Engineered Casting Repair Service, Inc.

Engines

Wartsila-Sulzer V-12 Engines

ECRS was contacted by an international utility company to perform crack repairs to damaged main bearing pedestals on two 5700kW generator engines located in Chiclayo, Peru. During the crack repair process, ECRS engineers determined that in addition to the cracking problems in the respective engines that the main bearing bores and main bearing caps were distorted beyond OEM specifications. This distortion was caused due to the main bearing failures due to lack of lubrication. After noticing this additional problem, we now had to do much more than just crack repair.

crack repair
ECRS first die checked all of the main bearing pedestals to inspect for cracking. Cracking was repaired on several pedestals. These repairs were performed using metalock® and metalace components.

Custom fabricated sleeves were installed on various pedestals in need. Others were machined at the split line. This provided us with the material needed to align bore all of the bearing pedestals true. Following is a model and a picture of these sleeves before and after installation.

align boring
Once all cracking was repaired and all main bearing pedestals were ready for blueprinting and machining, ECRS now had to align bore these engines back to OEM specifications. First, the split lines had to be machined to assure complete contact between the block and bearing pedestals. An optic level was used to shoot these surfaces to assure alignment (shown below). Numerous wire-line readings also had to be taken at each pedestal location to assure perfect alignment of the boring bar. Then, each pedestal was machined individually.

repair complete
Once all of the main bearing pedestals were machined back to OEM specifications, our job was done. The customer was very pleased with both the precision and accuracy of our machining of these engines. Overall, this job was a huge success. The finished bore is shown below.

Cooper-Bessemer GMW-8 Mainframe

survey of damages
ECRS engineers were contacted to repair and reinforce cracking in this compressor engine. The cracking was located in a vertical plane perpendicular to the #1 compressor centerline. and approximately 6 inches from the compressor side wall. The total length of crack was approximately 155 inches. This cracking is typical of that found in many GMW-10 units but has been rarely seen in 8 cylinder configurations. This cracking represented a serious loss in structural integrity and increased the probability of a catastrophic failure. A failure could result in the #1 doghouse pulling off the side of the mainframe. Following is a picture of the cracking. Dye penetrant was used to more easily see the cracking.

repair procedures performed
The 155 inches of crack was repaired from both sides of the partition. The repair consisted of a series of masterlocks along the lengths of the cracks as well as a complete metalock® and metalace of the cracking. The ends of the crack were stop drilled to hinder any further propagation. The following image shows some of these components installed.

installation of reinforcement
In addition to the direct repairs to the cracking, substantial reinforcement in the form of tielocks was required across the crack planes to prevent the re-occurrence of the cracking in the damaged area. Following is a sketch of the repair including the reinforcement.

repair complete
The repairs performed by ECRS on this compressor engine were guaranteed, subject to normal operating conditions against, extension of the cracks, breakage of the locks, and breakage of the parent metals within the repair area.

Clark HBA - 8 Upper Mainframe

survey of damages
The cracking initiated in the #2 bay and extended horizontally through bay #3 and ended in the #4 bay. Overall, 126 inches of crack were detected. Following is a picture of the cracking as seen in the #3 bay. You can see that the crack initiates sometime before this bay, runs the complete length of bay #3, then ends in a location past this bay.

repair procedures performed
The 126 inches of crack was repaired utilizing masterlocks and anglelocks, as well as a complete metalock® and metalace of the cracking. The ends of the crack were stop drilled to hinder any further propagation. The following image shows these components installed.

installation of reinforcement
In addition to the direct repairs to the cracking, substantial reinforcement in the form of tielocks were required across the crack planes to prevent a re-occurrence of the cracks in the damaged area. Following is a sketch of the repair including the reinforcement.