Seismic Response Analysis of Tower Crane Using SAP2000

This paper presents a finite element seismic response simulation of a typical tower crane frame using SAP2000. Three-dimensional beam elements and bar elements are employed for vertical and horizontal frames as well as the tie rods, respectively, to build up the numerical model. Then numerical example is considered and two kinds of earthquake ground accelerations are tested, i.e., 1940 NS component of the El Centro and 1995 Kobe accelerations. The dynamic responses of displacement, velocity and accelerations of a typical node of the tower crane frame are illustrated and discussed. The numerical simulation results show that the maximal displacements might be large to over 1 meter and the associated maximal velocity and acceleration can be greater than 4 m/s and 40 m/s2, respectively at the highest position of tower crane.