Structural design and analysis of heavy-duty lifting equipment for remote maintenance

Abstract

Due to the extremely high radiation level inside the reactor, personnel cannot enter, so the fusion reactor needs remote maintenance. The internal components that need to be replaced regularly can weigh several tons, so maintenance equipment must handle heavy objects with high accuracy in a small space.

This thesis presents the structural design of a 10-tonne capacity lifting system for this pur pose. The system uses a linear rail entering through a maintenance port, a rack-and-pinion driven platform, and two symmetric articulated manipulator arms with electric drives. A modular flange interface at the arm ends allows different tools to be attached for various tasks. The design was developed through scheme comparison, material selection among seven candidates, detailed structural layout, and analytical verification of three critical com ponents. All of the components passed the specific strength and stiffness requirements. The deliverables include a SolidWorks 3D model, 2D engineering drawings, a motion simulation, and the verification calculations documented in this report.