Knowledge and Experience/Specialist Advice

Structural designs on fixed and mobile plants. Design assessments for plant for repair, capacity upgrade, retrofitting of new equipment or compliance with Australian standards.

SIE Engineers have been involved in a large number of plant and machine audits and systems implementation for mobile and fixed plant across many sites.  Structural inspection requires specialist knowledge and experience.

Where most large mining and processing companies have a reasonable number of Metallurgical, Mechanical, Electrical and Controls Engineers, they generally do not have their own Structural Engineer.

Advanced analysis techniques and simulation such as finite element analysis, provide greater levels of understanding and assessment of structural behavior.  These techniques are used when the general assumptions by many building type standards are exceeded.  SIE is able to assess static stress, buckling, fatigue, dynamic behavior and thermal effects using these techniques.

SIE's senior engineers have conducted numerous failure investigations from small technical investigations for improvements through to participation in fatality investigations under legal privilege and expert witness work.  Our detailed understanding of structural fundamentals, design methods, standards and failure mechanisms provides an excellent base for conducting investigations.

SIE has developed a number of training modules for mine site personnel.  Structural training for site personnel can increase awareness and the ability to detect structural risks before they become significant.  The training modules cover a wide variety of structural principles including basic load paths, loads and resistances, design methods and standards, fabrication requirements and tips on how to interact with structural engineers and contractors.