Conveyor Rebuilt to Last
The outcome
By treating the failure as an engineering problem rather than a maintenance one, ADC delivered a structure that was both stronger and lighter than the original. Unplanned downtime on the line was eliminated, and the client freed up a significant maintenance budget that had previously been swallowed by recurring repairs.
Just as importantly, the client walked away with a fully documented, certified design and a clear set of production drawings for any future runs or extensions. What began as a costly headache became a long-term asset – proof that the right analysis early on pays for itself many times over.
An Australian bulk materials handling operator came to ADC with a recurring and expensive problem: a key conveyor structure was suffering fatigue cracking, forcing repeated shutdowns for emergency repairs. Every stoppage meant lost production and mounting maintenance costs, and no one could pinpoint why a structure that looked strong enough kept failing.
ADC started by building an accurate 3D CAD model of the existing system, then ran a full structural analysis to find the root cause. Finite Element Analysis revealed severe stress concentrations at several joints, driven by dynamic loads the original design had never properly accounted for. Rather than patch the symptoms, our engineers redesigned the affected structure from first principles – reinforcing the critical load paths, removing weight where it wasn’t needed, and detailing the whole assembly in production-ready shop drawings.
Working with a trusted local fabricator, the redesigned structure was manufactured and installed with minimal disruption to the client’s operation. The result was a conveyor that now runs reliably under full load, with the fatigue issues designed out rather than repaired over and over.
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