Lift guide rail – counterweight/car - suspension systems under seismic excitations: the dynamic behaviour and protection measures

Stefan Kaczmarczyk, Stefan Kaczmarczyk (Editor), Richard Peters (Editor)

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Lift systems are susceptible to damage when building is subjected to strong earthquake motions. The counterweight - guide rail and car guide rail systems suffer from earthquake-induced vibrations. The most common mode of failure is the counterweight derailment. This paper reviews the dynamic phenomena and presents a model to study, to predict and to mitigate the effects of the seismic responses of guide rail – counterweight/ car – suspension systems. The application of a Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) is a convenient method to reduce the guide rail-counterweight/ car response and to control the system operating under seismic conditions. In the TMD arrangement vibrations of the counterweight/ car can be suppressed and the stresses in the guide rails reduced by the application of an auxiliary spring – damper - mass system attached to the main structure. In the counterweight system a part of the counterweight mass can be used as the auxiliary mass. The performance of the TMD can be improved by the application of an actuator force determined by a suitable feedback control algorithm.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages9
JournalSymposium on Lift & Escalator Technologies
Volume7
Publication statusPublished - 20 Sept 2017

Keywords

  • Guide rail
  • counterweight/car
  • seismic excitation
  • dynamic response
  • tuned mass damper

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