Industry
Heavy lifting / Industrial handling
Country
Germany
Software
ANSYS Mechanical · IIW Recommendations 2016
Duration
4 weeks
A manufacturer of custom lifting components produced a heavy lifting yoke for a demanding industrial application. The component had been designed and load-rated for its intended capacity, but the site operator and the insurer both required formal fatigue life documentation before the yoke could be placed into service. Without a weld fatigue assessment conducted to a recognised standard, the component could not leave the manufacturer’s facility. The target service life was 20 years at rated capacity.
GFE performed structural FEM of the lifting yoke using the IIW hot-spot stress method per IIW Recommendations 2016. All critical weld details were identified and assigned fatigue classes based on their geometry and loading direction. Fatigue life was calculated at rated capacity for each weld detail, and the governing detail was confirmed to meet the 20-year target. An inspection interval schedule was produced for the site operator based on the fatigue calculation results. The documentation was submitted to the insurer and accepted without requests for additional information.
20-year life
validated at rated load
IIW hot-spot
all welds assessed
Inspection
scheduled for operator
Insurance
accepted without revision
Without this calculation the component would have stayed in storage. Now it is in service.
GFE works in ANSYS, Dlubal RFEM, SolidWorks Simulation, and LS-DYNA — matched to the analysis type and client environment.
GFE has resolved field failures where standard corrective measures had already been exhausted — identified through simulation.
Analysis reports are structured for CE technical files, insurance submissions, and TÜV review — not internal calculation notes.
All team members are fluent in English, with additional language skills in German, Italian, Spanish, and more.
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We were looking for additional engineers to expand our construction capacity. You seemed to be a young, motivated Team and except your professional expertise, your personal commitment made me confident to work with you. The cooperation has been seamless and very productive from the start. We are happy with the results.
GFE Solutions is a specialized engineering services company. Our engineers are mainly from Eastern Europe – to our customers we offer onsite- and offsite-engineering-services. All our specialists speak and write fluently English, some of them German and other languages.
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