The introduction of 3D modelling to the design office at AC Machines, a division of ABB South Africa - a specialist in the design and manufacture of standard and customised high voltage motors and transformers - has been vindicated by the business benefits achieved during the very first project undertaken with the new software.

Located in Alrode, south of Johannesburg, ABB AC Machines manufactures electric motors for the process, manufacturing, and consumer industries, power, gas, and water utilities and petrochemical companies.

Following an extensive evaluation of mechanical design software packages available in South Africa, the company migrated Autodesk Inventor's 3D mechanical design solution. ABB Automation's R250 000 design investment included five Autodesk Inventor licences and the finite element analysis package, COSMOS.

Motivation for ABB AC Machines' move to 3D, and Autodesk Inventor in particular, included the enhanced productivity of 3D environments, 3D fault-checking systems, the visualisation capability of Autodesk Inventor, and the increased speed of updates, revisions, and modifications to drawings.

All of these benefits were demonstrated within the first month of installing Autodesk Inventor at ABB AC Machines.

"Just two weeks after the installation of Autodesk Inventor we tackled the design of a brush-lifting and short circuiting mechanism for a R3,5m, 18 000 kW wound rotor induction motor for ABB Germany," explains Robert Melaia, engineering manager, AC Machines, ABB South Africa.

"The mechanism formed part of a 55-ton motor for Formosa Plastics in Taiwan and involved a significant number of moving parts. The device lifted and lowered brushes, while at the same time opening and closing rotor connections on a wound rotor induction motor.

Melaia continued: "The results were remarkable. Despite the fact that it was our first project using the new software, we cut design time by at least 70% and overall production time by 50%." Design of the complex brush lifting and short circuiting mechanism, including the production of all drawings, took just a week. Procurement of materials took two weeks and manufacture a week. Melaia says the biggest timesaver was the elimination of the need for a physical prototype.

"Once the model had been assembled, we had our prototype. It was all there on-screen. With the visualisation capability of Autodesk Inventor we were able to actually see all the components moving and were able to quickly and easily check for and correct any clashes or faults.

"Revisions to the original design were done easily. The designers simply had to make the necessary changes to a single model. All the drawings of the various different views of the complex mechanism were automatically updated.

"Once the revisions were done we were able to continue doing fault checks until we were satisfied that all the components would interrelate smoothly. The speed with which we were able to do design and revisions is testament to some very effective design features as well as the ease-of-use of the software," concluded Melaia. Technology resource company, Caddman, is providing ongoing support to ABB and has provided upgrades to Autodesk Inventor R5.3 for all existing software seats.

For more information: Autodesk (Africa) 012 664 8115, geo-south-africa@autodesk.com