Materials Research

Here are a few things we need to think about about the materials used on the crane individually.

Beam and Legs:

Above you can see an Overhead travelling crane beam.

For the main beam that goes across the crane, it needs to be made from a material that is able to withstand high amounts of shear stress and bending moments. And because of the high amounts of shear stress, stable connectors will be required to attach the main beam to its base/legs.

Here is another picture showing a joist for connecting beams:

The chosen material is very important because it needs to be very cost effective. Knowing that there are other teams out there that are trying to beat us pushes us to try and make this crane as cheap as possible and still not compromising strength, toughness and durability.

The group will get together this week to briefly have a chat about materials.

I will soon put up other blogs that include information about different types of crane systems.

Rajan Sudera