Chapter II Structural Modeling and Static and Dynamic

Mechanical Performance Analysis

The metal structure is a structure in which a profiled steel (steel pipe, I-beam, channel steel,
angle steel, etc.) and a steel plate rolled from a metal material are used as basic components,
and are welded to each other by welding, bolting or riveting according to a certain rule. Due
to its high strength, light weight, uniform material, convenient manufacturing and good
assembly, the metal structure has been widely used in construction, machinery and
transportation industries. The metal structure is the main component of the shore bridge
structure, and its weight usually accounts for 60-70% of the total weight. As the shore bridge
skeleton, the shore bridge metal structure bears and transmits the load and structural weight of
the crane. The metal structure of the crane developed rapidly in the late nineteenth century
with the development of metallurgy and steel industry. At present, with the expansion of
production scale and the improvement of automation, cranes, as important logistics
equipments, are becoming more and more widely used in modern production processes, and
their functions are getting larger and larger, which also puts higher performance on the
performance of lifting machinery. Claim. At present, all metal structures of cranes are made
of high-quality steel, and welding is used instead of riveting, which not only simplifies the
structure, shortens the construction period, but also saves materials and greatly reduces the
self-weight [31].

The cost of crane metal structure accounts for about 1/3 of the total cost, which directly
affects the technical and economic indicators of the whole machine. Therefore, to ensure that
the crane metal structure has sufficient strength, rigidity and stability, it is necessary to adopt
scientific and reasonable design calculation methods.

2.1 Shore bridge metal structure geometry model

Apply the large commercial general software ABAQUS/CAE 6.7 to establish the geometric
model of the crane metal structure, as shown in Figure 2-1.

Fig.2-1 Geometry Model of Crane Metal Structure

When building the crane geometry model, some structural simplifications were made
according to the characteristics of the model. These simplifications greatly increase the
efficiency of the work, but have little effect on the accuracy of the simulation.

(1) Through the analysis of the model, the machine room is simulated by adding mass
points and adding four horizontal beams between the bases of the machine room, as
shown in Figure 2-2.

Fig. 2-2 Simplified Machine Room

(2) The box beam width of the crane exceeds 1000mm, and the outer flange elongation is
usually 20∼30mm, which only accounts for 2∼3% of the width of the flange plate, so
it is ignored in the calculation.

(3) The column between the sea side and the land side lower beam and the door frame beam
is continuously connected by a cross section. In the modeling process, the box beam
with continuous cross-section changes is divided into three sections, each of which gives
the section shape at its midpoint, as shown in Figure 2-3.

Fig. 2-3 Simplified Continuous Beam Section

(4) In the actual structure, there is no connecting piece between the front and rear girder
and the front and rear girder beams. Since the beam element is used to establish the
finite element model in the finite element modeling process, in order to better simulate
the actual structure, a connecting beam is added between the front and rear girder and
the front and rear girder beams, as shown in the black circle in Figure 2-4. (After the
girders are similar).

Fig. 2-4 Simplified Connection Beam between Front/Rear Beam and Cross Beam
2.2 Finite element model of shore bridge metal structure
This thesis applies ABAQUS/CAE 6.7 for finite element modeling and applies
ABAQUS/Standard for solving operations. In the process of establishing the finite element
model of the shore bridge structure, the basic size of the grid is 300mm, and the total number
of beam elements (B31) is 9843. The front and rear girders of the shore bridge metal structure
and the front and rear tie rods and the girders are connected in an articulated manner. In order
to be able to better simulate the actual structure. In the ABAQUS cell library, the Hinge unit
can effectively simulate the articulation relationship. It can constrain the three translational
degrees of freedom and the two degrees of freedom of rotation of the two nodes, and release a
rotation degree of freedom. In the finite element modeling process, the hinge joint is simulated
with the joint unit Hinge. The machine room quality is simulated in Mass units. The finite
element model of the shore bridge metal structure is shown in Figure 2-5.

Fig. 2-5 Finite Element Model of Quayside Container Crane

2.2.1 Constraints
The shore bridge is run on the track by a large car, which is mounted on the beam of the metal
structure of the shore bridge. Since the beam-to-shore bridge metal structure is modeled in this
paper, the cart is equivalent to a combination of rigid body unit and section beam unit with
similar mechanical properties. In working condition, the wheels are braked. In the actual
calculation process, in order to better simulate the actual situation, the three translational
degrees of freedom 1, 2, 3 of the two points are constrained, while the rotational degrees of
freedom 5 and 6 are constrained, and the freedom of rotation around the orbital direction is
released. Degree 4; while the other two points constrain four degrees of freedom, such as 2, 3,
5, and 6, as shown in Figure 2-6.

Fig. 2-6 Boundary Conditions

2.2.2 Load calculation

The combination and calculation of the loads is carried out according to the European Crane
Design Specification (FEM). During the load application, it is assumed that the movable parts
are at their most unfavorable positions. The specific work loads are listed below:

(1) Shore bridge weight: SG1  1,220,000Kg  9.8N / Kg  11,956,000N ；

(2) Shore bridge rated load mL: According to the rated load of the shore bridge, the load
under the double spreader is calculated according to 80 tons, then the vertical load is the

shore bridge rated load S RL = ml  9.8N / Kg  80 1000  9.8  784000N ；

(3) Self-weight of trolley and spreader: SG 2  79 1000Kg  9.8N / Kg  774200N

(4) Increase the impact load caused by the working load: the dynamic load coefficient
caused by the working load (FEM2.2.2.1.1)   1  V L, where  is the experimentally
determined coefficient, for bridge and bridge type cranes, the value is taken as 0.3; for
boom and boom type cranes is taken as 0.6 In the calculation of this paper,  is 0.3. VL
is the lifting speed. When using this formula, the maximum is 1 m / s. In this calculation,
the main lifting speed of the crane is above 1 m / s, so it is taken as VL =1 m / s. According
to the above values, in this calculation,   1  V L 1  0.3 1  1.3.

(5) The force caused by the braking of the car: The inertia force caused by the car during
the braking process is large, which needs to be considered in the calculation. In this
calculation, the inertia force caused by the braking of the car is simplified. According
to the European Crane Design Specification (FEM), the calculation formula used to
simplify the calculation is:
 F=2TL a
Among them, TL is the sum of trolley quality, spreader and cargo quality, a is the acceleration
of the trolley when starting or the deceleration when braking, 2 is the load amplification factor
according to the European crane design specification [32].

2.2.3 Working condition selection

In the actual working process, the maximum forward reach to the maximum rear extension are
all in the trolley running range. When the trolley is in different positions, although the load
value in the vertical direction is the same, the position is different due to the different
positions. The stresses on the components of the bridge metal structure are also very different.
Combined with the specific characteristics of the shore bridge studied in this paper, the eight
action positions of the loads listed in Table 2-1 are the dangerous locations that need to be
calculated.

Table 2-1. Eight dangerous positions

Maximum forward reach (65 meters from

Pos. 1 Pos. 5 Below the sea side beam
the centerline of the sea)

Inner front rod hinge point and midpoint of The land side beam and the midpoint of
Pos. 2 Pos. 6
maximum forward reach the sea side beam

Inner front rod hinge point and midpoint of

Pos. 3 Pos. 7 Below the land side beam
maximum forward reach

Inner front rod hinge point and midpoint of

Pos. 4 Pos. 8 Inner front rod and front beam hinge point
sea side beam

Fig. 2-7 Load Positions

2.2.4 Load combination
(1) Straight load

According to the working characteristics of the shore container crane, the load is combined
and calculated. In this calculation, only the static characteristics of the shore bridge metal
structure are calculated under the worst conditions. The shore bridge load is as follows [32]:

Vertical direction (Z Direction): SWZ  [SRL  SG 2 ] C

In the above formula, c γ is the increase factor, which is determined by the overall level of the
crane. The crane utilization grade studied in this paper belongs to the U9 level (FEM standard
table T.2.1.2.2). According to the comparatively harsh working conditions, the crane load
spectrum level is taken as Q4 (FEM standard table T.2.1.2.3). According to the crane
utilization level and the load spectrum level, the overall classification of the crane belongs to
the A8 level (FEM standard table T.2.1. 2.4). According to the FEM standard,  C is taken as
1.2.

SWZ  [784.000 1.3  774.200]1.2  2.152.080N

In summary, at eight locations, the vertical load is 2.152.080N.
(2) Horizontal load

According to the European Design Code (FEM), the inertial force caused by the car when
braking is:
F=2TL  a

Where TL is the sum of the weight of the trolley, the spreader and the mass of the cargo, a is
the acceleration at the start of the trolley or the deceleration at the time of braking, and 2 is the
load amplification factor.

For the shore bridge studied in this paper, the speed of the trolley running is 240m/min, and the
starting/braking time of the trolley is 6 seconds, which can be calculated as a=0.667m/s; the
mass of the trolley plus the quality of the spreader and the quality of the cargo respectively It is
79 tons and 80 tons. From this, it can be calculated that the inertial force caused by the car when
braking is:

N  2 (79  80) 1000 0.667  212.106N

In summary, when the static analysis of the metal structure of the bridge is carried out, the
vertical load applied and the load along the beam direction are 2.152.080N and 212.106N,
respectively.

2.3 Geometric nonlinearity in structural calculation

The front reach of the super-large shore container crane is getting larger and larger, so that the
front tie rod is also longer. The super-large shore container crane studied in this paper has a
front beam length of 85m and an outer front rod length of 65m. . Under the action of self-
weight and load, the tie rod has a relatively large linear displacement and angular
displacement with respect to the natural state before being loaded, and its magnitude is not
negligible with respect to the original structural size. However, the stress values at various
points in the structure are not particularly large and are generally lower than the allowable
stress of the material. Due to large displacements and large rotations, nonlinear geometric
equations are used in the analysis of such problems; otherwise, large errors will be caused and
even erroneous conclusions will be drawn.