discovered_01_2013

FOCUS// The HZDR Research Magazine WWW.Hzdr.DE 28 29 partners. This highly networked system contains countless components we have to monitor and always evaluate precisely in terms of technology. Another distinctive feature is that we won’t know whether or not the dynamo starts up until the machine runs at process speed and thus is capable of establishing the fluidic flow for the science we have in mind. Being an engineer, DRESDYN means that the design work cannot be done in small independent sections so that it won’t be clear until the very end whether all the various pieces of the puzzle fit together. Which is why the scientists are depending on us to a greater extent than usual. Our team member Christian Steglich, who has a good background in heavy machines design, focuses on the engineering side, whereas I’m involved in control and safety topics. His second focus is the coordination of the participating companies. We’re quite happy that - after an elaborate Europe-wide call for bids - we were at last able to work with a Dresden-based company for the construction of the precession machine as it has various components that are critical to its function. The company - Saxon Bridge and Steel Construction SBS - was charged with producing two of the machine’s essential components - the turntable and the dynamo’s entire support frame. _FS . To me, the planning complexity of DRESDYN is a real challenge, indeed. I am truly happy to have a research technology partner we collaborate and get along with so well. The colleagues have a lot of appreciation for science and for the fact that we don’t yet know all of the various parameters in depth. By the way, we sit down together nearly every other day, in different constellations no less. For example, SBS is part of a typical meeting along with the Chemnitz-based company Liebers, which is the subcontractor that is building the container. Other regulars include Michael Beitelschmidt of the engineering faculty at TU Dresden and his team, which is in charge of mechanical stability calculations and prepping them for the MOT. Even if it’s just one single parameter that changes for the machine, sometimes everything has to be completely recalculated. It’s a multiple iterative process and I find these iterations to be rather nerve-wrecking, so I do admit I have a few sleepless nights here and there because of them. I heard about an otter that nearly foiled DRESDYN. Would you like to share that story with us? _FS . The otter was an unexpected variable but I didn’t really lose sleep over that one. In a distance of 50 meters from the building, it commutes between two lakes. Our technical service was ultimately able to compromise with the environmental agency by agreeing to move the building over by about ten meters. We can definitely live with that, all the more as we’ve spent a lot of time pondering DRESDYN’s ideal location. We had a few options but for reasons of safety and vibrations, we really wanted to be off the beaten track. The fact that the old heating house was slated for demolition ended up being perfect for us as it opened up the optimal location. A SPECIAL PROJECT: Scientist Frank Stefani and heavy machinery engineer Christian Steglich, along with Peter Kaever, head of research technology (from left to right), are all collaborating closely to meet all of the major challenges posed by DRESDYN. Photo: Matthias Rietschel

discovered_01_2013

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