Seismic Fragility of Jumbo Port Container Cranes

The seismic behavior of jumbo container cranes has been largely ignored, despite their importance to daily port container operations. This paper aims to quantify the vulnerability of jumbo cranes to seismic loading. Detailed nonlinear finite element models are constructed representing two different jumbo cranes, one modern and one more classic. These models are used to perform extensive dynamic time-history analyses in order to evaluate their vulnerability to various damage modes. The modern crane exhibits derailment during earthquakes, but is unlikely to suffer other significant structural damage. However, the older crane performs poorly, and is likely to suffer considerable damage during fairly frequent earthquakes. These results suggest that a port relying heavily on older jumbo cranes would be wise to consider retrofit options in order to decrease their overall seismic risk.