Crane Location Optimization Method for Substation Construction

Abstract

Generally, a substation involves a great many components, i.e., electrical equipment and precast elements, of large dimension and weight. Its lift planning has a major impact on construction sequence, scheduling, budgeting and safety. An optimization method for the scenario of single-cane-multiple-lifts is presented, mainly considering the objective to minimize the number of crane relocations. The method starts with identifying possible location zones by means of the constrained work envelope strategy and the grid traversal algorithm. Later, it adopts the multiple-target integer programming method to minimize the number of location zones that can lift all components, and then to maximize the total number of components that the available zones can lift including duplication. For each optimized zones, it checks the optimal location by means of the traversal algorithm, considering the minimum of the sum of the weighted load factors for all components. To avoid spatial interference, an automatic simulation is done by means of which any missing interference can be checked manually. Lastly, a case study is done to demonstrate the validity and practicality performance of the method.