Pipe End Connection

On ship-to-shore cranes, pipe-to-gusset plate connections have frequently experienced fatigue cracking, which at fracture critical pipes has led to several catastrophic failures. In this paper, Kenton Lee introduces a new approach that eliminates the center gusset plate altogether by using two side gusset plates instead. This change makes the high fatigue stress locations inspectable and repairable, with an expected fatigue life six to seven times that of the conventional connection.