Failure of the overhead crane runway

Abstract

The paper reports a failure of the overhead crane runway. Failures of this type often occur in industrial buildings that have been in operation for a long period of time. The reasons are dynamic, fatigue-related phenomena in crane operations, and also design and structural errors. An important issue is also the presence of geometric notches, which promote the formation of fatigue cracks, accelerating the process of degradation of the structure. Visual inspection of the overhead crane runways revealed loosening and failure of rail – beam connections, and also substantial horizontal and vertical displacements of the rails. Additionally, geodetic measurements of rail arrangement were taken. They indicated the exceeding of permissible deviations for rails spacing and vertical arrangement stated in the relevant standards. The runway damages resulted from dynamic character of the loads applied. In some cases, high crane travel speed and acceleration produced impact forces that affected the runway structure. Vertical and horizontal deformation of rails was an additional source of impact in the crane runs. Another contributing factor was inappropriate design of rails and beams fastening, and also insufficient number of rail dilatations. A repair program was proposed which involved the use of additional rail fastenings and dilatations.