L

L
November 2001 International Cranes 47
SAFEview
But lets get back to the core subject of this
article, namely how the imperial units compare
to the SI units (Systme International dUnits).
When knowing the correct conversion factors,
one can convert the non-SI units into SI units
and vice versa. The American NIST (National
Institute of Standards and Technology) based in
the US is the only place on earth where one can
find the official values of all physical constants.
Even the French BIPM (Bureau International
des Poids et Mesures) refers to the published
values of the NIST. In the crane, rigging and
transport industry, the most commonly used
units are for weight, volume, dimension
and pressure. So lets check out the conversion
I
n my previous article I explained the differ-
ence between mass (M) and force (F) and the
reasons why we need to move heavy loads
slowly. The more abrupt a movement starts
or stops, the greater the acceleration/decelera-
tion is, and consequently, the larger the force will
be. A very unfortunate example of this theory
was the collapse of the World Trade Center in
New York on 11 September. Due to the aircraft
crashing into the building around the 90th floor,
a fire started. The intensity of the heat caused the
steel structure to weaken until it eventually gave
way. More then 20 stories of structure above this
section of weakened steel
suddenly dropped a cou-
ple of metres and was
abruptly stopped by the
rest of the structure
underneath. This enor-
mous deceleration and
the resultant force (F =
mass x acceleration)
caused the structure
underneath it to collapse
with disastrous effect. All
engineering designs
apply so-called dynamic
factors, which is a safety
margin to account for
sudden shock loads.
However, these dynamic factors do not account
for the enormous forces caused by the impact of
an aircraft or a 20-storey section of a building.
&
In the concluding half of a
two-part feature, Richard
Krabbendam continues his
analysis of universal physical
constants and the
relationships between them.
He also lays out a series of
handy conversion charts.
continued
WEIGHTS
Ounce (troy) = 31.1034768 g
*
Pound = 453.59237 g
*
Stone = 14 pound = 6.35029318 kg
*
Ton long (UK) = 1016.0469088 kg
*
Ton short (US) = 907.18474 kg
*
Tonne (US, metric ton) = 1000 kg
VARIOUS UNITS
CFM(cubic feet per minute) =
28.316847 litre/min
Knot UK = 0.5147733 m/s
Knot international = 0.514444 m/s =
1 nautical mile/hr = 1.852 km/hr
Mesh = 1 inch
1
ppm(part per million) = 1 mg/kg
ppb (part per billion) UK = 1 _g/m
3
ppb (part per billion) US = 1 mg/m
3
US LIQUIDS
Gallon (gal) = 4 quart = 8 pint = 32 gill = 231 in
3
*
(cubic inch)
Quart (qt) = 2 pint = 57.75 in
3
*
Pint (pt) = 4 gill = 28.875 in
3
*
Gill (gi) = 7+ 7/32 (= 7.21875) in
3
*
AREA
Are (a) = 100 m
2
Centiare (ca) = 1 m
2
Hectare (ha) = 10000 m
2
Bunder = 1 ha (agriculture)
Acre = 4046.8564224 m
2
*
Square foot = 0.0929 m
2
Units,
mass
forces
Knowing the conversion factors, one can easily
convert Imperial values into the SI units and vice-
versa. One particular use is determining outrigger
set-up.
VOLUMES
Barrel US petroleum =
158.987294928 dm
3
*
(159 litre)
Bushel (UK) = 36.36872 dm
3
*
Bushel (US) = 35.23907016688 dm
3
*
Gallon UK = 4.54609 dm
3
*
(4.55 litre)
Gallon US liquid = 3.785411784 dm
3
*
(3.78 litre)
Ounce UK fluid = 28.4130625 cm
3
*
Ounce US fluid = 29.5735345625 cm
3
*
Pint UK = 568.26125 cm
3
*
(0.568 litre)
Pint US liquid = 473.176473 cm
3
*
(0.473 litre)
Quart UK = 1.1365225 dm
3
*
(1.136 litre)
Quart US dry = 1.101220942715 dm
3
*
Quart US liquid = 0.946352946 dm
3
*
Register ton = 2.8316847 m
3
(* = exact value)
LENGTH
Inch = 2.54 cm = 25.4 mm
*
Foot = 0.3048 m =12 inch = 30.48 cm =
304.8 mm
*
Yard (yd) = 3 feet = 36 inch = 91.44 cm
*
Fathom= 1.8288 m
*
Mile Statute = 1609.344 m
*
.
This is the mile
Mile Nautical international (sea mile) =
1852 m
*
The present international sea mile
Mile Nautical, sea mile = 1828.8 m
*
A frequently used sea mile of 6000 feet
Mil = 1/1000 inch = 0.0254 mm
*
CONVERSION CHARTS
In the crane and rigging industry, the most
commonly used units are for weight, volume,
dimension and pressure.
L
L
SAFEview
48 International Cranes November 2001
factors. Although there are a lot more units, I
will not list them all and only select those units,
which are relevant to the lifting industry. I have
divided these into groups, and listed each in a
separate box.
Knowing the listed conversion factors on
these pages one can easily convert the Imperial
values into the SI units and vice versa. In the
crane and rigging industry we are not interested
in the last decimal points, so I will round off
some of the units.
Just as an example, lets convert a 100 t out-
rigger load, spread out on a steel load spreading
mat of 2.5 m x 4 m = 10 m
2
into the SI unit sys-
tem as well as in the Imperial system. First we
convert the area of the load spreading mat into
square feet, being 2.5 m x 4 m = 10 m
2
(1 m =
3.28 ft) = 32.80 square feet (SF). Now we con-
vert the 100 t = 100,000 kilograms (kgs) into
220,264 pounds (lbs) (1 lbs = 0.454 kg). 100 t
load on 10 m
2
= 10 t/m
2
= 22,026/32.8 = 671
PSF (Pounds per square foot).
With the above examples and conversion
factors at hand, Imperial units can be converted
into SI units. Be aware of mistakes as they
are very easily made. I do not pretend to be
complete, but rather intend to shine some light
on the complex matters of different units.
IN SUMMARY
To summarise, here are a few of the more frequently
used values used in everyday lifting projects. For
ease of reference we use here: g =10, instead of
9.80665 and round off the last decimals.
1 Tonne (metric Ton) = 2200 Lbs
1 Short Ton = 908 Kg = 2000 Lbs
1 Long Ton = 1016 Kg =2237 Lbs
1 Lbs = 0.454 Kg
1 Kg = 2.2 Lbs
1 Foot = 0.3048 m = 30.48 cm =
304.8 mm
1 m= 0.328 Ft
1 inch = 2.54 cm = 25.4 mm
1 Tonne/m
2
=67.1 PSF
1 PSF = 0.0149 tonne/m
2
= 14.90 kg/m
2
=
0.00149 kg/cm
2
= 149 N/m
2
=
149 Pa(Pascal) = 0.000149 mPa (MegaPascal).
So, when we are confronted with a load bearing
capacity of 337 PSF, this equals to 337x0.0149 =
5.02Tonne/m
2
1 Mpa = 1,000,000 Newton/m
2
= 1,000 KN/m
2
=100 Tonne/m
2
= 100,000 Kg/m
2
= 10 Bar =
10 Kg/cm
2
1 Tonne/m
2
= 0.01 Mpa
1 m
2
= 10.766 Square Feet (SF) =
1550 Square Inch (SI)
1 cm
2
= 0.1550 Square Inch (SI)
1 PSI = 0.454 kg / 6.4516 cm
2
= 0.0703 kg/cm
2
1 Kgf/cm
2
= 10 N/cmm
2
= 0.1N/mm
2
= 0.0671 PSF
=14.22 PSI
PRESSURE
atmosphere normal (atm), absolut (ata) = 101325 Pa. Pressure was defined
as the weight on one cm
2
of a column of air at sea level at 45 North and a
temperature of 15 Celcius. In the SI units we should use the Pascal (Pa).
atmosphere technical (at) = 98066.5 Pa
The technical atmosphere was defined as 1 Kilogramforce per cm
2
.
9.80665 is the value of the standard drop acceleration towards the earth.
atmosphere overpressure (ato) = the gas pressure in the earths atmos-
phere in excess of the atmospheric air pressure. Bar = 10
5
Pa = 0.1Mpa
(MegaPascal)
cmHg (centimeter mercure column) = 0.013157895 atm = 1.333223874
kPa
This is temperature dependant, but is usually assumed to be at 0o Celsius.
dyne/cm
2
= 0.1 Pa
hPa (hectopascal) = 1 mBar
mmHg (millimeter mercury column) = 1.333223684 mBar
osi (ounce per square inch) = 1/16 psi
Pascal = 1 Newton/m
2
psf (pounds per square foot) = 1/144 psi
psi (pounds per square inch) = 0.0680460 atm = 6.894757 kPa
At sea level the atmospheric air pressure is a standard 14.696 psi.
Tyre pressure is always measured excluding the atmospheric pressure.
psid= pounds per square inch differential (the difference between two pressures)
Standard pressure = 101325 Pa
1
0
c
m
Force F1 =
10 x 9.81 = 9.81 N
3cm
Force F2 =
10 x 3 = 30 N
1
0
c
m
Force F1 =
10 x 9.81 = 9.81 N
Force R =
3
2
+10
2
= 10.44 N
3cm
Force F2 =
10 x 3 = 30 N
1
0
c
m
Force F1 =
10 x 9.81 = 9.81 N
Force R =
3
2
+10
2
= 10.44 N
Briefcase of
10kg standing
on floor of
train NOT IN
MOTION
Vertical force
due to mass
of briefcase:
F1 = 10 x 9.81
= 98.1 N
MOTION
STARTS in
this direction
with an
acceleration
of 3m/s2
Horizontal
force due to
acceleration
of train: F2 =
10 x 3 = 30 N
in opposite
direction
As the
resultant
FORCE R is
pointing over
the tipping
point of the
briefcase,
it will
TIP OVER
FORCE
Dyne = 10-5 N = 1 g.cm/s
2
DYNE = 1 N
kgf (kilogram-kracht) = 9.80665 N
KIP (kilopound-force)= 1000 lbf
(pound-force) = 4448.22165 N
Poundal = 1 lb.ft/s
2
= 0.1382549544 N =
14.0980818 gram-force
Poundal = unit of force in the foot-pound-second
system. Is the force that accelerates
1 ft/s
2
to a mass of 1 pound.
Poundforce (lbf) = 4.44822165 N
Tonforce = 9964.0164 N
Normal dropping acceleration (g) = 9.80665
m/s
2
= 32.17404856 ft/s
2
(depends on the location
on earth (higher at the poles and lower at the equator)
Richard Krabbendam
is heavy lift consultant
with the Jumbo Group
of companies, based
in The Netherlands.
He has a Masters
Degree in Mechanical
Engineering from the Technical University
of Delft and was project manager with
Van Seumeren Holland (now Mammoet)
until 1989. He has been in the heavy lift
and transportation industry since 1973.
(* = exact value)
Figure 1: