Crack Detection
Automated inspections with continuous monitoring
A new approach
Inspections are no longer enough
As structures approach the later stages of their service life, inspections become more frequent, more complex, and more costly. Asset owners must balance:
- Inspection frequency
- Accessibility challenges
- Inspection methods
- Operational downtime
Yet despite significant effort and expense, fatigue cracks can still initiate and propagate between inspection campaigns.
Continuous monitoring provides visibility between inspections, helping maintenance teams identify developing issues earlier and plan interventions with greater confidence.
Turning Data into Maintenance Decisions
Steel structures age. Every crane, gantry, transfer car, rail-mounted asset, or industrial steel structure exposed to repeated loading accumulates fatigue over time. The challenge is not knowing that fatigue exists. The challenge is knowing when and where it becomes a risk.
Gantrex’s Crack Detection service helps asset owners move beyond periodic inspections and towards continuous condition monitoring.
Through our collaboration with Villari, we deploy certified wireless crack detection technology that continuously monitors critical structural areas. What makes the service different is that Gantrex does not simply provide sensor data. We provide the structural expertise required to interpret that data and transform it into actionable maintenance recommendations.
The system provides:
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Continuous monitoring
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Early crack detection
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Remote visibility
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Automated alerts
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Historical trend analysis
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Scalable deployment across multiple assets
Continuous monitoring
How the Solution Works
Through permanent wireless sensors, critical locations on a structure are continuously monitored for signs of fatigue crack initiation and growth.
The technology uses passive magnetic sensing to detect local changes in the magnetic field of steel structures that occur as cracks develop and propagate. Sensor data is transmitted wirelessly to a secure monitoring platform, providing continuous visibility into asset condition.
Engineering Interpretation
The Gantrex Differentiator
Many monitoring systems generate data, Gantrex delivers understanding.
Our structural engineers and crane specialists analyse monitoring results within the context of your asset, operating conditions, inspection history, and maintenance strategy.
Instead of asking:
- “What does this graph mean?”
You receive answers to questions such as:
- Is crack growth occurring?
- How critical is the detected indication?
- What is the potential impact on structural integrity?
- Can the asset continue operating safely?
- Should maintenance be planned, accelerated, or postponed?
- How does this affect the remaining service life of the structure?
Through periodic reviews and expert engineering support, we help customers convert monitoring information into practical maintenance decisions. This supports a condition-based maintenance approach that can improve reliability, safety, and asset availability.
Key Benefits
Validated in key applications
This technology has been deployed across ports, steel plants, and infraestructure applications in numerous countries worldwide.
Particularly valuable for:
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Ship-to-shore (STS) cranes
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Rail mounted gantry (RMG) cranes
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Rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes
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Automated stacked cranes (ASC)
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Steel plant cranes
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Heavy industrial cranes
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Transfer cars
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Ageing steel structures
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Assets subject to high cyclic loading
A Smarter Approach to Structural Integrity
Crack Detection is part of the Gantrex Crane Diagnostics portfolio, helping customers transition from periodic inspections to predictive asset management.
Together with Villari’s certified monitoring technology and Gantrex’s engineering expertise, we help asset owners gain greater confidence in the condition, safety, and long-term performance of their critical assets.
Ready to assess the health of your structures?
Contact Gantrex to discuss how continuous crack monitoring and expert structural interpretation can support your maintenance and asset life extension strategy.