Structural steel members, which are modern buildings’ most basic frame, pose a transportation challenge to all steel member manufacturers. Even with all the technological advancements occurring in the general construction domain over the last few decades, steel loading preparation is still done empirically by experienced loaders, i.e. the workers who load members on flatbeds. Steel members, having many different and irregular shapes, cannot be managed by the loading algorithms proposed in the literature or by load planning software. However, an algorithm capable of preparing load patterns could greatly help steel manufacturers, as much by automation as by better planning. Despite the number of publications on loading problems in general, no documentation can be found for the different constraints and regulations governing members’ placement on semi-trailers.
We have explored this area in order to identify the loading principles on which loading experts rely. To that end, we built a miniature set of steel members and interviewed several loading experts to capture their knowledge. Through visits to manufacturers and by summarizing those interviews, we unified and defined the necessary vocabulary for this problem, as well as documenting and validating the loading principles followed by expert loaders. This work has made it possible to suggest a few avenues for the development of an algorithm.
In the end, more than 30 terms have been defined to identify the concepts related to this problem and 35 principles have been formulated to document the process of members’ loading. An algorithm draft, identifying the main solving steps, has also been drawn up.
| Date | 23 Jan 2015 |
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| Original language | French |
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| Awarding Institution | - École de technologie supérieure
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| Supervisor | Louis Rivest (Supervisor) |
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Bolduc, G. (Author),
Rivest (Supervisor),
23 Jan 2015Student thesis: Master's thesis › Master in Engineering: Automated Manufacturing Engineering