DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

Key words:

Péndulo, Tibidabo, Accidente, Parque de Atracciones, Pendulum, Accident, Amusement Park, Fatigue of materials

Article type:

ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION / RESEARCH ARTICLE

Section:

RESEARCH ARTICLES

ABSTRACT:
An analysis of the possible causes of the collapse of an attraction (El Péndulo) located at the amusement park of Tibidabo (Barcelona) has been performed. This analysis corroborates some hypotheses asserted by the Professional association of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia (COEIC) by numerical computations. The accident caused a fatality and additional injured people.

This amusement ride was opened in August of 2006, and lasted for 4 years. In the analysis carried out, the most probable hypotheses of the causes of the collapse are studied, focusing on the preloaded screws provided to the lower base of el Péndulo and the presence of corrosion on the screws.

Publicly known data have been used for an accurate reconstruction of the geometry of el Péndulo. This reconstruction is used for kinematical and dynamical computations in detail. The data discard some possible failure causes, and they point to corrosion and tightening torque as factors involved in the collapse.