sides. The crack

propagates through a hole. This hole is used for riveting a note plate. Also, it propagates through welding joint.
Figure 4 Left side crack

Right side crack

The crack in the right side is slightly appear in the outer side and propagate clearly in the inner side through the welding joint.

Figure 5 Right side crake

Expected causes of cracks

From site investigation the cracks have two main causes 1- A minor leakage in the hydraulic system causes repeated shocks in the hydraulic cylinders. This generates undesigned repeated shock load on the bracket flanges. 2- The hole of note plate riveting is in a critical position in the flange cross section. This hole generates undesired stress concentration, which initiates the crack propagation.

Repair Procedure
1- Put the machine in off position and the boom is fully retracted. 2- Open the crack as shown in the figure 6. 3- The opening should be longer than the original crack by 10 mm at least 4- Clean the opening from dusts, oil and grease carefully. 5- Use coated welding electrode (7018) to fill the space. 6- Build overlap welding paths until closing the gab. 7- Add a web in each side as shown in the figure 7 to increase the strength of the welded joints. 8- The web should be welded as shown in the figure 7. The welding is continues with single bevel chamfer in the web. The chamfer angle is 30 with 8 mm depth. 9- The welding and the web should be cover by primer at least. Note: All welding operation cautions should be followed.
Figure 7 Figure 6

Testing
1- The welded joint should be tested by ultrasonic or radiography after welding. 2- Put the boom in the full extension position for two hour and retest the welded joints. 3- After one month the test should be repeated.

Dr. Mostafa Rostom A. Atia

24/12/2006 4