ANALYSIS OF DIGGING FORCES ON LABORATORY SCALE EXCAVATOR

• Main Author: Try Saputra, Dyoh
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/69146
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Excavator is a heavy equipment used for excavating materials in the civil, construction, and mining industries. When excavating material, it is necessary to select appropriate equipment according to the required digging force. This research aims to study the required digging force for excavating the material by measuring the strain on the excavator components (boom, arm, bucket, and tooth) and by measuring the hydraulic pump pressure on a laboratory scale excavator (bucket volume ± 4 liters). The test was carried out on soil and loose sand materials with several variations of the attack angle (60?, 50?, and 40?). Before the excavation test for soil and sand materials, calibration with a load cell is required to relate the strain data and pump pressure data to the digging force. Then the data processing was carried out using the artificial neural network method and a good correlation was found in the calibration data processing. Furthermore, in the excavation test, the strain data and pump pressure data were entered into the ANN model which was formed from the calibration data. The results show that the required force for excavating soil material is bigger than sand material. The digging force for excavating soil material with various of the attack angle (?) 60; 50; 40 are 1.87 kN;2.04 kN; 2.24 kN. While the digging force for excavating sand material with various of the attack angle (?) 60; 50; 40 are 1.23 kN; 1.49 kN; 1.39 kN, respectively. The specific energy of excavation is directly proportional for the digging force, with the results of the specific energy of excavating soil material is bigger than sand material. The specific energy for excavating soil material with various of the attack angle (?) 60; 50; 40 are 0.061 MJ/m3; 0.060 MJ/m3; 0.052 MJ/m3. While the specific energy for excavating sand material with various of the attack angle (?) 60; 50; 40 are 0.053 MJ/m3; 0.058 MJ/m3; 0.050 MJ/m3. This research can be further developed on a field scale, so the selection of equipment can be done better before excavation is carried out.