Simulation of ground bearing pressure profile under hydraulic crane outrigger mats for the verification of 16-point combined loading

摘要

The modular construction approach relies heavily on mobile cranes. With the increase in weight of modules, the ground bearing pressure (GBP) applied by the hydraulic crane also increases. To avoid ground failure, the primary technique is to determine the GBP by calculating the resulting force at each outrigger and assuming it is distributed uniformly over the surface area of the mat under the outrigger. Finite element analysis (FEA) indicates that the pressure profile beneath the crane mat is not uniform in nature, which means the traditional method of calculating the GBP is inaccurate. In this study, a new method is proposed to determine the GBP profile. The proposed methodology can determine the GBP at 16 points, the four corners of each of the four outriggers. For a theoretical case study, a hydraulic crane Grove GMK 7550 with three different payloads is examined and the results are verified by using FEA.