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Mechanical model and seismic study of the roller guide–rail assembly in the counterweight system of elevators
Author(s) -
Wang Xiaoyan,
Günay Selim,
Lu Wensheng
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
earthquake engineering and structural dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.218
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9845
pISSN - 0098-8847
DOI - 10.1002/eqe.3344
Subject(s) - counterweight , structural engineering , engineering , elevator , fastener , retainer , displacement (psychology) , spring (device) , parametric statistics , mathematics , psychology , statistics , psychotherapist
Summary The roller guide–rail assembly, consisting of the roller guide, rail, and rail brackets, are the guiding components of an elevator system and are important for the seismic analysis of the counterweight system. This paper focuses on the mechanical model of the roller guide–rail assembly. Observations of both the in‐plane and out‐of‐plane static tests of the roller guide–rail assembly show that the mechanical behaviors of the roller guide–rail assembly are performed based on the basic two‐spring model, which is a model of two springs in series respectively representing the roller guide and the rail–bracket assembly. In addition, the force–displacement relation of the model shows nonlinear elastic, and it is demonstrated that two parameters, namely, the pretightening force of helical spring and the retainer plate–rail clearance, significantly affect the mechanical model. A numerical parametric study is carried out and illustrated by an example of the counterweight system to evaluate the effects of the parameters on the seismic responses of the counterweight, including the maximum values of the rail stress and the displacement of the roller guide off rail. Results indicate that for the model without helical spring saturation, which is recommended to be used, the maximum values of the seismic responses are reduced at smaller retainer plate–rail clearance accompanied by slight change with different pretightening forces. The effects on the seismic responses have provided the insights on the selection of the proper values of the parameters, which can be used to instruct the elevator design.