Dynamics of an Earthmoving Machine through Outright Articulation 2016-28-0194

Earth moving machines are steered using various steering methodology. Articulated steering mechanism is the most popular type of steering methods. It is actuated by hydraulic cylinders connected to the steering linkages. While the machine is deployed with articulated type steering, vehicle stability is proportionate to the steering velocity. Articulated steering provides two important features, shorter turning radius, allows front and back axle to be solid. Directional stability refers to a vehicle’s ability to stabilize its direction of motion against disturbances. Majority of earth moving equipment operates on basic cycle of Load-Haul-Dump. During each cycle, vehicle needs to be steered at least once. To optimize the machine performance for improved productivity it is essential to study the correlation between articulation speed and operational weight of the vehicle.

This paper intends to explore the relationship between articulation speed, Steering Mechanism, vehicle trajectory and behavior of articulated steering for an earthmoving machine. A good correlation between turning radius, steering efforts and operational weight of the vehicle can guide the operator to achieve the safe turning as well as better productivity for the machine. In this work, effort has been made to explore the machine behavior during articulation. This work also focuses on evaluating the steering forces experienced by hydraulics. The overall efforts are certain to correlate the articulation efforts with vehicle operational weight and understand the vehicle dynamics while outright articulation.