Analytical method for the out-of-plane buckling of the telescopic boom with guy cables

The guy cables can effectively improve the bearing capacity for the telescopic boom of the crane, while the introduction of tensioned cables makes the buckling analysis complicated. The primary objective of this study was to propose an analytical method for the out-of-plane buckling of the telescopic boom with the spatial symmetric guy cables. To analyze the influence of the guy cables on the out-of-plane buckling property of the telescopic boom, the deflection differential equation of the multi-stepped telescopic boom with guy cables was established based on the theory of elastic beam, then the buckling characteristic equation to determine the critical load of the telescopic boom was derived. Comparison of results with that given by the finite element method showed the high accuracy of the proposed method. In the end, with this equation, the influences of the structural geometric parameters on the critical load were investigated. The results indicated that, in the engineering application, the critical load of the telescopic boom can be increased by decreasing the length ratio a/L or increasing the angle phi between the two cables. The influence of angle theta on the out-of-plane buckling analysis of the telescopic boom can be neglected. With the proposed method, the buckling behavior of the telescopic boom with guy cables can be solved accurately. The present work is significant to structural design and safety analysis of the telescopic boom, and it can be utilized to provide technical support for the structural design of telescopic boom.