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Chess Engineering were recently subcontracted by the PM Design Group to design, build and install a highly specialised access platform at Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)’s Bragg Institute in Lucas Heights, Sydney.ANSTO’s Bragg Institute leads Australia in the use of neutron scattering and X-ray techniques to solve complex research and industrial problems in many important fields. The project was to deliver a platform for the ‘EMU back scattering spectrometer’, one of the state-of-the-art neutron-beam instruments operating at the Bragg Institute.

Importantly, the design had to meet all ANSTO’s operational and safety requirements, be made of a number of subassemblies to allow ease of dismantling, and be a framework constructed of non-magnetic materials to enable the instrument to test samples in a strong magnetic field.The team at Chess Engineering quickly determined that the construction would have to be of aluminium to meet these requirements. “This was an interesting project for us,” says Chess Engineering Project Manager, Elham Haddo. “The main challenge was the spiral staircase leading to the platform which was rolled and fabricated in-house. Being made of aluminium, this process wasn’t as simple as it seems and this is something we had not done before.” None of Chess’ suppliers were able to roll the spiral stringer and handrails for the staircase on their machines using aluminium, so Chess’ sheet metal supervisor designed a fixture to assist in this process and it was successful.

The Chess Engineering team completed the design and fabrication stage of the project over several months, drawing on their experience in design, drafting, sheet metal and aluminium welding expertise. “By drawing on the experience of the Chess team, and working closely with the PM Design Group from the early design stages right to the end, we were able to approach a difficult and technical job and deliver a quality product that perfectly matched ANSTO’s requirements,” says Elham. “It has been very rewarding for Chess Engineering to deliver a quality, specialised product that will be part of the Bragg Institute’s research.” The client has undertaken progress inspections, and is very satisfied with the outcome. Installation of the platform is now underway (April 2013).

Chess Engineering has the capability to design and manufacture highly specialised equipment with complete expertise across product design, manufacture, and installation.