Tip-Over Stability Analysis of Mobile Boom Cranes With Swinging Payloads

Mobile boom cranes are used throughout the world to perform important and dangerous manipulation tasks. The usefulness of these cranes is greatly improved if they can utilize their mobile base when they lift and transfer a payload. However, crane motion induces payload swing. The tip-over stability is degraded by the payload oscillations. This paper presents a process for conducting a stability analysis of such cranes. As a first step, a static stability analysis is conducted to provide basic insights into the effects of the payload weight and crane configuration. Then, a semi-dynamic method is used to account for payload swing. The results of a full-dynamic stability analysis using a multibody simulation of a boom crane are then compared to the outcomes of the simpler approaches. The comparison reveals that the simple semi-dynamic analysis provides good approximations for the tip-over stability properties. The results of the stability analyses are verified by experiments. The analysis in this paper provides useful guidance for the practical tip-over stability analysis of mobile boom cranes and motivates the need to control payload oscillation.