Javad Gholami, Masood Ghassabi
Journal of Terramechanics, Volume 97, 2021, Pages 29-34, ISSN 0022-4898
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jterra.2021.05.002.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022489821000434)
Abstract: The excavator carrier is a device for moving the excavator. There are many operational benefits in using this carrier to transport excavators safely, easily, and efficiently. An earlier model of this carrier is manufactured and in tests showed that the design needs to be improved. In this paper, a finite element method is used to model and analyze this carrier and optimize the design for better performance. The static and dynamic analysis is done to optimizing carrier design for removing the defect that identified in practical test. The goal of optimization is to increase the carrier's life, increase the safety of transportation, decrease the cost, and finally, commercialize the product. The results show that the carrier's weight is decreased by up to 30%. Also, a holder and lock system in the back of the carrier is designed for increasing the transportation safety and the stiffness of the carrier chassis. The effect of increasing a suspension system is studied, the idea is using leaf spring. The numerical results show that using the suspension system increases the carrier's life by up to 30% while adding a suspension system increases manufacturing costs by up to 10%.
Keywords: Numerical method; Optimization; Excavator carrier; Lock system; Transport; Leaf spring