Decreasing of vibration amplitudes of the converter pedestal by design changes and changes in prestress of the bolted joints

A new converter was installed on the pedestals on which the original converter sat. During the testing operation of the new converter there were found excessive deflections of the converter pedestals in locations of the bearing houses of the converter vessel. A detailed analysis based mainly on experiments showed the cause of these excessive vibrations of the converter pedestal. With proposal and implementation of design improvements in the location of bolt connections as well as changes both in anchoring of the pedestal and of the prestress in the bolts, the deflections were decreased below the allowed value.