Numerical study of wind actions applied to a low profile container crane

The target of this numerical study is to investigate the problems involved in the design of a low profile container crane exposed both to static and dynamic wind actions, in order to establish if these loads are dangerous if compared with the load induced by standard container load and unload operations. In the first step the work was performed by means of different schematizations of the wind load action allowed by the standards; the second step regarded the application of a real trend (velocity of wind versus time) obtained experimentally on a similar crane positioned in an Italian harbor. The results obtained in terms of maximum displacement depend on the crane load conditions and on the different schematizations used for the wind action. Using a variable wind pressure, the research shows that the effects of wind loads are greatly influenced by the natural vibration frequencies of both the structure and the elements that compose the structure.