UNIFORM PIN-BASED CRANE COLUMNS, EFFECTIVE LENGTHS

A parametric computer study is reported which investigated the buckling of pin-based rectangular frames containing uniform crane columns. It was found that the effective length factor of the lower segment of the heavily loaded column could be related to the nominal effective length factor obtained from the standard alignment chart. The paper presents easy-to-use formulae, and the K-factors for other column segments are calculated from the heavily loaded segment. The study also investigated an approximate frame in which the beam is lowered to the level of the crane, but the results were not consistent enough for design use. A numerical example is used to illustrate the proposed procedure.