A study of the horizontal inertial forces acting on the suspended load of slewing cranes

When designing a crane's load-carrying structures, a static analysis is still central to a preliminary determination of the dimensions required. However, to bring the results of these calculations closer to reality, different quasi-static procedures are introduced. These procedures take account of various dynamic effects by means of appropriate coefficients. In this paper, a now procedure is proposed for determining the maximum horizontal inertial forces in a radial direction that are acting on a load suspended from the jib during a crane's slewing motion. Based on a previously developed and verified mathematical model of a general-type slewing crane, we undertook the following. Firstly, we verified that the horizontal inertial forces in the radial direction are of no less importance (no smaller in terms of their magnitude) than the forces in the tangential direction, and that their maximum values can easily be a few times greater than the nominal centrifugal force. Based on this we introduced a new coefficient of radial horizontal inertial force, and we calculated a diagram for the rapid determination of this coefficient. We also present a brief report of the horizontal inertial forces in the tangential direction. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.