Monte Carlo Simulations of Autorotative Dynamics of a Simple Tower Crane Model

The increasing number of crane accidents recorded over the last years might be understood as a need for progress on crane modeling. The induced risk of self-excited vibrations has already been investigated through numerous experiments. This work presents a simple numerical model of a crane in a turbulent wind field, in order to support the available experimental approaches. First, the problem is defined with the necessary assumptions of the model. Second, the equation of motion is developed and wind characteristics are detailed. This equation presents several specificities requiring dedicated resolution methods. In a first analysis, the crane model is simplified in order to approach the behavior of the parametric pendulum and enable a general comparison of both responses. Indeed, the parametric pendulum is a well-known problem that is already widely described in the literature. In a second step, the response of the crane is studied under a realistic stochastic wind load with the full model.