A.A. van den Dool
Containerspreaders.
Literature survey,
Report 93.3.TT.4202, Transport Engineering and Logistics.
The spreader is important in container-handling on terminals. The spreader is
a hoisting device and is placed in the highest crane category according to
NEN 2018.
The last 25 years, the spreader has gone through a great evolution, especially
caused by changes in the operational environment. At the same time, the claim
for better performance, higher reliability and lowering of repair- and
maintenance costs forced this evolution.
The spreader is a hoisting device which is used in combination with several
machine-tools for transshipment and stacking, such as cranes and trucks. The
main subject of this report is the telescopic spreader for gantry cranes.
For the main spreader frame of the telescopic spreader there are three
fundamental solutions. For choosing the construction a number of arguments
are of interest: compact construction and a relatively low weight, torsional
loads and good survey for the driver. The spreader is calculated on strength;
the fatigue-calculation is for verifying the results. The light-weight
spreader, by using high-tensile-steels, as a solution for a lighter spreader
does not seem to be a good one.
The growing significance of the spreader as a hoisting device appears from the
increase of the ratio of the number of spreaders per crane. This fact and the
relatively severe circumstances in use demand special attention.
From investigations it seems that faults on the main spreader of the crane are
the most important cause for the total downtime of the crane. Most faults
appear in the electrical part or signal processing, apart from faults caused
by negligent usage. For these problems there both structural and organizing
measures are available.
Due to the development of the measurements of containers and growing importance
of automation the spreader has to develop in the future furthermore.
Reports on Transport Engineering and Logistics (in Dutch)
Modified: 2006.01.22;
logistics@3mE.tudelft.nl
, TU Delft
/ 3mE
/ TT
/ LT.