The influence of clearances in a drive system on dynamics and kinematics of a telescopic crane

The paper presents the results of numerical analyses that were carried out in order to evaluate how a change in a size of a clearance in a slewing motion drive system of a telescopic crane influences the movement of a load and the dynamic loads of a structure. A computational model was developed based on a real structure of an experimental crane by using the ADAMS software. The analyses showed that a circumferential clearance at the output of a reduction gear, which is less than 1º, does not adversely affect the precision of the load movement. An excessive clearance leads to losing fluidity of a body slewing motion and to changes in the trajectory of the load.