Russian steelmaker Severstal's design institute Severstal-Project has developed a three-dimensional digital model for the modernization of the continuous hot-dip galvanizing line at its Cherepovets Iron and Steel Works (CherMK), enabling the company to eliminate potential spatial conflicts, optimize internal logistics and almost halve equipment installation time.
The upgraded line, located alongside existing equipment in metal coating shop No. 1, will have an annual capacity of 460,000 mt and will process rolled steel with thicknesses ranging from 0.4 mm to 4 mm, applying zinc, zinc-aluminum and aluminum-silicon coatings in accordance with customer requirements.
Using 3D laser scanning, Severstal-Project created a unified digital model covering the more than 200-meter-long line's foundations, steel structures, pipelines and electrical networks, while also planning equipment installation, heavy-component transportation, lifting zones, personnel access routes and the dismantling and replacement of existing foundations.
The model is currently being used to coordinate the general contractor, Severstal's Domnaremont Center and more than 15 subcontractors. Severstal stated that approximately 80 percent of its projects are now implemented using building information modeling technologies.
