Establishing the capacity of an existing structure to accommodate heavier equipment.
Four cooling-water pumps at Kapar Power Plant were scheduled for replacement with heavier units, requiring an assessment of the existing supporting structure to establish whether strengthening was necessary.
A desktop structural assessment was undertaken using finite element back-analysis to evaluate the behaviour of the supporting structure under the increased equipment loads. The back-analysis provided a more rigorous understanding of the load distribution and available structural capacity.
The assessment demonstrated that the existing structure had sufficient capacity to accommodate the heavier replacement pumps without strengthening, avoiding unnecessary structural intervention and its associated cost and disruption to the power plant.
2015
Structural Forensics
Structural appraisal
Remedial design
Completed