Energy consumption and overloads of crane hoisting mechanism with system of reducing operational loads

The energy consumption of production processes is more often considered in the context of possible energy savings. The important role during a process of goods making is played by different kinds of transportation devices including gantries. Those devices, equipped with at least three mechanisms, have different characteristics of their work. A winch is the most energy consumable mechanism. The possibilities of energy recuperation (during a payload lowering) or consumption minimization are also most significant in this mechanism. Issues of energy consumption of hoisting mechanisms are currently being considered in the context of energy saving, reduction of steel construction loads (also design guidelines) or possibilities of energy storage. The authors of [4] describing energy efficiency of goods making processes, underlined the relevant impact of transport operations as one of auxiliary processes in automated production cycles. They assumed that their simplified method of energy consumption assessment could serve as a tool for analyzing different strategies of controlling the transport devices to perform transport operations with minimal energy consumption. A lot of researchers treat hosting mechanisms as „generators” of steel structures loading and vibrations which impacts on deformation of crane structures. As the example might serve [3] where authors pointed that the hybrid approach of finite element method and system dynamics simulation of the overhead traveling crane in the case of lifting a payload allowed to define dynamic loads of crane structure already during designing phase. Similarly in [1] there was presented the model of a crane used to estimate the dynamic coefficient of structure load caused by lifting operation. The authors had also pointed, that future research should consider an influence of hoisting mechanism on dynamic overloads. In [15], the authors underlined the inevitability of considering an energy consumption during the cranes designing. They focus mainly on the structural aspects of the device using the load probability distribution of the hoisting mechanism. The minimization of overloads and vertical oscillations of crane steel structure caused by a hoisting mechanism operation using control systems with PID regulator were presented in [5]. Research on optimization of crane structure using energy efficiency in regard to dynamic coefficients of a payload lifting was presented in [18]. The effects of research were the reduction of the device mass, what caused less power consumption during horizontal movements. A lot of research teams were concentrated on crane mechanisms in context of payload trajectory and sway minimisation using proper input function. It was confirmed inter alia in [13], where authors pointed the systems counteracting payload swaying and bridge bevelling as main direction of research and development of control systems of cranes movements. Andrzej KosucKi Piotr MAlenTA Łukasz sTAwińsKi sławomir HAlusiAK