For one of the largest European construction projects, Herrenknecht was asked to plan a new production concept in an existing production hall. Due to limited space and high labor costs in Germany, the decision was quickly made to use a circulation system with a high degree of automation.
In the circulation system, the formwork passes through a defined production line. There, the following production steps are carried out in a fixed sequence: stripping, cleaning, oiling, inserting reinforcement, closing the formwork, concreting and surface finishing. The formwork moves from one station to the next in a cycle-controlled manner – similar to flow production in the automotive industry.
Once these steps have been completed, the formwork enters a curing oven. The dwell time there depends on the cycle of the circulation system and the number of oven positions available to ensure that the concrete hardens evenly.
In addition to the classic requirements for space and automation, additional restrictions had to be taken into account: The entire number of formwork panels had to be filled and transferred to the curing process within one shift. This significantly reduced the available cycle time at the individual stations.
Another limiting factor was the positioning of the concrete mixing plants, which had to be located away from the filling station for operational reasons. This resulted in longer transport distances for the concrete transport buckets. Each bucket had to make two trips per formwork, which added up to considerable transport times. Braking and acceleration manoeuvres as well as slow cornering further impaired the cycle time.
Automation was specifically chosen to reduce personnel requirements. The formwork opens automatically when it reaches the demoulding position. The formwork was to be cleaned by a robot. The closing of the formwork and the surface finish were also planned to be partially or fully automated. Due to production requirements, a second, mirrored circulation system was planned in an adjacent hall. However, this does not affect the cycle time of the first line.
Given the large number of process steps and logistical dependencies, manual calculation of cycle times – especially with regard to concrete supply and curing – was no longer practical. SimPlan was therefore commissioned to simulate the entire process. The prerequisite: all machines and systems had to be mapped realistically with their individual motion sequences and speeds.
AnyLogic was used as the development environment for simulating the plant. This tool was deliberately chosen because it allows agent-based modelling and also offers flexible options for sharing the simulation model. A key advantage is that the model can be used free of charge by Herrenknecht and its customers.
AnyLogic allows the simulation model to be exported as a standalone Java application or provided via the AnyLogic Cloud. This means that the simulation can be run and analysed directly by the customer without the need to install additional software – a clear added value for project transparency and decision-making.
A central element of the project was the realistic representation of the plant in 3D. This visualisation was used in particular for presentations to the end customer and helps to understand complex processes. Existing CAD models were transferred to the simulation tool and adapted for this purpose.
In addition to the movement of the formwork, other elements of the system were animated, including the cleaning robot and the formwork covers. The three-dimensional representation of these components increases the informative value of the simulation and supports precise validation of the process logic.
The finished simulation model of the circulation plant allows user input of parameters regarding cycle time and pause times. The result of the simulation was that the conceptualized plant can deliver the corresponding output of precast concrete parts. However, the limits were also simulated, i.e. at which cycle time the curing times or available shift times can no longer be met.
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