How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
(OP)
Hi all, I have a hoist that will be lifting roughly 5000lbs. My "weight" is in a skeleton frame (approx. 4' x 4' x 4')and will be lifted by cables. I need to implement something under it in case of a failure to catch it. I'm not sure what terminology to search for. I'm thinking air bags or some type of shock absorber. Any ideas to get me in the right direction?
Thanks
Thanks





RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
Regards,
Mike
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
I think that making sure you have sufficient margin (stronger) and redundancy (more) is a better way to go. Even a 2-ft drop would expend 13 kJ.
TTFN

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RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
So you want to place something underneath it "just in case".
But it's starting on the floor, right?
So how do you put something underneath without lifting first?
You are concerned with failure and safety, but now you need someone to work near or under your hazard to place your safety measure.
Just use redundant lifting cables of suitable capacity.
Or better yet, hire a competent rigging firm.
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
I'm going to use industrial shock absorbers designed for this purpose so in the end I found what I needed. Thanks to everyone for your input.
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
It is also difficult to not mention your poor terminology "in case of failure" when you know that it will definitely be tested to failure.
Take a step back and read your original post, with no other context, what advice would you offer?
Try this on: "I'm going to lift something to test a lifting device to failure, and I want to do it as safely as possible."
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
"You see, wire telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? Radio operates the same way: You send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is there is no cat." A. Einstein
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
-how far can the test mass fall if/when something breaks?
-what acceleration on impact can it withstand?
-what maximum impact force do you want the floor to see?
-what is the static load rating of the floor?
-how much vertical space is available between the target surface and the floor?
(-which planet are you on?)
Nothing wrong with shock absorbers if there is room, but cardboard boxes or airbags or even a water tank might be cheaper or more robust, depending on the exact scenario.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
And in a machine shop where we had not one but TWO 36-FOOT lathes, gear-hobbers which could machine a 12-FOOT diameter by 4-FOOT wide gear and where with one of our horizontal milling machines the operator's station was on the headstock and he moved with the machine, we could really mess-up a floor with the sorts of things we moved around the shop with from the overhead crane
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
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Siemens PLM Software Inc.
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Cypress, CA
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To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
Waterbags have all sorts of advantages in terms of being able to add load gradually from a safe distance.
A.
RE: How to safely contain a fall of heavy equipment?
TTFN

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