Lifting Capability and Stress Analyses of the Crane System for a Large-Sized Tactical Wrecker

A large-sized tactical wrecker is a special-purpose vehicle that lifts and tows tactical vehicles and heavy loads. It consists of a crane, a post structure, outriggers and a suitable chassis truck, and during its initial design, the structural safety and tipping stability should be preemptively examined in terms of the layout of these components. This paper proposes computer-aided engineering (CAE) methods to evaluate the maximum lifting capacity of the wrecker and the structural safety of its crane during the initial design. The analytical model for the large-sized wrecker is constructed with 236 degrees of freedom by combining the crane system developed using the ADAMS macros with the dynamic model of large chassis truck with an axle suspension. The design parameters for the wrecker model that influence the tipping stability are selected, and then the maximum lifting loads with the corresponding changes are calculated. This parametric study shows that the characteristics of the boom and the layout of the outriggers greatly affect the maximum lifting capacity. Finite element (FE) analyses of the 1st stage boom and the 3rd stage boom show the stresses under the maximum overturning moment condition are within the allowable strength.