6. Crane girders 6.1.

General elements In order to accomplish the technological flux inside the workshop structure, this has to be provided with crane (gantry) girders upon which the cranes travel carrying different materials (with the help of the crab). Thus, the floor is empty free to be used for different industrial activities. When the loads transported weight light ( !..."! k#), the system that is used consists in overhead travelling cranes. These cranes are made up of powerful hot rolled profiles (I) suspended at the bottom chord of the roof truss $runway girders, along the bay of the structure (fig.%). &o, the crane girder moves along the bay, being itself suspended at the bottom flange of the two profiles.

'ig. %. (verhead crane girders for industrial buildings (small lifting capacity)

When the lift capacity is bigger ("!..."!! k#), the cranes travel on two parallel runway girders, whose supports are the brackets of the structural columns. The runway girder is composed by the rail and the crane girder. 6.2. Design of the crane girders )rane girders are made up of hot rolled steel profiles$usually special powerful profiles of Western *uropean or +.&.,. profiles or of build up cross sections, obtained from thick plates welded with continuous fillet welds. -attice girders may be used also when the bays are big and the lift capacity of the crane is small, but generally this solution is avoided because of the fatigue phenomenon.

'ig... &ection of runway girders for cranes with different lifting capacity/ a)$ crane girders made of hot rolled sections for small lifting capacities and small bays/ b)$ plate girders made of thick steel plates and knee braced girders for heavier weights and bigger bays0 c)$ runway girders for heavy and very heavy weights and big bays

'ig. . )rane girders for light and medium weights and very big bays/ a)$ hot rolled sections0 b), c) $ hot rolled section with tie$rod at the flange in tension0 d)$ hot rolled section with lattice girder at the bottom flange.

)rane girders may be continuous or simply supported. Simply supported gantry girders -are easier to build up at the building site, but they use a bigger 1uantity of steel. Continuous crane girders- need a bigger amount of manual labour at the building site but the distribution of the bending moments is more rational and the deflection is smaller. When the spans

are not e1ual negative reactions on the supports of the smaller spans may appear so on the bigger spans the simply supported girders will be adopted. The crane girders made up of hot rolled cross sections (simple or compound) are used for smaller bays and lighter cranes (2 m , 34"!...%!! k#). 'or bigger bays and lifting capacities of the cranes (56%. m, 3.!! k#) crane girders are made up of build$up cross sections (fig. .).

'ig. 7. ,lternative static systems adopted for the crane girders

&pecial hori8ontal girders are used if they are needed, in order to take the crab effect. These girders may be either build$up sections or lattice girders. The build up cross sections are made up of a web which is corrugated steel sheet, one flange being the top flange of the runway girder and the other flange being a hot rolled steel profile (channel or beam). The corrugated steel sheet is also used as a passing platform (cat$walk) between two running columns and for that it has to be stiffened.

'ig. ". 9unway girders with continuous platform made of thick steel sheet between two running columns

If the bays are big the deflection of the profiles (+ or I) is diminished with the help of ties (knee braces) put at "...2 m distance between the stiffeners and the bottom flange of the crane girder or, in some situations an elastic restraint for the profile is used (fig. 2).

'ig. 2. :nee$braced runway girders for limiting the deflections

The special girders used to take the crab effects may be lattice girders. Their width may be %.....%." m and the walking platform is made of timber planks or corrugated sheet put on the lattice system (hori8ontally). The internal lattice system is triangular with supplementary struts. The angles of the ties are small (a4."o... !o), the number of the ;oints being diminished. The members are obtained by angles which are positioned so as to permit the corrugated sheet to be put on. , special case is the platform between two crane girders that sits on the internal columns and which, in this situation, is common for both girders. In order to insure the stability in the plane of the crabs, the girders are provided with transversal bracing. The distance between the bracing is (!. ...!."")-T. 'or bigger bays (-T %. m) hori8ontal bracing elements are necessary to be provided at the bottom flanges of the crane girders. 6.3. The rails of the runway girders The rails insure the process of travelling of the cranes and transmit the stresses from the wheels of the cranes to the crane girders. The width (b) of the rail is determined with the relationship/
b= Pmax D R%

(%)

where/ Pmax$the maximum load on the wheel of the crane0 D$the diameter of the wheel0 9l$the strength of the material for local crush (9l47<9).

The value of b may be also expressed depending on the width of the crane at the internal part of the wheel rim (br) / b = br -(15...16 mm.

'ig. =. 9unway girders with platform sustained of steel lattice girder

'ig. >. ?ifferent systems of fixing the rails on the crane girder/ a), b), c)$ s1uare steel sections0 d), e)$ :@ type of rails0 f)$ railway rails

In fig.> some possibilities for assembling the rail to the top flange of the crane girder are presented. In the b) case the rail is welded at the flange with continuous fillet weld but this may be used only for light working conditions as putting the rail right in the centre of the cross section and removing it whenever it is necessary is a difficult operation. The c) case, adopted when the crab effects are smaller is easier to be used. The d) case is adopted when the cranes have big lifting capacities. ,s the transportation lengths are small (2...> m) the tolerances between the units of rail are numerous. The welding between the units is done with butt welds (aluminium$thermal method).

6.4. The buffers of the runway girders They are provided for the case that the crane would come too close to the end of the runway girder and the braking system would not act in time. , single crane is considered for the design of buffers. The force transmitted to the buffers (!b) is expressed with the relationship/
!b = $ #. Ak#B "

(.)

where/ #$ the speed of the crane when it bumps into the buffer in mCs. It is taken as a ratio from the maximum speed (!.=vmax). This is due to both the fact that the speed at the ends of the runway girders is automatically diminished and the fact that the rail is inclined in that 8one0

'ig. 5. Types of buffers of the crane

f 4 !.% m for flexible suspension and 3 "! k# (working groups I, II, III) and f 4 !.. m for the other cases0 D$ mass of the maximum vertical pressure force from the crane on the rail determined with the following relationships/ a) $ in the case of the flexible suspension when the maximum lift load 3 is not taken into account because of dissipation of impact energy due to balancing the load in the hook/

$ =

n p Pmax g

% c% % (& P + &c P ) AkgB g %P

(7)

b) $ in the case of the rigid suspension/

$ = n P Pmax = % c% % A& P + (' + &c ) P AkgB g %P

(")

The notations are/ g$ gravity acceleration0 &p$ weight of the crane Ak#B0 &c$weight of the crab Ak#B0 '$ lifting capacity of the crane Ak#B0 %p$ span of the craneAmB0 c%$ minimum distance between the crab and the axis of the rail AmB (see &T,& >!!$>.) !t will not go over the following values/ 7!! k#$ I working group cranes0 %.!! k#$ II and III working groups cranes0 .!!! k#$ IE and E working groups cranes. 6.5. The com utation of the crane girders This includes the following stages/ a)$estimation of loads0 b)$computation of the maximum stresses0 c)$choosing the dimensions of the cross section0 d)$strength and stability checking0 e)$other checking (stiffness, fatigue). 2.!.3.5.1. "ctions and combinations a. +niform distributed loads Ada#CmB0 %) weight of the crane girder/ ( & = (%"... !) %) (2)

.) weight of the rail (including an extra weight of the angle cleats used for the connections with mechanical fasteners, aprox. %"F)/
( s = *s. =>"! %,%"

(=)

) weight of the corrugated steel sheet (depending on its thickness, including an extra weight for the elements used to stiffen the steel sheet)/
(ts = %,%" g ts bi .

(>)

7) live loads/
(u = g u bi .

(5)

where the live load is taken according to &T,& %!%!%C!,$>! and its maximum value reaches %," k#Cm.0 $bi is the depth of the inferior part of the column Total weight is then/ ( = ( & + ( s + ( ts + ( u (%!)

The estimation of the loads may also be done with tabulated values, according to the lift capacity of the crane. b) forces from the pressures on the wheels of the cranes/ %) vertical loads from the wheels of the cranes (maximum values), considering two cranes on the runway, (np4.)/
Pi , max = % & P (' + &c ) ( %P c% ) A + B nP . %P

(%%)

These values may be pulled down from the specific regulations$&T,& >!!$>., depending on the working group of the crane. .) hori8ontal longitudinal forces due to surge effect of the crane that travels on the runway, speeding up or slowing down0 two cranes maximum loaded are considered, acting simultaneously/
!l = " Pmax,bra+ed = Pmax "

(%.)

where/ $ the two cranes are braked simultaneously on the wheel loaded with the maximum pressure force, Pmax0 "= ,.1 $friction factor. ) hori8ontal transversal forces from the surge of the crab (slowing down or speeding up) considering that it acts only on one of the rails /

!t =

% % n c , b " + (' + & c ) n p nc

(% )

&o/
!t = ' + &c $ flexible suspension 7! ' + &c $ rigid suspension 7!

!t =

where/ n@ $ number of the wheels of the crane that transmit the crab effect ( 4 .)0 nc $ number of wheels of the crab( 4 7)0 nc,b$ number of wheels of the crab that the brake acts on simultaneously ( 4 .)0 f G friction factor ( 4 !.%)0 k G suspension factor0 for flexible suspension, k4%,! and for rigid suspension, k4.,! 7) hori8ontal forces that appear because of the stacking phenomenon see fig./ )= ( & P + &c + ') % P %!! (%7)

.The influence of the T force is automatically taken into account by considering the dynamic coefficient ..

'ig. %!. ,ctions from the crane on the runway girders/ a)$ vertical actions from the wheels of the crane to the rail0 b)$ hori8ontal actions from crab due to surge effects0 c)$stacking forces because of the lack of linearity of the rail

Speci"ications/ %. Hoth longitudinal and transversal forces may act on two directions. .. In the ultimate limit state of strength and stability the variable actions are amplified with dynamic coefficients considering the impact, and 0. The dynamic coefficient 0 affects the vertical

actions and the dynamic coefficient the hori8ontal loads, this last coefficient depending on the working group of the crane, maximum load in the hook, the type of suspension (table below). If two cranes travel on a single span, 0 is diminished with !.% (see table ) . The design values of the actions in the fundamental group of actions are obtained by multiplying with/ %, "$dead loads (self weights)0 %,"$live loads0 %,.$vertical actions from crane (@max)0 %. $hori8ontal actions from crane and crab ('l, 't)0 7. ,ccording to the fundamental group of actions, the variable actions will be taken together with the corresponding value of partial safety factors. ". The coefficients that take into account the simultaneous effects depend on the number of cranes that act at a certain moment and on the working group of the biggest crane considered (table) 6.6. The com utation of the ma#imum stresses The design values for the maximum stresses are obtained from the following situations/ a) Dmax, Tcor0 b)Tmax, Dcor. If the crane girder is simply supported, maxim maximorum value of the bending moment and maxim value of the shear force are determined according the rules in the &tatics (fig. ). In the case of the continuous crane girder, the maximum values of the sectional efforts (D, T) will be obtained with the help of the influence lines. Ienerally we take into account the effects from two cranes in the most unfavourable situations. ,s on the girder there are also uniform distributed loads, although their effects are negligible, they have to be taken into account. &o, the coefficients 11 and 12 are used in order to amplify the bending moment and the shear force respectively. ,ccording to the above specifications the values of $max3max and )max3max are/ $ max max = %. . % Pi ,max i$ %) J )max max = %. . . Pi ,max i) (%")

The crab effects (surge) will be a bending moment in the hori8ontal plane, the position of the hori8ontal transversal forces !t being the same with that of the convoy of forces Pmax/
$ !t = %. !c i$ %)

(%2)

6.!. Choosing the dimensions of the cross section of the crane girder They are the same used for a girder having a build up cross section only specific measures have to be taken for the deflection/
" max %) , "or' < "!!+4 2!!

J
" max %) , "or' "!!+4 ="! %) .!!!

(%=)

'or the deflection in the hori8ontal plan, under a single crane/

" max

(%>).

'ig. %%. ?etermination of sectional efforts from vertical actions on the crane girder (the simply supported case)

'ig. %.. ?iagram for determination of the maximum shear forces$simply supported girders

'ig. % . )oefficients for the determination of sectional efforts and deflections of continuous girders under mobile forces (influence lines)

'ig. %7. Daximum sectional efforts$influence lines

'ig. %7. )ontin.

The top flange has to be dimensioned also from the point of view of putting the rail on it/
b btop . ( + e" + e + %"....!mm) .

(%5)

'ig. %". )onstructive detail for the top flange of the crane girder

6.$. %trength &erifications Case 1. The crane girder without platform The hori8ontal longitudinal forces .!t is taken by the top flange along with a part from the web of the girder (fig. ). The stresses are/

'ig. %2. &chemes for the determination of stresses in the cross section of a girder for which the top flange carry hori8ontal actions from the surge effect of the crab

P , ( % = $ P ,(

K K 6s 6s 6i P ,( P , ( P , ( P , ( P , ( P , ( 6 i 0 = $ = $ 0 = $ 0 . 7 5 yy 5 yy 5 yy 5 yy

(.!)

! % = $ !
t t

!P bs t ! !p !t 0 . = $ !t i 0 % = . = -s . 5 66 . 5 66

(.%)

l ,. =

Pmax ) R . = 7 = cor x ti *i t i
P , ( !p % = % + % R P , ( !t % = % + % %.%R
P ,( !t !l . = +. +. .

)hecking the normal stresses and the plane combined state of stress/ (..)

. Kec* ,. = . . R . + . %%
KK . . ec* . + l., . . l , . + . mR ,. =

(. )

where m4%.% for the simply supported girder and %.." for the continuous girder0 the normal stresses are considered with their algebraic sign (L or$)
l , . Rl 0 . R " 0 P , ( .
!l

+ l ,. + .

R
(.")

(.7)

. P ,( = . .R 7 = 7 + 7 %% 7 0 ec* ,7

Case 2. The crane girder with platform made of continuous corrugated steel sheet

'ig. %=. ?iagrams for the determination of the stresses for the girders when the top flange carries the surge effects from the crab

The forces !t are taken by the hori8ontal cross section made the steel platform, the channel (+#@) or beam( I#@) on which is welded and the top flange of the crane girder (fig6)The stresses are/
P ,( P ,( ........ % 7 are the same as for the case 1

!t % = $ !t

y% 5 6% 6%

!t 0 . = $ !t

y y. !t 0 " = $ !t " 5 6%6% 5 6% 6%

(.2) (.=) (.>)

! %! = . =
l l

!l -s

" =

$C Pmax ) 0 l . = 0 . = 7 = 7 x ti *i t i

)hecking the stresses/

P , ( !p % = % + % R

% =

P , ( %

!t %

%.%R

!l P ,( + . ,l + . 0 . = .

(.5)

. . . Kec* . = . . R0 M . . + . %% ec* . = . + l. . l. + . m R

( !) ( %)

!t P ,( . .,l Rl 0 . R " 0 R ec* 7 = . . R " =" +" R 7 7 + 7 %%

(ther verifications of the crane girders like overall buckling, local buckling of the web and of the flanges, fatigue, are the same as for the build up cross sections (according to &T,& %!%!>C!$ =>). Case 3. The crane girder with the platform made of a truss This system is adopted when their space for the platform is bigger or the depth of the column at the inferior part is greater. It is considered that the hori8ontal forces from crab surge act between the ;oints of the truss forces, so there are bending moments at the flange in compression/
!c $ loc =

!c a %!

( .)

The value of the axial effort 4 !t $ P , ( is determined generally with the analytical methods.

The stresses are/ % figure ( ).

%! =
t

P ,(

P ,( .... 7 using the same relationships as in the case 2, see also the

$ loc b p $ t 4 !t 4 !t !t !t !t !t 0 . = loc i 0 % =. = 0 " = 5 66 . 5 66 . -s !l C %!l = . , . ,l , . = 7 , "

) ( 7)

are the same as in the case 2. )hecking the stresses/

!t P,( % = % P,( + % !t + % !t R 0 . = +. + . !t .

( ")

The other relationships are identical as in the case 2

'ig. %>. ?iagrams of stresses for runway girders with platforms sustained by steel lattice girders

6.1'. Details of assembling( welding( bolting at building site and su crane girders

orts on the column of the

'ig. %5. ?etails of build up section of crane girders/ welding the flanges to the web, end posts fixing

'ig. .!. )urrent stiffeners on the webs of crane girders0 transversal and longitudinal

'ig.