Proceedings of The South African Sugar Technologists' Association - June 1994

CAD TRASHPLATE DESIGN

M GIBBON
CG Smith Sugar Limited, Noodsberg

Abstract
The CAD trashplate designhas been produced on Caddie,
TOP ROLL OU'ISlDE DIAMETER
a computer aided designand draughtingpackage. The design --~----:-----
requires information regarding the roll diameters, wear rates
and mill settings, which are used to calculate and display
the roll centre distances, underfeed arm lengths, wedge an- TOE
gles at the beginningand end of the seasonand the trashplate HEEL
profile. The advantages over the old drawing board method CLEARANCE
of designing trashplates include time saving, increased ac-
curacy and an improved trashplate design.
SWEEP=x-y
Introduction
DI~ARGE ROLL
CAD is a computer aided design and draughting package
with its own programming language which allows programs PACKERS E~ OU'ISlDE DIAMETER
to be written wherebydraughtingand design unique to vari-
ous differentenvironments can be performed efficiently and
accurately. Althoughused effectively as a drawingtool, CAD
is often neglected as a programming or design instrument FIGURE 2 A mill trashplate.
due to the perception that writing CAD programs is ex-
tremelycomplex and shouldbe leftto the "computer boffins". The Noodsbergmills have a unique arrangement whereby
An ideal opportunity for reaping the benefitsof program- the feed and discharge roll positions are adjusted by wedges
ming in CAD is presented by mill trashplate design. In the which move in the mill cheeks as shown in Figure 3. The
past, the process has been both time consuming and labo- wedges are important in that they provide support for the
rious, consistingof drawingout the mill rollsand performing roll bearings and should rotate within certain limits so that
the design on a drawing board measuringabout 4 m X 2 m. the bearings are properly supported throughout the season.
The CAD trashplate design completes the trashplate design
and displays the mill rolls, trashplate profile and all desired
mill information quickly and accurately.
The aim of this paper is to illustrate that the CAD trash- x= FEED JEOOE ANGLE (-VEl
plate design leads to benefits in time saving, accuracy and Y = Dl&::HARGE WEIX:E ANGLE (+VE)
improved trashplate design. In doing so, the author hopes
to demonstrate that programmingin CAD may be of benefit
in other areas of repetitive design in the sugar industry.
\

About the Noodsberg mills

To appreciate fully the CAD trashplate program, one re-
quires an understanding of the mill layout and some of the
terms used. A general arrangement of the Noodsberg Mills
and trashplate is shown in Figures I and 2.

FIGURE 3 Mill wedge arrangement.

The Noodsberg trashplate design

To put the trashplate designin perspective it is important
to have a basic knowledge of the entire processof setting up
the mill for any particular set of conditions. Shownin Figure
4 is a flow diagram indicating where the trashplate design
fits into the overall mill design together with all the infor-
mation required to complete the design.
FEED ROLL
A basic description of how the trashplate profile is de-
MILL CHEEK. _ - - - - signed is listed in the following procedure. The method is
shown graphically in Figure 5.
FIGURE 1 General arrangement of a Noodsberg mill. • Locate the top roll centre position (T).

143
Proceedings of The South African Sugar Technologists' Association - June 1994

mand Language. "The command language is based on a C-

ESTIMATE CRUSH RATE
like format with variables, functions, sub-routines, flowcon-
(TONS CANE/HOUR) trol and loops" (Anon., 1992). These programs use the op-
erator's input or response to perform calculations and
1 constructions which result in desired designs and drawings.
Stated very simply, Caddie programs can execute any de-
FIBRE THROUGHPUT (TONS/.:jf
I FIBRE% CANE
I sign/drawing which could be performed using conventional
drawing instruments. .
1 The programming language has been specifically devel-
CALCULATE MILL SETTINGS ROLL DIAMETERS oped for the Caddie user in order to develop commands and
USUALLY ON A SPREADSHEET MILL LIFT ETC. implement new features to suite each unique environment.
Although programming in Caddie Command Language is
1 relatively simple, one does require a basic knowledge of
computers and programming to produce effective programs.
DESIGN TRASHPLATE WEAR RATES,
(CAD TRASHPLATE DESIGN) SWEEP, ETC.
The trashplate design program
The CAD trash plate design program consists of three main
1 parts:
(a) The program prompts the user for the information re-
MATCH WITH EXISTING
quired to complete, the first phase of the design. The
TRASHPLATE PROFILES information required is shown in Figure 6 and is used
to calculate the mill roll positions, roll centre distances,
1 underfeed arm length, maximum gearwheeldiameter and,
wedge positions at the beginning and end of the season.
MANlTFACTURE, INSTAl AND
The program uses roll wear rates to predict the end of
CHECK TRASHPLATE season wedge positions.

FIGURE 4 Mill and trashplate design flow diagram.

MIll DATA TOP oou WFAR 15
FEED oou WFAR aJ
• Using the calculated roll centre distances, locate the po- MIU NUMBffi 1 DIS. oou WFAR 16
sitions of the feed and discharge rolls at the beginning (Fb DlMlNSlON H 314 FEED OPENING 64
TOP OOU DlAM. 1140 DiS. om/ING 32
and Db) and end (Fe and De) of the season. FEED oou, DlAM. lIaJ VIF OPENING 182
DiS. OOU DlAM. 1130 GROOVE DEI'I'H 60
• Draw the roll outside, mean and root diameters using T, VIF OOU DlAM iaJ
Fb and Db as centres.
• Check the bearing positions at the beginning and end of
the season.
• Decide on the correct trashplate height below the top roll,
the sweep and the heel clearance.
• Construct the trashplate profile using the construction lines
shown in Figure 5.
Caddie and Caddie command language H = the position of the mill cheek relative to the finale drive
Caddie is a computer aided design and draughting package
which, as well as being an effective draughting tool, has the FIGURE 6 Information required for the CAD trashplate design.
facility to enable the user to write programs in Caddie Com-
(b) For the second phase of the design, the user is prompted
X for the trash plate height below the top roll, the heel clear-
T I
-----/c"- ance and the trashplate sweep. This information is used
;1\,!\
.. "",1,1. to produce the trashplate profile, the heel and toe angles,
/ I \'1 I the trashplate packers required and the trashplate length.
/ ! \i'\ The final layout of calculated data and the trashplate
/ i \ II
l i \ '\ profile is shown in Figure 7.
l i \ \
ii : i\\, (c) The final aspect of the trash plate design is a feature of
CAD rather than part of this program whereby profiles
of existing trash plates or trash plate patterns can be com-
pared to the newly designed profile. This is achieved by
having the profiles of all trashplates, with available pat-
terns, stored as symbols. The trash plate length will be
the main criteria in assessing whether or not an existing
pattern is worth comparing to the newly designed trash-
plate or not.This process will determine if any existing
patterns may be used to cast the new trashplate.
Expanding or modifying the CAD trashplate design
Modifying the CAD trash plate design to suit a conven-
FIGURE 5 The Noodsberg trashplate design method. tional mill would entail re-writing almost all of the calcu-
"

144
Proceedings of The South African Sugar Technologists' Association - June 1994

• An improvement in accuracy and a reduced probability

of making mistakes.
• The CAD trashplate design allows Engineers to see im-
mediately the effects of varying trashplate height, roll wear,
sweep, or any other trashplate parameter and therefore
become more efficient and effective in obtaining ideal
trash plate profiles.
• The CAD trash plate design allows an easier and more
accurate comparison between existing trashplate profiles
and the newly designed profile. This will lead to a more
effective use of existing patterns to cast new trashplates
~IUTE DFSlGN and ultimately a saving of time and money.
HHGHT mnl IDP OOIL =III • The design can easily be adapted to suit various different
HElL llFARANCE =12
smP= 21
mill types or trashplate design procedures and the pro-
PAOORl RBlUl~ mml =&! gram may be expanded to include other aspects of the
~IUTE mm =37Il mill design, e.g. mill settings, roll positions or pinion sizes.

FIGURE 7 Design and information produced by the CAD trashplate

design. Conclusions
The CAD trash plate design has been successfully intro-
lations in the program to suit the different mill .layout and duced to Noodsberg Sugar Mill and has had the desired
design method. The basic structure of the program, i.e. effects of reducing design time and improving the accuracy
prompting the user for mill information and drawing .the and efficiency of trashplate designs.
rolls and trashplate would essentially remain unchanged. The
conversion would require a basic knowledge of program- Although the particular application of trash plate design
ming and the CAD commands. has been presented, it is the intention of the author to dem-
onstrate that CAD programming language may be used as
The program could also be expanded to include other an effective design tool to save time and money where any
aspects of mill design such as: design or drawing is being repeated on a weekly, monthly
• Roll selection and positioning or yearly basis.
• Pinion sizing
• Mill settings - although mill settings could be included in
the program, it would require a fair amount of program- Acknowledgements
ming and can be done far more efficiently on a spreadsheet. The author would like to thank Mr M Hardwick for his
Advantages of the CAD trashplate design support and assistance, and Miss H Atkins for her help with
the project presentation.
The advantages of using CAD as opposed to the old draw-
ing board system for designing trashplates are:
• A large reduction in design and drawing time. Where the
old system took in excess of a week to complete all six REFERENCES
trashplate designs, the CAD Trashplate Design completes Anon. (1992) Caddie Professional Version 4.0. Reference Guide - Volume
the designs in a few hours. 2. January.

145