Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Technical
6/2/2011
service wind speed greater than their in-service limit. They are designed on the assumption that their jibs will be lowered when the wind speed rises above the specified limit. This point is sometimes not appreciated and it is not uncommon to see mobile crane jibs, particularly those of crawler cranes, permanently in the air on a site. Indeed, crawler cranes are often working in a position where it is not possible to lower the jib without travelling the crane some distance to a clear area of the site. This lack of appreciation of the need to lower jibs when a mobile crane is out of service has caused several spectacular failures. Wind not only has a significant effect on the crane, it can also affect the load in several ways. Relatively light loads with large wind areas, such as formwork, can have significant horizontal forces imposed on them which can adversely affect a crane. For example, with a wind speed of 14m/s (31mph) the wind load on an 2.5m x 1.3m (8ft x 4ft) sheet of ply will be 372 N or 38kg. With wind blowing from behind the crane, the load radius can be increased significantly, inadvertently overloading the crane and perhaps causing it to overturn. For example a shutter weighing 750kg with an area of 3.25m2 and suspended on a 27m hoist rope will move 1.4m from the vertical when subjected to a 14m/s (31mph.) wind. Moving the load radius by this distance on a 35t capacity truck crane with a 34m main boom working at 18m radius would reduce the rated capacity from 950kg to 640kg. If the wind is blowing from the side this will put a significant side load on the jib for which it is not designed. This may cause it to collapse and the load to fall, with potentially disastrous consequences. A well known example of this is Big Blue, the Lampson Transilift which fell over in 1999 while lifting a 450 US ton, 100ft x 180ft section of the retractable roof of the new Miller Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The subsequent investigation found that wind forces on the huge roof section, which had not been properly calculated, played a major part in the collapse. In the case where the wind on the load does not move it sufficiently to affect the stability or strength of the crane, it may well move enough to endanger people. An example of this is where a tall concrete column was being poured on site using a bottom discharge skip. The skip was being guided into position by two men standing on a platform at the top of the column formwork. A gust of wind caught the skip and moved it sideways, knocking the men off the platform. Wind forces are also particularly important when considering tower cranes, as they are generally erected for periods of months on construction sites and must therefore withstand any wind that may blow during this time. To do this, when out of service, the crane is allowed to free slew with the slew brake held off mechanically, allowing the crane to weathervane and present the minimum area to the wind. As the wind area of the front jib is always larger than the rear, or counter jib, the crane top will always slew to present its back to the wind. It is for this reason that one must be very careful not to upset the in-balance between the wind areas by adding advertising signs or decorations to the back jib. If this happens the crane will not weather vane and will present a much larger wind area, which will in turn give rise to larger forces than the crane is designed to cope with. This delicate balance of wind areas is also a significant issue on luffing jib tower cranes where the temptation is to leave the crane out of service with the jib luffed up to minimum radius to avoid other cranes or structures. But this minimises the cranes ability to weather vane. The effect of wind forces on tower cranes during erection and, in particular, climbing operations should also not be overlooked as any change in wind strength or direction can alter the balance of the crane top significantly with a consequent effect on crane stability. From this brief overview one can see that the effect of wind on cranes and their loads is not to be taken lightly and it must not be overlooked when carrying out the risk assessment and planning that is an essential part of all effective lifting operations. About the author : Tim Watson is a chartered mechanical engineer with more than 30 years experience in the construction machinery industry in the UK, specialising in cranes and access equipment. Previously engineering d
cranestodaymagazine.com/story.asp?st
2/2