Overhead travelling cranes are used in factories and workshops to lift

heavy materials, equipments, etc and to carry them from one place to the
other. These cranes are either hand operated or electrically operated. The
crane consists of a bridge spanning the bay of the shop. A trolley or a
crab is mounted on the bridge. The trolley moves along the bridge. The
bridge as a whole moves longitudinally on rails provided at the ends.
The rails on either side of the bridge rest on crane gantry girders. The
gantry girders are the girders which support the loads transmitted
through the travelling (moving) wheels of the cranes as shown in figure
below.

Figure: Gantry girder

Design Loads
The effect of cranes to be considered under the imposed loads should
include the following:

1.
2.

Vertical loads from the crane,

The eccentricity effects induced by the vertical loads, and the
impact factors,

3.

Internal (surge) thrust across the crane rail and

4.

Longitudinal horizontal thrust along the crane rail.

The crane loads to be considered are generally indicated by the customer.
In the absence of any specific indications, the load combinations should
be as follows:
a) The vertical loads with full impact from one loaded crane, or two cranes
in case of tandem operation, together with the vertical loads, without
impact, from as may loaded cranes as may be positioned for maximum
effect, along with maximum horizontal thrust (surge) from one crane only
or two cranes of tandem operations.
b) For the multi-bay gantries, the loads specified above, subject to
consideration of cranes of cranes positioned for maximum effect on any
two adjoining bays of the building, and
c) The longitudinal thrust on a crane track rail to be considered for the
maximum of two loaded cranes on the track.
The lateral thrust (surge) and the longitudinal thrust, acting respectively
across and along the crane rail, need not be assumed to act
simultaneously. The effect of both the forces should however be
investigated separately.
While investigating the effect of earthquake forces, the resulting effect
from dead loads of all the cranes parked in each bay positioned for the
maximum effect should be considered.
The cranes runway girders supporting bumpers should be checked for
bumper impact loads.

While considering the simultaneous effects of vertical and horizontal surge

loads of cranes, the permissible stresses for the design of crane gantry
girders and their supporting structures may be increased by 10 percent.
Where the wind load is the main load acting on the structure, no increase
in the permissible stresses is allowed.

DESIGN BASIS OF GANTRY GIDER

The gantry girder is designed on the assumption that either of the
horizontal forces, transverse to the rails or along the rails, act the same
time as the vertical loads including the impact load. The horizontal forces
act at the rail level. The gantry girder is subjected to bending in vertical
plane as well as in horizontal plane along with twisting., the design
calculations are simplified by providing a channel at the top flange of the
girder, and neglecting the bottom flange for transverse load computations.
The transverse loads are comparatively small and this simplification in
design calculations does not result in serious error. The channel section
provides flange areas to resist bending in horizontal plane due to
horizontal forces acting in transverse direction. It increases moment of
inertia about y-y axis. The flange of channel section resists the bending in
the horizontal plane. The bending of the crane gantry girder occurs about
the vertical axis as well as about the horizontal axis of the member. The
actual bending stresses for bending of the girder in the vertical and
horizontal planes are computed. The combined bending stresses are taken
as the sum of the two calculated fibre stresses. The combined bending
compressive stress is should be less than or equal to the allowable
bending compressive stress.

Where,

= actual bending compressive stress in vertical plane.

= actual bending compressive stress in horizontal plane, and

= allowable bending compressive stress.

No.
1

Type of load

Vertical loads
(a) for electric overhead

25 per cent of maximum static

cranes

wheel loads

(b) for hand operated cranes

2

10 per cent of maximum static

wheel loads

Horizontal forces transverse to rails

(a) for electric overhead

10 percent of weight of trolley and

cranes

weight lifted on the crane

(b) for hand operated crane

3

Additional Load

Horizontal force along the

rails

5 percent of weight of trolley and

weight lifted on the crane.
5 percent of the static wheel loads

The additional loads to be considered according to Indian Standard,

IS:875 1964, for the overhead travelling cranes is given in table above
as a percentage of the maximum static wheel loads. The maximum wheel
load is the reaction on a wheel due to the total load given by weight of
crane plus crab and the lifted load.
The term, maximum static wheel load needs explanation. The extreme
position of the crab with respect to the span of crane gives the maximum
reaction on one of the gantry girders. This reaction is distributed equally
among the crane wheels. The reaction on each wheel is termed as the
maximum static wheel load.
The allowable bending compressive stress for bending in horizontal plane
is equal to the allowable bending stresses in tension.
The allowable bending compressive stress for bending in vertical plane is
reduced in proportion of critical stress in bending.

Indian standard, IS:800 1984 recommends that the allowable stress in

axial tension, axial compression and bending stresses and allowable
stresses for rivets are increased by 10 percent for the design of gantry
girder for the combination of vertical and horizontal loads as discussed
above. This increase in allowable stress is not in addition to that allowed
for erection loads or without wind or seismic forces.
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