TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

1.0 INTRODUCTION 2

2.0 STRUCTURE OF MATERIAL 4

3.0 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERISTICS 7

4.0 MATERIALS PROCESSING AND LIMITATIONS 11

5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 17

6.0 DISCUSSION 19

7.0 CONCLUSION 20

8.0 REFERENCES 21

1
1.0 INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is known as developing country. The role of the construction industry in moving
the nation’s economy forward cannot be underestimated as it grows rapidly in each year. Thus,
Malaysia was introduced by modern machines for construction. One of the famous machine used
in construction is crane. Crane 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. There are different types
of cranes for variety of applications. Cranes for instance are vehicle mounted crane, tower crane,
rough terrain crane, crawler crane, all terrain crane, railroad crane and more.

Tower crane is one of the widely used cranes nowadays. For constructing tall buildings,
these type of cranes are used. The construction crew uses the tower crane to lift steel, concrete,
large tools like acetylene torches and generators, and a wide variety of other building materials.
The first element of the tower crane's stability is a large concrete pad and large anchor bolts
embedded deep into the pad act as the base of the crane. One important thing to note about
tower crane, as they construct past a specific height, it is important to have the tower crane
connected to the building to help prevent crane sway and crane tipping. The maximum load that
tower crane can lift is 18 metric tons but the crane cannot lift that much weight if the load is
positioned at the end of the jib. The closer the load is positioned to the mast, the more weight
the crane can lift safely. However, there are some of accidents and failures relating tower cranes.

Failures of tower cranes will lead to serious damage or total collapse. These accidents are
often followed by very high financial losses and possibly serious injuries or crane-related

2
fatalities. Tower cranes usually fails because of fail of crane steel support structure. The
possibility of developing fatigue cracks in tower crane structural components is always present.
Thus, it is very important that cranes and associated equipment be inspected regularly at least
visually and preferably by nondestructive test methods for the presence cracks. According to W.
M. Williams, Birks Professor of Metallurgy, in his journal titled ‘An Analysis of Six Fatigue Failures
in Cranes’, there are 6 fatigue failures in tower crane parts such as bolts, crane support column,
crane tower, overhead yard crane, failure of hoist rope and driveshaft. Although failures in cranes
and crane components are still common, the record is improving, partly because of better
inspection and servicing procedures and partly because crane manufacturers are more aware of
the importance of reliable material and good joining methods. However, engineers must develop
high technology cranes with better features and thus, future cranes will have improved safety
and versatility with computers and video screens that will allow operators to move heavy objects
with increased accuracy.

2.0 STRUCTURE OF MATERIAL

Design Structure

3
 A crane is a mechanical system designed to hoist and move loads through a hook
suspended from a cable. There are few machine exist in as wide variety of designs as cranes.
Before the crane is constructed, the manufacturer must consider the site where it will be used
and the weight it will need to lift. In addition, cranes are often modified to suit the needs of the
user. For these reasons, it is not much of an exaggeration to say that no two cranes are exactly
alike.

Cranes used in construction often perform a variety of tasks and must be controlled by
highly skilled operators. Construction cranes are divided into mobile cranes and tower cranes.
Mobile cranes are mounted on trucks or crawlers in order to travel from place to place. The
articulating crane is a mobile crane in which there is a joint between two sections of the boom,
allowing it to move in a way similar to a knuckle in a human finger. Articulating cranes are
generally used to lift objects located a relatively short distance away, but with a wide range of
motion. A telescoping crane is a mobile crane in which two or more sections of the boom can
extend and retract, changing the length of the boom. Telescoping cranes are less versatile than
articulating cranes, but are usually able to lift heavier objects located a greater distance away.

In this case the tower cranes are being used in the construction. Tower cranes are used
in the construction of tall buildings. They are installed when construction begins and dismantled
when the building is completed. An external tower crane is installed outside the building. As the
building increases in height, the crane is raised by lifting the upper part of the crane and adding
a new section of tower beneath it. An internal tower crane is installed within the building. As the
building increases in height, the crane is raised by lifting the base of the crane to a higher level
within the building.

4
 Figure 1: External tower crane

Figure 2: Internal tower crane

In the construction industry where it is needed lifting, often times they use cranes that
are anchored or subject to a ballast. In most designs, it aims to have the center of gravity of the
system located at the base and so the center of mass obligates the system to remain in balance
regardless of the magnitude of the load which is much minor to the total mass of the crane. In
the cranes tower, the load lifted must be able to move an action that is done by a trolley along
the boom reaching the counterweight in the counter boom at a fixed distance with regard to the
tower.

5
 The material for the structure of the tower crane is usually made up from High-Strength
Low-Alloy (HSLA) steels that have many benefits over regular steel alloys. It is stronger and
tougher than ordinary plain carbon steel. It is also designed to handle higher stresses and very
often at low temperatures. HSLA contains small amount of carbon (approximately 0.05-0.25%
Carbon). This steel also contains a small amount of one or more other elements that add strength
such as copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), niobium, nitrogen chromium, silicon, molybdenum, vanadium,
titanium and many more. Besides being strong, HSLA steels are resistant to atmospheric
corrosion and are better suited to welding than carbon steels. The added elements are intended
to alter the microstructures usually ferrite or pearlite and the yielding may be increased by 50%.

The strength of the HSLA were obtained full advantages after heat treatment being done
to the material which is in this case quenching and tempering. The quenching treatment gives
more hardness to the material while the tempering treatment change the microstructure of the
material which gives more strength and hardness to the material. Other than that, the added
element plays an important role as it changes the microstructures. To increase the strength of
the HSLA steel the microstructure is needed to increase the amount of pearlite, increase the
fineness of grain structure, and increase the amount of hard precipitate.

6
3.0 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERISTICS

The most important substance used to manufacture tower cranes is steel. Steel is an alloy
of iron and a small amount of carbon. For structures that require great strength, particularly in
cranes designed to lift very heavy objects, a variety of substances known as high-strength low-
alloy (HSLA) steels are used. HSLA steels contain relatively low levels of carbon, typically about
0.05%. They also contain a small amount of one or more other elements that add strength. These
elements include chromium, nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, titanium, and niobium. Besides
being strong, HSLA steels are resistant to atmospheric corrosion and are better suited to welding
than carbon steels.

Most HSLA alloys have directionally sensitive properties. For some grades, formability and
impact strength vary significantly depending on whether the material is tested longitudinally or
transversely to the rolled direction. For example, bends parallel to the longitudinal direction are
more apt to cause cracking around the outside, tension-bearing surface of the bend. This effect
is more pronounced in thick sheets. This directional characteristic is substantially reduced in HSLA
steels that have been treated for sulfide shape control.

7
 Alloying Element Effect on Steel
Nickel  Ferrite strengthener
 Increase toughness of the hypoeutectoid steel
 With chromium, retains austenite
 Graphite former
Manganese  Strong ferrite hardener
Copper  Austenite stabilizer
 Improves resistance to corrosion
Silicon  Ferrite hardener
 Increase magnetic properties in steel
Phosphorus  Ferrite hardener
 Improves machinability
 Increase hardenability
Chromium  Mild ferrite hardener
 Moderate effect on hardenability
 Graphite former
 Resists corrosion
 Resists abrasion
Molybdenum  Strong effect on hardenability
 Strong carbide former
 High red hardness
 Increase abrasion resistance

Table 1: Effect of alloying element to steel.

8
Classification of HSLA:

1. Weathering steels – Steels which have better corrosion.

2. Control-rolled steels – Hot rolled steels which have a highly deformed austenite structure
that will transform to a very fine equiaxed ferrite structure upon cooling.
3. Pearlite-reduced steels – Low carbon content steels which lead to little or no pearlite but
rather a very fine grain ferrite matrix. It is strengthened by precipitation hardening.
4. Acicular ferrite steels – Characterized by a very fine high strength acicular ferrite
structure, a very low carbon content and good hardenability.
5. Dual-phase steels – Ferrite microstructure that contain small, uniformly distributed
sections of martensite. This microstructure gives the steels a low yield strength, high rate
of work hardening and good formability.
6. Microalloyed steels – Contain very small additions of niobium, vanadium and/or titanium
to obtain a refined grain sized and/or precipitation hardening.

Sample parts failure of tower crane:

Figure 3: Stress concentration in the structure of the Figure 4: Cracks in the root of the weld joint.
portal tie-rod as a result of poor design.

Figure 5: Fractured gusset plate. Figure 6: a) A-view, b) B-view.

9
Microstructure of HSLA steels:

In conclusion, a compatible materials used for tower crane is HSLA steel. This is because,
HSLA steels have characteristics that suit for tower crane application which are high strength to
weight ratio, much stronger and tougher than ordinary carbon steels, improved low temperature
toughness, fatigue resistance, high temperature creep resistance, atmospheric corrosion
resistant, high ductility, formable and weldability.

10
4.0 MATERIALS PROCESSING AND LIMITATIONS

Material Processing
High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel (HSLA) also known as Micro-alloyed steel. These materials
are strengthened by adding the elements Niobium (Nb), Vanadium (V), Titanium (Ti) either singly
or in combination. The micro-alloying elements are used along with other strengtheners such as
boron, molybdenum, chromium, nickel and copper and their use is accompanied by strict control
of impurities such as sulphur, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus. Strengthening by micro-alloying
dramatically reduces the carbon content which greatly improves weld ability and notch
toughness.

Before this, the traditional rolling routes and heat treatment methods for making HSLA
steel were not suitable to apply the required process attributes. Therefore, the extensive
research has been conduct and led to the development of thermomechanical processing. The
following figure describes the thermomechanical process:

Figure 7: Thermomechanical process of HSLA steel.

11
 For microalloyed steel grades, dissolution during soaking (reheating) and conditioning of
austenite (strain, strain rates, deformation temperatures) prior to transformation are extremely
important parameters to be taken care of.

In comparison to structural steel grades which are strengthened by solid solution

hardening elements, such as Manganese or Silicon and different amounts of pearlite (dependent
on carbon content) microalloyed steel grades derive a significant amount of their strength from
precipitation hardening by Titanium-Niobium carbonitrides, Vanadium carbides and from the
grain refinement caused by thermomechanical treatment. That means during hot rolling,
deformation induced precipitation of microalloying elements like Ti(C,N) and Nb(C,N) occurs.
These fine precipitates as well as the microalloying elements in solution delay the
recrystallization of the deformed austenite which then after the last stand of the finishing mill
transforms in a dislocation enriched fine grained ferrite.

The strength level of the HSLA steels can be enhanced both by increasing the amount of
precipitates (e.g. higher Ti, V and Nb contents) and by using solid solution hardening elements
such as Silicon.Actually, the austenite grains may recrystallize several times during hot-
controlled-rolling,but the total effect of this will be a marked refinement in austenite grains by
the time the steel reaches austenite to ferrite transformation temperature. In the later stages of
austenite deformation at lower temperatures, recrystallization may not occur. The elongated,
flattened (pan-caked) austenite grains may then transform directly to fine ferrite, or may be
cooled rapidly from the finish rolling temperature so that austenite to ferrite transformation
takes place sub-critically to produce still finer ferrite grains. A schematic diagram of the stages of
controlled rolling is shown in Figure 8.

12
 Figure 8: Schematic diagram of the stages of controlled rolling.

Ar3 =Temperature at which austenite to ferrite transformation begins

Ar1 = Temperature at which austenite to ferrite transformation is complete

TR = Recrystallization stop temperature

The production process of HSLA steel using thermomechanical treatment starts with
soaking in a reheating furnace at an appropriate reheating temperature. The reheating
temperature thus, is essentially the highest temperature to which the steel is heated during
thermomechanical processing, in order to ensure the maximum dissolution of the microalloying
elements present. The amount of microalloying content in solution at the end of reheating
influences the recrystallization kinetics, recrystallized grain size, grain growth and further
precipitation in both austenite and ferrite. The reheating temperature controls the:

 initial austenite grain size

 solution and precipitation of the micro-alloy carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides

13
 There are some procedures in preparing the HSLA steel. The initial heat treatment
consisted of austenitizing in the vacuum furnace at 870 oC for 30 minutes, quenching into the oil,
and then tempering. Structure at the beginning after providing an austenizing treatment, at the
beginning of these procedures the structure consists of carbide globules in ferritic matrix. After
quenching, the structure of quenched steel in oil consists of a mixture of massive and acilular
martensite with retained austenite.

After quenching, according to carbon content this is a maximal value that could be
obtained in such steel. The structure of tempered steel, tempering parameters, temperature and
time can be varied in a wide range according to the size of the material. While varying one of the
indicated parameters, the other parameters remained constant. After all this process, it can be
observed that hardness curves have a similar tendency when the steel hardness depend on the
tempering time, at different temperatures. Hardness can rapidly decline at the beginning of
tempering, and the change is greater with a higher tempering temperature for the same
observing time. If this behavior indicates that the obtained results are in accordance with a
diffusion character of the complex steel tempering process.

Through metallographic investigations can show that the martensitic structure during
tempering undergoes the transformation into a ferritic-carbide mixture with the retained
martensitic morphology.

Figure 9: Microstructure of HSLA steel before heat treatment

14
 Figure 10: Microstructure of tempered HSLA steel after heat treatment

The result or product of the material or the HSLA steel after undergoes the heat treatment
can be seen the microstructure have become more fine grain structure and this will make the
material increase in strength greatly. The results also can be seen through the microscope that
the microstructure have more amount of pearlite this resulting the strength of the HSLA steel to
increase more greatly.

Design Limitation

The cranes that made from HSLA steel have some limitation that can be analyze with the
condition that being stated in the design structure such as it will limit the weight that can be lifted
by making it dependent on the distance you want to move in the boom. This limitation is related
to the balance that generates the counterweight, ballast and load. There is some example that
the load can be carried at some distance for the tower crane. Example are as follows:

Figure 3: Displacement respect to the load

15
 Although the HSLA steel has many advantages, there are also some limitations for the steel.
Their use is limited due to design factors such as structural rigidity requirements and the fatigue
strength of welded joints. Besides that, the corrosion rate can be a limiting factor unless
precautions are taken to avoid it such as applying special protective coatings to the steel.
Furthermore, ductility and toughness of HSLA steel are not as good as quenched and tempered
(Q&T) steels. They must also be heated hot enough for all of the alloys. Therefore, after forming,
the material must be quickly cooled to 540 to 600 °C (1,004 to 1,112 °F).

16
5.0 RECOMMENDATION
1. Use high strength low alloys (HSLA) material to build a crane
For structures that require great strength, particularly in cranes designed to lift very heavy
objects, it is recommended that a variety of substances known as high-strength low-alloy (HSLA)
steels are used. HSLA steels contain relatively low levels of carbon, typically about 0.05%. They
also contain a small amount of one or more other elements that add strength. These elements
include chromium, nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, titanium, and niobium. Besides being strong,
HSLA steels are resistant to atmospheric corrosion and are better suited to welding than carbon
steels.

2. The rigger must be trained in general crane operations and specifically in proper load
handling procedures.
It is recommended that the top management should send a letter recommending industry to
revise all necessary guidelines to include appropriate training guidelines for riggers. Although
they have been provided with a very good guidance for operating offshore cranes, it is believed
that it is still poor in its lack of discussion about crane riggers. It is extremely important that
riggers are properly trained because they are often the ones that get injured or killed.

3. Require third party inspections/certifications.

The top management should seriously consider requiring inspection/certification of all cranes
installed on fixed platforms. This requirement could be similar to the USCG's requirements for
load testing and re-certifying cranes every four years. Although some may consider this a
prescriptive measure, we believe it is necessary to ensure that operators properly maintain their
cranes. This action may prevent some of the incidents that occur after something fails or breaks.

4. Improve accident investigations and reports.

17
The top management also must significantly improve the way it conducts accident investigations
and reports the findings if they want to use the reports for understanding and analysing why
accidents occur. Right now the reports do an adequate job of telling us what happened, but they
don't do a good enough job of explaining why it happened. One option would be to establish an
office that has accident investigation as its sole purpose and hire qualified accident investigators
to do the job (accident investigation and analysis should be their only job). Although this
recommendation does not give immediate answers to improving crane safety, it would provide
their company with a better understanding of all accidents. Understanding why accidents happen
should also give the company another tool for measuring operator performance.

5. Industry workshop on crane safety.

It has been suggested that the top management of the company to host or participate in an
industry workshop on crane safety. It is one of the best method solutions to stimulate industry
recognition of crane safety. However, in this type of workshop, it should focus on some of the
more recent accidents and lessons learned. Participants should include USCG, API, Offshore
Operators Committee, International Association of Drilling Contractors, and other interested
parties to discuss crane safety issues, policies and appropriate regulations. Invitations should also
be extended to crane manufacturers, crane suppliers, work boat contractors, and others that
move equipment and supplies to and from offshore platforms. Such a diverse group of
participants could provide valuable insight for learning more about training needs for riggers and
overall crane safety

6. Review of codes of practice

The Taskforce, with Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council and Ministry of Manpower
(MOM), will participate in the review the relevant Codes of Practice, in particular Code of Practice
for the safe use of tower cranes. In addition, a fact sheet of maintenance programme is also being
planned.
6.0 DISCUSSION

18
 We can analyze from all tragedies of cranes, safety is the most important factor to be
considered during crane manufacturing. The steel used to make the crane is inspected to ensure
that it has no structural flaws that would weaken the crane. From this case of the crane collapse
in San Francisco, one of the causes is all of the metal fractures were due to excessive loads. No
indication of progressive fractures or other pre-existing conditions were observed. Pre-existing
crack in a connection plate and a structural member and brittle behaviour of the materials
associated with welding details may have contributed to the failure. Damage to the climbing
frame indicated that some rollers on the climber frame were binding excessively during the last
stages of the climb. From the testing results of climbing section and the tower section, it indicated
that the materials had adequate strength, ductility and toughness for structural purposes. Two
pre-existing cracks existed where it was found on the north flange or the southwest leg of tower
at the junction of the weld of two diagonals. The other crack was found in the vertical plane
where the guide pin was welded to the connection plate. As a results, these cracks created weak
points in the structure and could have precipitated. A completed crane is first tested without a
weight to ensure that all of its components operate properly. It is then tested with a weight to
ensure that the crane is able to lift heavy objects without losing stability. The excellent strength
and toughness properties of HSLA-100 steel are the result of the interaction of several
mechanisms within the microstructure. The baseline properties are provided by the as-quenched
material. The strength is primarily the result of the fine prior austenite grain size and the highly
dislocated bainite substructure of the granular bainite microstructure.

8.0 CONCLUSION

Taking everything into account, choosing a material that appropriate and satisfy the
necessities of required application is imperative to maintain a strategic distance from any failure

19
and accidents from happening. For this situation, to maintain a strategic distance from the
pinnacle crane from crumple, the correct material must be picked. In this manner, we propose
that the material which is appropriate to use is HSLA steel. This is because this material are high
strength to weight ratio, much stronger and tougher than ordinary carbon steels, improved low
temperature toughness, fatigue resistance, high temperature creep resistance, atmospheric
corrosion resistant, high ductility, formable and weldability. In choosing the material, the design
limitation also need to be considered. HSLA steel also has some limitation despite having many
advantages. The materials processing also must be conduct properly to achieve great materials
properties. Thus, accidents can be avoided as well as reducing the failure of the materials.

9.0 REFERENCES

20
1. Failure Analysis of the Tower Crane Counterjib. Nenad D. Zrnic, Srdan M. Bosnjak, Vlada

M. Gasic, Miodrag A. Arsic, Zoran D. Petkovic. University of Belgrade, Faculty of

Mechanical Engineering.

2. Stress-strength Interference Method Applied for the Fatigue Design of Tower Cranes.

Simon Bucas, Pierre Rumelhart, Nicolas Gayton, Alaa Chateauneuf. Clermont Universite,

Universite Blaise Pascal, IFMA, Institut Pascal.

3. Mechanical Properties and Mechanical Failure. Slide notes by Dr. Mimi Azlina, Universiti

Teknologi MARA.

4. Morrison, W. B. “Overview of Microalloying in Steel”.

5. Imao Tamura, H. S., Tomo Tanaka Chiaki Ouchi (1988). “Thermomechanical Processing

of High-strength Low-alloy Steels”.

21