Stress Tests on Truck Mounted Cranes from Link-Belt, USA

The Link-Belt Construction Equipment Company with headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky is a leader in development, production and sale of telescopic and braced-mast cranes.

During the past ten years Link-Belt has proven its market leader­ship by setting new standards for crane design and product quality.

The American testing standards differs very highly from the European standards. A stress test is performed at 150 % of the rated hoisting capacity. For this purpose Link-Belt uses concrete test weights at its own outdoor testing facility, because pipes, beams or bundles are less suitable due to their length. This test is used to verify that the elongation at critical points is less than a specified ratio in relation to the yield strength of the material. Up to 360 strain gages are attached at critical points. The measuring modules are installed in waterproof boxes distributed along the crane. 12 measuring channels are installed in each box; 30 boxes are required for 360 measuring channels.

Link-Belt chose the Q.series measuring modules from Gantner Instruments because they are excellent for all types of circuits with strain gages and even offer the possibility of connecting all other common types of sensors.