Dynamic Simulation of a Hydraulic Excavator to

Determine the Joint Reaction Forces of Boom, Stick,

Bucket, and Driving Forces of Hydraulic Cylinders
Nguyen DANG TAN1)
1)
Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, Hanoi, Vietnam; email: [email protected]

http://doi.org/10.29227/IM-2020-02-17
Submission date: 06-03-2020 | Review date: 22-09-2020

Abstract
To optimize the dimensions of the boom, stick of the hydraulic excavator and select the suitable hydraulic bucket, stick, and boom
cylinders, the designer must determine the joint reaction forces and driving forces. These forces always alter in an excavator's working
cycle. They are conventionally calculated by mathematical method. This conventional method is complicated and challenging to de-
termine the maximum reaction forces, which can break the stick and boom. This article builds a 3D model and simulates a working
cycle of the hydraulic excavator to find the reaction force diagrams of boom and stick as well as driving forces of hydraulic cylinders
by using computer software PTC Creo Parametric. Based on these results, the designer easily calculates the maximum tensions of the
dimensions of boom and stick in a working cycle to optimize their dimensions as well as selects suitable hydraulic cylinders.

Keywords: dynamic simulation, excavator design, joint reaction forces, driving forces, maximum tension

1. Introduction the reference coordinate system of excavator, the coordinate

In the first half of the 20th century, because of the strong system of bucket, stick and boom are assigned in their cen-
development of the construction industry, open-pit mining, tre of gravity. Based on loads of bucket, stick and boom, the
the first cable generation excavators were born and used wide- mathematical equations are established to find the forces and
ly for digging and loading. In the second half of this centu- reaction forces on joints of stick and boom (Bhaveshkumar P.
ry, cable excavator was significantly replaced by a hydraulic Patel, J. M. Prajapati, 2014). Paten and Prajapati (Patel, B.P.,
excavator. Hydraulic excavators are commonly used in con- Prajapati, J.M, 2012) used the mathematical method to calcu-
struction, mining, digging and forestry. During working, the late the static forces of the bucket, stick and boom.
excavator driver must pay his attention to digging material The mathematical methods were used to develop an exca-
parameters, soil-machine interaction conditions. Various vator's kinematics dynamics and establish the relationship be-
manufacturers in Germany, Japan, Italy, France and the Unit- tween excavator parameters and the resistive forces from the
ed States began to utilize the computer software for designing material formation during the excavation process. By using
excavators (Rusiński, E., Czmochowski, J., Moczko, P., Pietru- SIMULATION-X Environment, the trajectory for the buck-
siak, D, 2017). Like other vehicles, the hydraulic excavator is et tip, driving forces of the boom, stick and bucket cylinder
also divided into several parts (see Fig. 1). To determine the during excavating are calculated and shown in different charts
forces on joints of boom and stick, the designer must define (Alaydi, Juma Yousuf, 2009).
working loads of excavator. One of the studies on mini exca- The developed system of differential equations is used to
vator is the single action hydraulic cylinder. The state of the perform a numerical experiment with the inertial and geo-
stick against the load in the working environment is moni- metrical data for the excavator. The typical digging task simu-
tored by setting up a closed cycle system. This stick of this lation demonstrates the applicability of the dynamical model
mini excavator is mathematically modelled and invented for for the study of the excavator motion simulation by Matlab
static and dynamic movement (Salcudean, S.S, Tafazoli, S., Simulink (Belma Babovic, Almir Osmanovic, Bahrudin Saric,
Lawrence, P.D., Chau, I, 1997). 2017). Enhanced visualization of calculated results, the reac-
In order to design the excavator better, the forces between tion forces will be plotted on a force/reaction diagram for a
the soil and the machine must be calculated especially during working cycle. It makes the designer easy to find out a posi-
digging (Patel, B. P., Prajapati, J.M, 2011). To reduce the cost tion with the biggest total of reaction forces (Rosen Mitrev,
of designing and manufacturing, the dimensions and weights Dragoslav Janošević, Dragan Marinković, 2017).
of the boom and the stick must be minimized by establish- The recent developments of dynamic mechanism design
ing an optimization model (Korucu, S., Küçük, A. E., Sam- broaden mechanism design to include a wide range of motion
taş, G, 2017). Therefore, the maximum tensions of boom and evaluation functions. When a movement of mechanism is an-
stick must specify in a working cycle of the excavator (Orle- alyzed, it can be observed and recorded the analysis or can be
mann, E.C, 2003). To determine the reaction forces in a whole measured quantities such as positions, velocities, accelera-
working cycle of stick and boom as well as driving forces of tions, forces, and graph the measurement. It offers informa-
hydraulic cylinders, the designer must build an excavator tion about creating and working with mechanism models with
model. Bucket, stick, and boom move during working, hence or without the application of external forces. Simulation lets

Inżynieria Mineralna — Lipiec – Grudzień 2020 July – December — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society 131
 Fig. 1. Parts of hydraulic excavator
Rys. 1. Części koparki hydraulicznej

Tab. 1. Technical specifications of the excavator model (Kato works co., ltd)
Tab 1. Parametry techniczne modelu koparki

Fig. 2. Determination of breakout and digging forces (Patel et al., 2012)

Rys. 2. Wyznaczanie sił odspajania i kopania

the designer examine how his model will behave in the real 2020). In the scope of this study, a track excavator is selected
world and reduces the need for costly prototype iterations. with the technical specifications in Tab. 1 (Kato works co.,ltd,
By using simulation, the 3D excavator model will be created 2020).
that reflects the loads, materials, and boundary conditions. It
also shows how to define and run a wide range of analyses Determination of masse and centre of gravity:
and design studies, review results, and optimize the excavator In addition to breakout and digging forces, the weights
model (Creo Parametric, 2020). For this reason, this research of bucket, stick, boom, and material in each bucket must be
will design 3D-Cad model of excavator and simulate a work- specified and assigned in the excavator model. Mass proper-
ing cycle of excavator in PTC Creo to find reaction forces on ties such as area, volume, and the coordinates for the centre
the joints of boom and stick as well as determine the driving of gravity of solids are translated as test properties and saved
forces in the hydraulic cylinder of the bucket, stick and boom. as parameters in PTC Creo. When the solid models, related
to the file formats for CATIA V5, Creo Elements, NX, Solid-
2. Method of study Works, Autodesk Inventor and STEP, are imported, model pa-
Basic parameters of excavator model: rameters are created for the imported elements. Creo calcu-
Standard excavators come in a variety of sizes, from mini lates the validation property values and stores the calculated
excavators that are perfect for tight job sites to large excava- values of the validation properties for geometry and assem-
tors designed for heavy-duty applications. Bucket, stick and blies in the model parameters (Creo Parametric, 2020). There-
boom for standard excavators are also available in different fore, the designer must not calculate the masses and centre of
sizes and lengths to tackle a variety of tasks, including dig- gravity as well as inertia of bucket, stick, and boom.
ging, trenching, moving debris, hauling heavy materials,
and demolishing structures. Standard excavators are useful Calculation of breakout and digging forces:
in construction, landscaping, mining, farming, forestry, and Material such as soil, coal, gravel is penetrated to the
other industries that require excavation (Gregory Poole CAT, bucket by the breakout force (FB) and digging force (FS).

132 Inżynieria Mineralna — Lipiec – Grudzień 2020 July – December — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society
 Fig. 3. a) Position-time diagram; b) Payload-time diagram (Zimmerman et al., 2007)
Rys. 3 a) Wykres pozycja-czas; b) Wykres ładunek-czas

Fig. 4. Operating sequence of a working cycle

Rys. 4. Sekwencja działania cyklu roboczego

These maximum forces can be calculated by the max. The Determination of bucket capacity:
discharge pressure of the pump in the excavator, which pro- The capacity of a bucket VS muss be calculated by its mea-
vides these forces to the hydraulic bucket and stick cylinders. suring dimensions. In this example, it holds the value of 0.8
Maximum breakout force FB is generated by the bucket cylin- m3. The excess material capacity is determined by the mate-
der and tangent to the arc of radius dD (Patel, B.P., Prajapati, rial to fulfill factor, and it depends on the kind of material
J.M, 2012). (Rusiński, E., Czmochowski, J., Moczko, P., Pietrusiak, D.,
2017). In this example, the material is rock, well blasted ff=0.9,
(1) and density ρ=1600 kg/m3. Therefore, the weight of material
in bucket P=1152 N.
where: dA, dB, dC, dE, dF - the distances and labeled in Fig. 2; DB
– the diameter of the bucket cylinder DB =120 mm; p – max. The working cycle of excavator:
discharge pressure of pump, p=32.4 MPa Cycle time for the excavator depends on the movements
Maximum digging force FS is generated by the stick cylin- of the swing system, boom, sticker (arm), and bucket. The rel-
der and tangent to the arc of radius dF (Patel, B.P., Prajapati, ative positions of these movements are commonly described
J.M, 2012). in a position-time diagram. In this diagram, the movements
will be divided to different phases, the start and end of each
(2) position correspond to start and end time of each movement
(see an example in Fig. 3 a). Moreover, to determine the driv-
where: DS – the diameter of the stick cylinder DS =135 mm ing forces of the boom, stick, and bucket cylinders as well as
reaction forces, a loading profile must be shown. According
The values of parameters in equations (1), (2) are mea- to J.D. Zimmerman (D. Zimmerman, M. Pelosi, C.A. Wil-
sured in 3D-Cad excavator model and hold as dA=425 mm, liamson, 2007), a charging payload holds a value up to 60%
dB=540 mm, dC=370 mm, dD=1295 mm, dE=645 mm, dF=2980 working cycle (Fig. 3 b).
mm. By using the equations (1), (2), the breakout and digging A working cycle of excavator is the input reference for
forces are calculated FB=82357 N=82.357 kN and FS=100328 the dynamic simulation. The relative positions of bucket,
N=100.328 kN. stick and boom are driven by three hydraulic cylinders. The
movement of each cylinder decides the working ranges and is

Inżynieria Mineralna — Lipiec – Grudzień 2020 July – December — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society 133
 Fig. 5. Working cycle diagram of the bucket, stick, boom cylinders and swing system
Rys. 5. Schemat cyklu roboczego łyżki, ramienia, siłowników wysięgnika i systemu obrotu

Fig. 6. Breakout, digging forces and gravity of material on the bucket

Rys. 6. Siły wyrwanie, kopania i ciężar materiału na łyżce

Fig. 7. Driving forces/moment diagram of the bucket, stick, boom cylinder and swing system
Rys. 7. Wykres sił napędowych / momentów łyżki, ramienia, siłownika wysięgnika i układu obrotu

Fig. 8. Joint reaction forces of boom

Rys. 8. Siły reakcji bomu na przegub

described in a position-time diagram. Normally, experienced seconds (10%) to dump its load (Fiscor, S, 2020). Therefore, in
operators have an average cycle time of 24.5 s to perform a this paper, a cycle time of 29.5 s was utilized for this excavator
similar trenching cycle with a 20-tonne excavator (Zhang, S., model. The typical moving cycle consists of six steps and is
Minav, T., Pietola, M., Kauranne, H., Kajaste, J., 2019). The shown in Fig. 4.
average cycle time for the excavator was 29.5 seconds by using a) Beginning position
a mining excavator Terex RH 200. The average swing time for b) Rotating to a minimum reach position
an empty bucket is 7.5 seconds (25%). The machine needs 12 c) Rotating, lowering the boom, the stick and opening the
seconds (41%) to fill the bucket. The average swing time for bucket simultaneously
the full bucket is 7 seconds (24%). It takes the excavator 3 d) Digging a bucketful of material

134 Inżynieria Mineralna — Lipiec – Grudzień 2020 July – December — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society
 Fig. 9. Joint reaction forces of stick
Rys. 9. Siły reakcji ramienia na przegub.

Fig. 10. Joint reaction forces of H_Link

Rys. 10. Siły reakcji z H_Link na przegub

e) Lifting the boom and rotating to discharging position 3. Simulation results and discussions
e) Lowering the boom, opening the bucket, and discharging Driving forces/moment of the bucket, stick boom cylin-
material ders, and swing system:
The weights of bucket, stick, boom, and material on the
In a working cycle 29.5 s, each position of a cylinder is bucket are smaller than the breakout and digging forces.
determined by moving time. To simulate the hydraulic exca- Therefore, the driving forces of bucket, stick, boom cylinders
vator, all positions of the bucket, stick, boom cylinders, and at the time of digging material are much bigger than other
angles of the swing system must be established. The operat- time. Their value reaction forces are shown in Fig. 7.
ing sequence in Fig. 4 is used to define these positions/angles. The maximal driving forces of the bucket, stick, boom cyl-
They must ensure the smooth movement of the excavator and inders are calculated as 564785 N, 353474 N and 1290184 N.
are suitable for the working requirements. For this study, the After loading material, the swing system rotates 90 de-
relationship between the positions of the bucket, stick, boom grees to the discharging position. With full of material on the
cylinder, as well as the angle of the swing system is shown in bucket, the torque of the swing system gets the maximum val-
Fig. 5. ue of 144670799 Nmm (see Fig. 7).
In this working cycle of the excavator, the stick cylinder
moves with a max—stroke 1150 mm at the time of digging Reaction forces on the joints of boom and stick:
material. The bucket cylinder holds a max stroke 780 mm at The boom rotates on the pin Joint B_4, the stick rotates on
the time of burrowing and discharging. The max stock value the pin Joint B_1. The double effect hydraulic cylinder allows
of boom cylinder is 530 mm at the time of discharging mate- to raise and lower the boom. The boom motion around Joint
rial. The swing system rotates 180 degrees from the start posi- B_4 can be related to the variation of angle (Eugenio Leati,
tion to the discharging material position. The positions of the Roberto Paoluzzi, 2010). The boom of excavator contains 4
bucket, stick, boom cylinders, and swing system depend on joints and are shown in Fig. 8. The joint B_3, and B_4 con-
each other according to the working cycle. nect to the boom cylinder and upper structure. Therefore, the
reaction forces of these joints are the same value. The Joint
Definition of loads on the bucket: B_2 connects to stick cylinder, the Joint B_1 links to the stick.
An operating sequence of the excavator will be simulat- The curve of these reaction forces on B_1 is similar to the
ed according to the cycle time 29.5 s. Weights and direction curve of B_2. During a digging material, the joint reaction
gravity of the bucket, stick and boom are assigned to them in forces hold the maximum values and are calculated as S_1 =
the whole working cycle. However, the breakout force, dig- 1289928.334 N, S_2 = 1290584.244 N, S_3 = 353425.518 N
ging force only exist in a digging process and depend on the and S_4 = 351038.93 N.
working cycle time. Fig. 6 shows the breakout force, digging The stick rotates on the pin Joint S_4, and bucket linkage
force. The loading time takes along 12 s, between 8 s and 20 s. goes around on the pin Joint S_1. Stick cylinder allows to ex-
Material on the bucket is determined from the charging time tend and retract the stick, while the bucket cylinder allows
to the discharging time. The gravity of material on the bucket to open and close the bucket. The stick of excavator links to
is displayed in Fig. 6. the bucket and stick cylinders. It comprises five joints S_1 to

Inżynieria Mineralna — Lipiec – Grudzień 2020 July – December — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society 135
 Fig. 11. Directions of joint reaction forces of the stick at the beginning position
Rys. 11. Kierunki sił reakcji na przegub w pozycji początkowej

S_5. The boom, arm and bucket are designed for maximum cle. In the study of Šalinić (S. Šalinić, G. Bošković, M. Nikolić,
reaction forces during a digging material. The joints S_1, S_2, 2014), they used the mathematical method to determine the
S_3, S_4 and S_5 are calculated as 523818.45 N, 440100.8 N, forces in the bucket, stick and boom cylinders. It is taken that
565220.54 N, 351038.93 N and 353591.11 N (see Fig. 9). the time interval of the considered digging task reads 0 ≤ t ≤ 3
H_Link joins the bucket cylinder by H_Link_1 and buck- s, the digging force varies and gets the max value of 20.5 kN.
et by H_Link_2. The curves of reaction forces are similar, but The driving forces of the hydraulic bucket, stick, and boom
the values of H_Link_1 are little bigger (see Fig. 10). Reaction cylinders also alter according to this time interval and hold
forces on these joints alter in a working cycle. The values of the max values of 120 kN, 150 kN and 200 kN. In this study,
the reaction force of each time of H_Link_1 are bigger than the breakout and digging forces are five times bigger than the
H_Link_2. above example. Therefore, the driving forces are approximate-
In a working cycle, the reaction forces not only alter the ly bigger than five times.
magnitudes but also charge the directions. The Fig. 8 to Fig.
10 show all of reaction force magnitudes of each joint of the 4. Conclusions and proposals
boom, stick and H_Link. However, to determine the stress of A working cycle of excavator consists of multiple move-
them by using FEM (Finite Element Method), it requires to ments of the bucket, stick, boom cylinders and swing system.
define all directions of reaction forces according to the work- The values of driving forces and reaction forces depend on
ing cycle. It means, the equilibrium condition of the boom, the positions of drive elements. The driving/reaction forces
stick and H_Link muss be established for every position in as well as the acceleration, velocity typically can be calculat-
the working cycle. The equilibrium condition of an object ex- ed by analytic geometry and mathematical method. However,
ists when Newton's first law is valid. An object is in equilibri- it is complex and takes a lot of time. In this study, the posi-
um in a reference coordinate system when all external forces tion-time diagram is used to describe the motions of exca-
(including moments) acting on it are balanced. This means vator in a working cycle, then the external loads (gravities,
that the net result of all the external forces and moments act- break out and digging forces) are declared and assigned them
ing on this object is zero (XiaoboYang, PeijunXu, 2012). to components of the excavator.
By utilizing the method of equilibrium condition to find Based on the 3D-Cad model, the design parameters such
the directions of reaction forces, it takes a lot of time. Hence, as the masses, moments of inertial and dimensions of the
dynamic simulation is applied to find them quicker. boom, stick, bucket, swing system are quickly determined as
Fig. 11 shows the directions of reaction forces of joints well as the input parameters are defined. 3D modeller reduces
S_1 to S_5 of stick at the beginning position as an example, project cost margins for machinery maker.
which are indicated by blue arrows. At this position, gravities Dynamic simulation in PTC Creo is applied to calculate
of the bucket, stick and driving forces of the stick and boom and plot the driving forces/moment and joint reaction forces.
cylinder influence these joints. Based on On the grounds of the diagrams, the designer can easily find
Fig. 11, the designer can fix the direction and magnitude out the maximum value on each joint and required driving
of the reaction force and then calculate stress. forces/moment of drive components.
Creo parametric is used in this paper to establish the Dynamic simulation can be used not only for the design
3D-CAD model and calculate the driving and joint reaction of track excavator but also for the design of any machine or
forces of the hydraulic excavator. In order to improve the sim- equipment and reduce the time from the first idea to the de-
ulation accuracy, users have to accurately define the links and livered device.
joints, external forces acting on the excavator in a working cy-

136 Inżynieria Mineralna — Lipiec – Grudzień 2020 July – December — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society
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Dynamiczna symulacja koparki hydraulicznej w celu określenia sił reakcji na przegub, wysięgnik,
ramienia, łyżkę oraz sił napędowych cylindrów hydraulicznych
Określenie siły reakcji na przegub i siły napędowej jest warunkiem optymalizacji wymiarów wysięgnika, ramienia koparki hydrau-
licznej i dobrać odpowiednie hydrauliczne siłowniki łyżki, ramienia i wysięgnika. W cyklu roboczym koparki, siły te zawsze zmieniają
się. Tradycyjne metody są zwykle skomplikowane i trudne do określenia maksymalnych sił reakcji, które mogą spowodować złamanie
drążka i wysięgnika. W artykule zbudowano model 3D i symulowano cykl pracy koparki hydraulicznej w celu znalezienia wykresów
sił reakcji wysięgnika i ramienia oraz sił napędowych cylindrów hydraulicznych za pomocą oprogramowania komputerowego PTC
Creo Parametric. Na podstawie tych wyników, konstruktor w łatwy sposób oblicza maksymalne naprężenia wymiarów wysięgnika i
ramienia w cyklu pracy, aby zoptymalizować ich wymiary, a także dobiera odpowiednie hydrauliczne cylindry.

Słowa kluczowe: symulacja dynamiczna, projektowanie koparek, siły reakcji na przegub, siły napędowe, maksymalne napięcie

Inżynieria Mineralna — Lipiec – Grudzień 2020 July – December — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society 137