Estimation of the Wind Load Required to Cause the Overturning of a Gantry Crane, Comparing Different Structures of the Main Horizontal Girder

Abstract

The present paper concerns the problem of estimating the loading induced by the wind on a gantry crane standing in the open air. Sufficiently strong wind may cause the device to move or even tip over. Two different structures were studied, namely the box girder and truss girder. At the very beginning, the two sectional scaled parts of the main horizontal beam (box and truss girder) of the gantry were prepared. Next, experimental analysis using these models was carried out in an aerodynamic tunnel to estimate the horizontal forces induced by the airflow acting on them. The experimental values of the aerodynamic forces were exploited to verify the 3D computational model of the studied structure. Numerical computations were carried out using the ANSYS Fluent 2022R2 system for both sectional models of the gantry crane mentioned above. The standard k-epsilon model of the turbulent flow of the air is employed. Satisfactory agreement of the values between the experimental and numerical results was achieved. As a result of the performed computations, the magnitude of the critical wind velocity that can be dangerous for the studied gantry cranes was estimated. Finally, a model of the gantry crane with box girder at full scale was analyzed using CFD simulations for different Davenport wind profiles. The results obtained from the experimental and numerical analysis of the sectional models were compared with the appropriate standards. In the current work, attention is drawn to the importance of changing wind direction in the vertical plane since, as shown in the results of this work, even a small change in vertical angle, up to 6°, causes significant changes in the value of the force required to overturn the gantry crane.