Qingdao Hicorp Group’s 2020 innovation award-winning projects released

——Presentation of Silver Award Innovation Project

Summary of President‘s Speech at the 2020 Innovation Annual Conference: Innovation is the eternal theme of Hicorp development; innovation strategy is always the core strategy of Hicorp Group, and it will always be adhered to by generations of Hicorp people; we must set off among all Hicorp people an upsurge of “respecting technology and advocating innovation”; to realize our vision and accomplish our mission, the only correct road is the road of innovation!

Silver Innovation Award for Product Technology: Flexible Segment Automatic Production Line - Hicorp Group Heavy Industry

Tunnel lining segment is the main assembly component of shield construction and the outermost barrier of the tunnel. The quality of segments is directly related to the overall quality and safety of a tunnel, and affects the waterproof performance and durability of the tunnel. With the development of the industry, the demand for large-diameter tunnel segments is increasing, and the curing system of the traditional segment production line can no longer meet the needs of the market. In response to customer needs and market changes, Hicorp Group Heavy Industry has set up a research and development team to tackle key problems, and an automated flexible segment production line was born.

At the beginning of 2020, at the peak of the new Covid-19 epidemic, after getting client order, the R&D team of the Hicorp Group Heavy Industry still went south to conduct technical communication and on-site surveys at the client’s factory. Speaking of this innovative project, Director Zhao of the Technical Department said: “Because the company has not done a similar production line before, and the delivery time required by the customer is very short, we can only start from scratch, design and put into production at the time. Due to the update and limit of the work site, the plan continued to be overturned and re-demonstrated, but our team was very confident in this project. To reassure customers, we also made a written promise to the client that we would be able to complete the task on schedule.”

Engineer Zhuang, a member of the R&D team, introduced: “The curing unit in the flexible segment carousel uses temperature sensors and proportional solenoid valves to accurately control the amount of steam released. The requirements of technical parameters such as heating rate, cooling rate, max. constant temperature, max. temperature difference, etc. for segment steam curing are totally met and have further improved the quality of segments cured. On the other hand, the current curing unit is filled with steam after the molds are filled. Compared with the traditional production line with long-time steam input for curing, it also reduces the waste of energy and reduces cost for customers.”

The successful development of the flexible segment carousel not only solved the difficulties for customers, demonstrated our technical strength, greatly broadened the company’s development path in the tunnel lining segment industry, but also consolidated the leading market position of Hicorp Group Heavy Industry. By now, this product has obtained one software copyright and three utility model patents. The market development prospect is broad.