Enercon is the first turbine maker to handle rotor hubs on the assembly line instead of using cranes and slings.
The company has installed equipment from RUD to handle hubs in its new Mechatronic Competence centre.
The RUD Tecdos TM turning table tool mover turns the rotor hubs, which weigh up to 65 tonnes, safely and quickly.
The turning process, which had previously taken around two hours with a crane and chain, is now completed in just a few minutes.
After painting, the large-volume cast bodies of the rotor hubs are taken to the assembly line, where their inner workings are installed.
“Previously, we turned the hubs around with two indoor cranes. This could take up to two hours,” said Keno Claassen, responsible for the procurement of resources in the competence centre.
“With the RUD turning table, we can now complete the turning process in just a few minutes,”
The RUD Tecdos TM can safely pick up and turn loads of up to 65 tonnes and three different hub sizes.
The rotor hubs have a diameter of up to 3.5 metres. Together with the Y-shape of the hub and a support angle that does not exactly correspond to 90°, these were not the optimal prerequisites for a stable turning process.
By using RUD’s rotor hub turner, Enercon benefits not only from process optimisation and time savings at the Aurich production plant.
Because the indoor cranes are no longer used to turn the hubs, which weigh many tonnes, they can perform other tasks.
The turning table was no wider than 2.5 metres so that it can be transported on conventional low loaders without the need for any special permits.