Gantry Cranes Wind Protection Devices: 3 Essential Guide to Types, Installation, and Safety Best Practices
Gantry cranes wind protection devices play a crucial role in ensuring the stability and safety of large-tonnage gantry cranes under various weather conditions. An important factor to be considered is the influence of strong winds. Outdoor gantry cranes are essential equipment in ports, container depots, and shipyards. They play a key role in loading, unloading, and transporting heavy materials, containers, and ships. However, operating these cranes in severe weather conditions such as storms, typhoons, and strong winds may pose major challenges. Therefore, to ensure the safety of workers and machines, gantry cranes and wind protection devices are installed on outdoor gantry cranes. If improperly managed, they may cause serious risks. Gantry cranes wind protection devices are essential to solving this problem. This article details the three major gantry cranes wind protection devices, their types, correct installation locations, and key safety measures. By understanding and using this equipment, you can improve the safety and efficiency of crane operations and protect equipment and personnel.
1. What is a gantry cranes wind protection devices？
Gantry cranes wind protection devices includes dynamic and static windproof. This is distinguished according to whether the crane is working. When the crane is not working, it is static windproof, and the gantry cranes wind protection devices to be carried out during work is dynamic windproof. During crane operation, machinery, equipment, and operators are all working and are affected by wind forces simultaneously. Therefore, once wind damage occurs, it will bring unpredictable results. This is why dynamic windproofing is more urgent and important than static windproofing. When carrying out windproof work, it is necessary to form an understanding of dynamic windproofing from an ideological point of view. Combine to ensure the production safety of enterprise equipment, the monsoon characteristics of the port and coastal areas, the performance of windproof equipment, and the terminal’s hydraulic facilities to determine the crane’s windproof level.
What are the gantry cranes wind protection devices?
Clamp-type gantry cranes wind protection devices (rail clamp):
This gantry cranes wind protection devices uses clamps to clamp both sides of the track to increase the friction of the track, thereby preventing the crane from sliding. This kind of gantry cranes wind protection devices are also called a rail clamp. To improve the degree of tightening of clamping, a lever structure is often used to design. There are the following common types: manual screw type, hydraulic spring type, electric screw type, and electric hammer type. These four types.
The more common rail clamping device achieves the tightness of the rail clamping module by manually rotating the steering wheel. The disadvantage is that there is no electrical chain protection, which makes it easy for the operator to operate the gantry crane without loosening it.
Advantages: Electric operation saves time and effort, has electrical interlocking protection, cannot be operated without loosening the gantry crane, beautiful and safe; Disadvantages: High price
Cost comparison: manual caliper rail clamp <manual rotary rail clamp <electric rail clamp <electric hydraulic rail clamp (hydraulic spring type)
Iron shoe type windproof device and pressure rail type windproof device
A metal wedge is driven between the wheels and the tracks to prevent the crane from moving backward due to wind. When the wheels rotate, the force exerted on the wedge causes the rolling friction between the wheels and the tracks to transform into sliding friction between the wedge and the tracks. As the resistance increases, it serves as a wind-resistant effect. This device can be divided into manual and electric types.
This device utilizes the weight of the crane itself acting on the tracks to increase the friction between the wheels and the tracks to prevent the crane from moving. The track-pressing anti-wind device is not affected by the side of the track and has better applicability than the clamping type. However, this anti-wind device can provide only limited anti-wind performance and is often used in conjunction with other anti-wind devices.
Other windbreak systems
Wire rope or synthetic fiber rope used to secure the gantry crane end to improve the wind resistance of the equipment. The diameter of the wind rope shall match the type and use requirements of the crane, and shall not be less than the minimum diameter of the wire rope. The anchoring end of the wind rope should be firmly fixed on the gantry crane end or support structure to ensure that no displacement and falling off will occur under the maximum wind.
Wind speed alarm. Mounted on a crane working in the open air.
When the wind is greater than 6, an alarm signal can be sent, and the instantaneous wind speed can be displayed.
Cranes working on the coast can be set to send alarm signals when the wind is greater than level 7.
Anchor windproof device
It is a commonly used preventive gantry cranes wind protection devices. In the case of receiving a wind warning signal, or if it is not used for a long time, the anchor gantry cranes wind protection devices are used to achieve the effect of windproof and anti-slip. The anchor gantry cranes wind protection devices requires that the crane that is not used for the time being be moved to a predetermined position, and the crane is fastened with locking parts such as bolts and ejector rods. Outdoor gantry cranes often have to face natural storms and other disasters. The reliable anchoring system can securely fix the entire crane structure at the construction site, thereby preventing the crane from tipping over and avoiding major accidents and loss of life and property.
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2. Where is the installation position of the gantry cranes wind protection devices?
Manual rotating rail clamp
Electro-hydraulic rail clamp (hydraulic spring type)
Manual caliper rail clamp
Electric rail clamp
Windproof iron wedge brake
Wind rope
Crane anemometer
Anchoring system
3. Gantry cranes wind protection devices measures
After the gantry crane is used, because the embedded track in the beam field has a certain one-way slope, to prevent the gantry crane from accidentally sliding when it is not in use, the track “iron shoes” can be placed on the front and back of the four groups of walking wheels of the gantry crane. The schematic diagram of the “iron shoes” of each walking wheel is shown in the figure:
Into the summer wind and other bad weather on the open-air work of the gantry crane harm is more serious, here we use thegantry cranes wind protection devices measures to do some simple introduction, the traditional windproof measures are the following: rail clamp, rail top, iron shoes and anchoring device several, the following details about the anchoring device windproof measures. In order to effectively prevent the gantry crane in typhoons, heavy rain and other bad weather, overturning, damage, and other safety accidents, specially formulated gantry crane anti-typhoon reinforcement program.
Under normal circumstances of reinforcement (wind is not more than six)
(1) The gantry crane stops at the fixed position of 9–10# pier after each operation is used, the walk-ins car stops near the gantry crane leg, and the pulley block is placed 3 meters above the ground and fixed with a rope.
(2) The gantry crane is fastened with non-slip iron boots, and both sides of the legs are anchored on the concrete anchor ingot with p19.5 cable wind rope. When anchoring the cable wind rope, 5 tons of inverted chain is applied to tighten the cable wind rope. A total of 8 cable wind ropes are designed, and the Angle between the cable wind rope and the ground is about 45 degrees.
Strengthening measures before the typhoon
(1) Before the typhoon, the gantry crane should be lifted to the end of Pier8, so that the left side of the gantry crane attached leg is close to the wing slab concrete of the box girder of the approach bridge at Pier 8, and the 14 channel steel is connected to the embedded steel bar of the box girder.
(2) The gantry crane suspension girder and support leg are anchored on the approach bridge box girder on one side with p19.5 cable wind rope, and the other side is anchored on the concrete ground anchor outside pier №9. They are both tightened with 10 tons of inverted chains. A total of 8 cable wind ropes (one on each side of the support leg) are designed and two sections of steel are connected.
Anchor ingot and cable wind rope setting
The anchor ingot is cast with C15 concrete. The bottom of the anchor ingot is 1.5 meters wide, 2.5 meters long, and 2 meters high, and weighs about 18 tons. Three 2.5-meter-long sleepers are embedded in the anchor ingot concrete and connected to the ground through a one-pound rope. The cable wind rope is a p19.5 wire rope, one end of the wire rope is fixed on the gantry crane leg, the other side is connected with the inverted chain, and the cable wind coil can be removed on the gantry crane beam when the gantry crane is walking.
Anchoring device
The anchoring device has the characteristics of a simple structure, lightweight, high reliability, and convenient operation. Usually, the anchoring device uses a rigid connection. Still, it can also use a flexible connection, such as through a length of wire rope or chain to the ground anchorage connection. Only after the crane moves, the steel wire rope tension plays a role. However, because there is a certain kinetic energy when the crane is running, the crane still has the possibility of tipping over. Hence, the rigid connection is our primary consideration, if not rigid connection, you should increase the tension device in the steel wire rope or chain, and tighten the steel wire rope or chain. Prevent excessive impact momentum caused by the crane accelerated by the wind. The anchoring device generally anchors the crane as a whole before a typhoon is forecast, and this method is relatively safe.