Finite Element Simulation of Crane Boom Structure

in Container Gantry Crane

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ABSTRACT

The rising demand in the maritime transport industry has dictated that container cranes are
increasing in size to cope with larger international traffic and containerised volumes. However
studies and investigations of wind induced collapses of these cranes boom have determined that
the crane’s tie-down system were the primary cause of failure and were found to be lacking in
their mechanical response due to failing at a fraction of the design load. It was therefore proposed
to examine the static loading, wind loading effects on a container crane with varied
environmental operating conditions using state of the art computational fluid dynamics and
compare with traditional conservative means. Analysis of mesh size, mesh type, and turbulence
model selection have been undertaken to independently characterise the accuracy of this analysis
and grid independence obtained.

Keywords: Failure, Static Loading, Wind Loading, Crane, Boom.

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Introduction
A)Function of Gantry Crane
1.Designed for loading and unloading the container cargo from a container vessel.
2.Capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads , used for tasks such as lifting container from ship
to port.
B)Problem identification
Container gantry crane structure will face some problems such:
-Wind force
-Vibration force (neglect)
-Deflection force (neglect)
C)Intrest of study
1)Front beam of boom
2)Major Forces:
-Maximum static load
-High force of wind load
-Maximum container load

D)Objectives
1)Carry out strength analysis of the boom in normal wind load operating condition.
2)Carry out strength analysis of the boom at extreme wind load operating condition
-typhoon wind condition
-level 5 wind condition
3) Determine the maximum container load that front part of the boom can handle

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1. Finite Element Model

Provide a brief description of the model. Indicate dimensions of the model in the Figure. Label
important features on the figure. Refer to instructions in the OUTLINE OF REPORT (Part C)

Include Item D – Materials description in this section 2.

Figure 1. Geometry of a plate with a central hole

Figure 2. A quarter model of the plate with a central hole

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 Figure 3. Finite element mesh of the model with triangular elements

2. Results and Discussion

Results of finite element simulation are presented and discussed in terms of deformation of the
plate, stress distribution and stress gradient.

2.1 Case 1- d/D = 0.2

Refer to instructions in the OUTLINE OF REPORT for the content of this section.

Figure 4a. Deformation of the quarter-model under tension load

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 Figure 4b. Maximum principal stress distribution in the plate at P = 5 N

4
Distance (mm)

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
von Mises Stress (MPa)

Figure 4c. Variation of von Mises stress along path a-b (see Figure 2)

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2.2 Case 2- d/D = 0.5
Repeat discussion for this case, with Figure 5a, Figure 5b and Figure 5c, respectively.
(Repeat this section as required)

3. Conclusions

Stress concentration in a plate with central hole under tension has been analyzed using FEM.
Results show that;
 The computed stress concentration factor is Kt = 2.9.
 (Limit to 3 major conclusions)

4. References

1. (Provide list of references used)

2. (Limit to 5 references)

5. Acknowledgment

This work is part of a course on Finite Element Method conducted at … (This section is optional).

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