PSI - Issue 57

Jeroen Van Wittenberghe et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 57 (2024) 95–103 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

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Fig. 6: Strains for sensor #5 in the north fibre line when a 6.6 tons load is lifted at slow and fast hoisting speeds. The start and stop of hoisting are indicated.

3.2. Digital twin calibration

A finite element linear-elastic shell model of the crane was created in Abaqus using quadratic quadrilateral elements with reduced integration (Abaqus denomination SR8). Boundary conditions were assigned at the positions of the end truck wheels, as shown in Fig. 7. Hook load was distributed in four points, representing the load applied by the four trolley wheels on the girder. The model was validated against experimental results obtained through an extensive measuring campaign where FBG strain data were recorded at diverse trolley position/hook load combinations. A good agreement was obtained between experimentaland numerical data, as exemplified by Fig. 8, which shows numerical and experimental longitudinal strains for a hook load of 9 tons and trolley positioned at the right-hand side of the girder mid-length.

Fig. 7: Crane shell model and applied boundary conditions