FACULTY OF MECHANICAL & MANUFACTURING

ENGINEERING

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

BDA 31003
FINAL PROJECT (GROUP ASSESSMENT)

OVERHEAD CRANE
Introduction
Problem Statement

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or
chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them
horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy things and transporting them to other places.
The device uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move
loads beyond the normal capability of a human. Cranes are commonly employed in the
transport industry for the loading and unloading of freight, in the construction industry for the
movement of materials, and in the manufacturing industry for the assembling of heavy
equipment.

Cranes exist in an enormous variety of forms each tailored to a specific use. Sizes
range from the smallest jib cranes, used inside workshops, to the tallest tower cranes, used for
constructing high buildings. Mini-cranes are also used for constructing high buildings, in
order to facilitate constructions by reaching tight spaces. Finally, we can find larger floating
cranes, generally used to build oil rigs and salvage sunken ships.

However, there have been many high-profile incidents involving cranes in which
people has died or have been injured. These incidents have led to public concern that further
improvements should be made when operating the cranes.

There are variety type of cranes that exists on the market, such as tower cranes,
mobile cranes, overhead cranes, bridge cranes and so on, each has its advantages and
limitations. In this project, we are going to focus on the overhead cranes, exploring on its
design, loads, critical regions and failure that might occurred.
Objectives

To determine the design of the crane with consideration of its dimension, material and
type of load.
To investigate the improvement of the crane by comparing the improved result with
the original result.
To analyze the model type chosen.
To determine the critical point and type of failure that may take place on the crane.
To identify type of loading and type of constraint in the model.

Scopes

To ensure the objectives of this study are achieved, this study focuses on a few points:

Suggested improvement of the crane with justification (pro and cons).

Type of failure for girder and support beam.
Critical point location.
Comparison between the original and improved model This list serves as the
boundaries of this study.

Limitations

Limitations in this study will be:

Working space
The design of the crane
Dimension of the crane
Material to be used
Type of loading
Loading point
Amount of loading
Constraint of models
Model type analysis
Expected Results
At the end of this study, the objectives and scopes of this study should be completely
fulfilled. The critical area location is expected to occur at the center of the crane frame. This
will reflect by the loads and constraints applied to the crane design. The failure type of this
study on the crane design structure will be fatigue failure, due to cranes function in daily
application which involves repetitive movements of loading and unloading. By considering
the certain mechanical properties and design, the improved design or version of the crane
design, will show better lifespan and it should have smaller area of critical region, as
compared to the original crane design.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Overhead crane is a type of crane that usually found in
industrial environments. An overhead crane consists of
parallel runways with a traveling bridge spanning the gap. A
hoist, the lifting component of a crane, travels along the
bridge. If the bridge is rigidly supported on two or more legs
running on a fixed rail at ground level, the crane is called a
gantry crane (USA, ASME B30 series) or a goliath crane (UK,
BS 466). Unlike mobile or construction cranes, overhead
Typical overhead crane
cranes are typically used for either manufacturing or
maintenance applications, where efficiency or downtime are
critical factors.

The major difference between an overhead crane and a

bridge cane is, the structure of the bridge. For the overhead
crane, the bridge is usually in I-beam shape and mounted on Gantry crane
the wall or pillar of the workplace. While for the bridge cane, the bridge is can be made by
beam or combination of trusses, and it is moved by using the wheels installed on its
supporting arms. This is because bridge crane is usually larger in size and used for
construction site or outdoor terrain, where mass and mobility is taken as a major factor.

One of the most significant limitation of the overhead crane is the lifting height of the
hoist. Due to the overhead crane is a built-in device, it is mounted on the pillars or the walls
of the building, thus the lifting height is restricted by the dimension of the open space
available. Unlike the tower crane which the height can be increased by inserting the truss
elements, or like the other cranes that can be jacked-up by using hydraulics, the lifting height
of the overhead crane is restricted upon the installation.

The overhead crane comes with variety kinds of specifications, depends on the
supplier, customer may choose the combinations of the crane based on the load capacity and
length of the spam. In this project, we are going to select the overhead crane offers by the
Kito Manufacturing Company, EO010-9-S. It is capable for lifting 1 ton of loading and has a
20
span of 9 meter. It has a standard speed of 24 m/min.

0.21
The geared motor is G1MO025S-E, which has the output of kW with required
0.25
power source 200-220V/60Hz. The motor mass is 150kg per set including a hoist which has
the lifting height of 12m. The hook block mass is 7.5kg. The cross-section of the girder is I-
beam shape, with cross section of (300*120*8*13)4 . It has maximum allowable bending
stress of 1390kg /2 .

There are many safety precautions that we need to account when using a crane.
Inappropriate applications might lead to crane failure. First of all is the load factor, do not
apply load which exceeded the loading capacity, which will causes the crane to overload.
This will leads to the bending of the girder or eventually it will collapse.

Next is the electrical hazards. According to OSHA, nearly 50 percent of overhead

crane accidents are the result of machinery coming into contact with a power source during
operation. Power line contact most often occurs when the crane is moving materials nearby or
under energized power lines and the hoist line or boom touches one of them. Usually, the
person who is electrocuted is touching the crane when it comes into contact with the power
line. But, the danger is not just limited to the operator. It extends to all personnel in the
vicinity. Thus, cranes should be kept away from unsafe working areas. The operators should
be also clearly notified of all potential danger zones. The area within a 10-foot radius of a
power line is considered an unsafe work area (or danger zone) and it must be clearly marked
on the ground by insulated barriers, fences, tape, etc. This will help create visual clues for
workers to ensure that the crane is always positioned so that the boom and hoist line cant
intrude in the danger zone.

Besides, falling materials is a major concern at any work place or job site using
overhead cranes. Visual impairment, two-blocking, slipping, mechanical failure, or operator
incompetency can all result in serious injuries or fatalities. If materials are not properly
secured, for instance, the load can slip and land on workers in the vicinity or cause major
damage to property. For larger or mobile cranes, undesired movement of material can pinch
or crush workers involved in the rigging process. One way to reduce the risk of falling
materials is to perform regular maintenance of hoists. Load testing maintenance ensures that
you know how many pounds the hoist can handle, and it helps to maintain good working
condition. Maintenance should always be treated seriously when it comes to heavy
machinery. Aside from maintenance, improper securing of the load or the slings that carry the
load is one of the leading causes of accidents with overhead hoists and cranes. If the load or
sling holding the load isnt properly secured, the objects can slip out, tip, and eventually crash
to the ground below.

Careful operation of the hoist is another important safety factor to consider whenever
overhead cranes are used. The person responsible for managing the hoist should be well
trained and qualified. Moving the crane too quickly and jerking the hoist when its bearing a
heavy load can be hazardous to the crane operator and workers nearby. Changing or reversing
direction should be done slowly and carefully. Reversing direction can cause heavy loads to
spill, and swinging the load is very risky. Operators and controllers must fully focus on the
task at hand to avoid potentially dangerous situations.
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF ORIGINAL
CRANE DESIGN
TYPE OF ANALYSIS

For this project, we are going to analyze the girder of the overhead crane, which is an
I-beam. By using LISA 7.7, we are going to make a 2-D analysis is suitable for the beam
elements. By specifying the length of the beam, which is the span of the girder, and taking
count of the beam cross-section, we can analyze the beam by adding constraint at the both
ends of the beam and overloading it at the required nodes. By doing so, we can examine the
critical point of the beam when it is under critical loading.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES

The material for the beam is HSLA steel. High-strength low-alloy steel (HSLA) is a type of
alloy steel that provides better mechanical properties or greater resistance to corrosion than
carbon steel.

With loading of 1 ton and span of 9m, we obtained the dimensions for girder cross-section.

Youngs modulus = 2.05e11

Poisson ratio = 0.28
GEOMETRIC DIMENSION
The layout of an overhead crane is as below:

It can be illustrate as below:

Loading

Constraint 1 Constraint 2

x
From the figure we can see that the girder is supported by the end carriage on the travelling
beam. Although we had assumed the critical location will be at the middle of the girder, we
are also interested in the beam deflection when the loading is at other locations. Hence we are
going to create several nodes by taking x as 0S, 0.25S, 0.5S, 0.75S, and S, where S is the
span of the girder.

ELEMENT AND MESHING

This is the structure model of the I-beam in LISA 7.7 and its cross-sectional view. It consists
of 5 nodes and 4 elements.
NODES
We are going to have 5 nodes, located horizontally to illustrate as different location of the
girder. By doing so, we are able to study each beam deflection when the loading is on
different point of the girder.

ELEMENTS
By connecting the 5 nodes, we will have 4 elements illustrate as the I-beam shape of the
girder.
CONSTRAINTS AND LOADINGS

Since the both end of the girder is pinned on the end carriage, thus we can assume that there
is no deflection and moment at node 1 and 4.

Besides, we are going to apply the load at each node accordingly. The load is the sum of the
maximum loading, mass of the motor set, and the mass of the hook block set:
(1000+150+7.5)*9.81=11355.075 N.

This is to simulate the situation when the crane is in motion, and determine the critical
locations when it is overloading.

Note that in actual behavior we are not allowed to overload the crane due to safety (1 ton =
9810 N). But in this project, we are interested to find the deflection of the crane, by
overloading it, the deflection is more significant.
RESULTS, ANALYSIS, EVALUATION AND
SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT

RESULTS OF ORIGINAL DESIGN

Below are the post-processor diagram when the load is subjected at different node:

NODE 1
NODE 2

Critical
NODE 3

Critical
NODE 4

Critical
NODE 5
TYPE OF FAILURE
From the table date, we can observed that the magnitude of displacement at the center
of the beam is maximum. This is where the failure most likely to be occurred.

Crane is an equipment that used to lift and un-lifting heavy objects. The lifting motion
is repeating, the beam will experiencing various bending moment and deflection over time.
This will results microscopic cracking of the beam structure. The crack will spread and
becoming larger if did not take care of. And lastly, the beam will fail and break. This type of
failure is called fatigue.

SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT

For a simple cantilever beam, in order to increase its strength and stiffness, we can
simply alter the dimension of the beam. By thickening the I-beam, we may obtain lower
displacement magnitude when it is subjected to same amount of load.

Unfortunately, in real life application, altering the dimensions means altering the
manufacturing process of the beam. Material costs, machining cost, overheads cost, and
others.

Consider the manufacturing cost, a more practicable way is to add in another identical
I-beam to share the load with another. Which means each beam will experiencing half of the
magnitude of the loading. This can greatly reduce the deflection magnitude and increase the
loading capacity of the beam. This type of crane is known as double girder crane. Moreover,
the extra beam member will increase the weight of the crane. Usually this type of the crane
requires longer end carriages to evenly distribute the weight to the wall mount.
Besides, we are also interested in the outcomes if we replace the I-beam girder with trusses
mechanism. Although trusses require a larger space of installation, it has its advantages when
comes to larger size of crane. Imagine that a 100 m of trusses is more convenient to install
rather than a 100 m of beam.
Note that there are various type of trusses design, since in our cases, the load is act upon the
gravity, and thus we implement Pratt Truss design into our crane element.
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF IMPROVED
CRANE DESIGN
DOUBLE GIRDER CRANE
TYPE OF ANALYSIS
To analyze the newly design crane, we can simply done by decrease the loading by half in the
previous experiment. But in order to obtain a clearer picture of the structure of the crane, we
decided to carry out 3D analysis by using LISA 7.7. By specifying the coordinates, we can
draw two parallel elements and each of them shares half of the loading.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES

We using the same HSLA steel with the same cross section as the previous analysis. Thus we
have:

Youngs modulus = 2.05e11

Poisson ratio = 0.28
GEOMETRICAL DIMENSION
This is the structure design for the modified version of beam. The point of each node are
different with the previous: 0S, 0.25 S, 0.5 S, 0.75 S, S, where S is the span of 9 m.

There is a gap of 0.5 m between the two beams to allow for the geared motor to fit in. The
dimension of the geared motor is shown as below:
ELEMENT AND MESHING

COORDINATE OF NODE
ELEMENT INFORMATION
CONSTRAINTS AND LOADS
The both end of the beam is pinned on the end carriage, thus we can assume that there
is no any displacement and rotation at any axis. The load is divided equally by both beams,
thus each beam experiences 5675.375 N of force.
In this analysis, we are only interested at the point where is the maximum
displacement will be occurred, which is the middle point. Thus we generate the simulation on
this point by LISA 7.7.
The outcome is as below:
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF IMPROVED
CRANE DESIGN
PRATT TRUSS CRANE
TYPE OF ANALYSIS
We drew the trusses by using 3D analysis in LISA 7.7. By specifying the coordinates of each
nodes and connecting them to become elements, we can make a 3D model of the crane.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES

We using the same HSLA steel with the same cross section as the previous analysis. Thus we
have:

Youngs modulus = 2.05e11

Poisson ratio = 0.28

The steel we are going to use is no longer I-beam shape, we chose circular cross section with area of
0.072 .
GEOMETRICAL DIMENSION

This is the structure design for the trusses version of girder:

1m
0.75m 0.5m

9m

2.25m 2.25m

The maximum height of the trusses is 1m. We purposely to do so in order to minimize the
required space to install the trusses as an overhead crane girder. The overhead crane is
majorly being used indoor, where the available space is a critical factor which needs to be
considered.

The geared motor will be hung under the trusses.

ELEMENT AND MESHING

This is the structure of the trusses in LISA 7.7. It consists of 60 elements and 20 nodes.

COORDINATE OF NODE

`
ELEMENT INFORMATION
CONSTRAINTS AND LOADS
The both end of the beam is pinned on the end carriage, thus we can assume that there
is no any displacement at any axis. The load is divided equally by both beams, thus each
beam experiences 5675.375 N of force.
In this analysis, we are only interested at the point where is the maximum
displacement will be occurred, which is the middle point. Thus we generate the simulation on
this point by LISA 7.7.
The outcome is as below:

Critical points
(mid span)
DISCUSSION
COMPARISON OF DATA & RESULT INTERPRETATION

DISPLACEMENT MAGNITUDE OF
ORIGINAL DESIGN

DISPLACEMENT MAGNITUDE OF
1st IMPROVED DESIGN

(Double girder)
 DISPLACEMENT MAGNITUDE OF
2nd IMPROVED DESIGN

(Pratt truss)

From the results, we can observed that the displacement magnitude of the critical load
position is reduced by half in the 1st improved design. This data proved that the improved
design will have less deformation and more stable than the previous one. Displacement
magnitude of critical load position in improved design has decreased 50% compared to
original design. This data proved that the improved design will have less deformation and
more stable.

While in second improved design, the displacement magnitude is greatly reduced. The Pratt
truss crane has the smallest displacement then the rest of the design. After the supporting
members are added into the design, the compression occurred in load applying region had
87.1% lesser when comparing improved results to original results. It was believed that,
improved design has higher safety factor than original design
DESIGN LIMITATION
One of the most significant limitation of the overhead crane is the lifting height of the
hoist. Although our improved design has higher safety factor, it limits the working space of
the overhead crane, due to the overhead crane is a built-in device. It is mounted on the pillars
or the walls of the building, thus the lifting height is restricted by the dimension of the open
space available. The designs have a span of nearly 9 meters. Improved design had higher
safety factor, but a limited lifting head in the working space may become a huge impact to its
market.

SAFETY AND ECONOMICAL ASPECTS

Safety is the most important aspect in construction site. Cranes were made up of
hundreds of steel member, any unwanted or careless act must be avoid during operating the
cranes to ensure no fatality occur at the construction site. As an engineer, we should focus
and carry on our duty to increase the safety factor of the crane. In our improved designs, we
add more support to stabilize the designs through decreasing the internal displacement of the
crane. Improvement of safety factor is very clear and significant, but extra money is put into
the design. Although it is economically not suggested, but the safety of our site workers is
still our main concern. Money invested in improving the crane design will sooner be covered
if the worker do not involve in any threat when operating the crane as company do not have
to waste money to recover the injured workers.

POSSIBLE FURTHER IMPROVEMENT

Changing the material of the beam be a great way to improve the overall ability of the
crane. For all the analysis done, we only test with the most common material used in crane,
which is carbon steel. The strength of the crane can be further enhanced by changing its
material to HSLA Steel (High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel) alloy steel such as nickel, nickel-
chromium or chromium-vanadium steel. HSLA steel first has higher tensile strength and
Youngs Modulus compared to carbon steel. It can increase the level of safety with the same
load applied. Besides, it has higher resistant to corrosion, can further avoid accident due to
steel rusting.
CONCLUSIONS
As a conclusion, we can say that we have achieved our objectives by improving two
different types of cranes according to their capabilities. Double girder crane is improved and
backed up by using specific specifications. The first objective achieved by determining
design of the crane with consideration of its dimension, material and types of load used. We
using the same HSLA steel with the same cross section as the previous analysis. Thus we
have Youngs modulus = 2.05e11 and Poisson ratio = 0.28. For dimensions, the point of each
node are different with the previous 0S, 0.25 S, 0.5 S, 0.75 S, S, where S is the span of 9 m.
There is a gap of 0.5 m between the two beams to allow for the geared motor to fit in.

Another objective which identifying types of loading and types of constraints in the
model is achieved. For double girder crane the both end of the beam is pinned on the end
carriage, thus we can assume that there is no any displacement and rotation at any axis. The
load is divided equally by both beams, thus each beam experiences 5675.375 N of force. In
this analysis, we are only interested at the point where is the maximum displacement will be
occurred, which is the middle point. Thus we generate the simulation on this point by LISA
7.7. The critical point for the Double girder crane is determined. The displacement magnitude
of the critical load position is reduced by half in the 1st improved design. This data proved
that the improved design will have less deformation and more stable than the previous one.
Displacement magnitude of critical load position in improved design has decreased 50%
compared to original design. This data proved that the improved design will have less
deformation and more stable.

The Pratt truss crane is our improved crane design. The first objective achieved by
determining design of the crane with consideration of its dimension, material and types of
load used. We using the same HSLA steel with the same cross section as the previous
analysis. Thus we have Youngs modulus = 2.05e11 and Poisson ratio = 0.28. The steel we
are going to use is no longer I-beam shape, we chose circular cross section with area of
0.072. The maximum height of the trusses is 1m. We purposely to do so in order to
minimize the required space to install the trusses as an overhead crane girder. Another
objective which identifying types of loading and types of constraints in the model is
achieved. For Pratt truss crane, the both end of the beam is pinned on the end carriage, thus
we can assume that there is no any displacement at any axis. The load is divided equally by
both beams, thus each beam experiences 5675.375 N of force. In this analysis, we are only
interested at the point where is the maximum displacement will be occurred, which is the
middle point. Thus we generate the simulation on this point by LISA 7.7.

The critical point for the Pratt truss crane is determined. The displacement magnitude
is greatly reduced. The Pratt truss crane has the smallest displacement then the rest of the
design. After the supporting members are added into the design, the compression occurred in
load applying region had 87.1% lesser when comparing improved results to original results. It
was believed that, improved design has higher safety factor than original design.

Furthermore, both Double girder crane and Pratt truss crane were improved by the
aspects of design limitation, safety and economical aspects. The improved aspects lead to the
optimum design structure and achieving the planned objective. Last but not least, we would
like to thank the honorable lecturer, classmates and especially group mates whom being a
supportive source for us to complete this group project.

REFERENCES
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhead_crane
2. http://www.craneaccidents.com/
3. http://www.spanco.com/blog/entry/overhead-crane-safetythree-major-hazards-and-
preventative-measures
4. https://kito.com/index.shtml
5. http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet.aspx?matguid=7a1d45bfd1ec47879b8f657
30cce6e70&ckck=1