UNO UNIQA Group climbing whirl

Structural verification of the climbing whirl

Tech Invent, in collaboration with Brink Smede and VVS, delivered a climbing whirl to UNO UNIQA Group A/S. Tech Invent was responsible for the structural verification, and Brink Smede and VVS for the manufacturing.

Purpose

The climbing whirl has been verified in accordance with EN 1176-1, which specifies requirements for playground equipment, including loads and verification requirements.

Description of the structural verification

The climbing whirl is made of S355 structural steel (primarily 15 and 20 mm thickness) and primarily with stainless A2-70 bolts (8.8 bolts are used for flange joints in legs). The climbing whirl is modeled in ANSYS 2019 R3, where the structure itself is verified by stress analysis in accordance with Eurocode 3 – EN 1993-1-1. Bolt loads are read in relevant cross-sections and verified in accordance with Eurocode 3 – EN 1993-1-8. Standards used: EN 1176-1 Playground equipment and surfacing – Part 1: General safety requirements and test methods EN 1993-1-1 – Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures – Part 1-1: General rules and rules for buildings EN 1993-1-8 – Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures – Part 1-8: Design of joints

Mesh

The large plates in the model that are not part of a bolt joint are reduced to surfaces so that they can be meshed with shell elements (SHELL281) and thus reduce the calculation time. In addition, bolts are modeled with beam elements (BEAM188), and the rest of the model is meshed with solid elements (SOLID186). Coarse elements are used for the large plates, which are meshed with shell elements, and the finest elements are used for the smaller plates and around bolt holes.

Results

The calculations verify the structural integrity of the climbing whirl to withstand the applied loads in accordance with the given standards.
“Tech Invent has shown to be professional and engaged and has delivered a very satisfactory job.” Lasse Lindegaard – Project manager