The structural steel beam in the machine room that supports the traction machine, providing a rigid mounting platform to absorb drive and rope forces.
Full Definition
Machine beams are heavy-section rolled steel members — typically I-beams or H-beams — embedded in or bolted to the building structure at the machine room floor level. They must be designed to carry the static weight of the traction machine plus the dynamic rope tensions and braking forces without deflection that would misalign the drive sheave. EN 81-20 and building structural codes govern machine beam design. In MRL lifts, equivalent rail-mounted or hoistway-mounted steel structures perform the same function.
