An experimental stress analysis of a jib crane

Jib cranes are a kind of material handling machines using in the industry such as factories, shipyards, construction areas, and storages. Standards and regulations about them are published by API (American Petroleum Institute), FEM (The Federation Europeen de la Manutention) et al. In this study a jib crane designed by an engineering work group, were examined in terms of static structural test analysis before put it into use according to the API Spec 2. Firstly, critical areas, which have the highest stress values, were determined by finite element method in a commercial analysis program. The next step is the application of strain gages on the structure and initial reference test values are obtained just before the assembling. Two tests were done after the jib crane was assembled under circumstances with no load and test load. Finally, strain and stress values were calculated and the resulting stress obtained from tests and finite element method analysis results were compared with each other.