Analytical Study on Influence of Shape of Bucket Cutting Edge of a Wheel Loader on Load Transfer 2021-26-0136

Wheel loader is a heavy construction equipment, which is commonly used in construction, mining, transferring material etc. According to off highway research about Construction Equipment analysis in India, Wheel loader market is continuously growing because of road construction and mining [1]. One of the parameters which influences the productivity of the machine, is shape of the cutting edge of loader bucket. Poor design of bucket cutting edge results in poor digging, which ultimately affects machine performance and durability. In a wheel loader working cycle, the trajectory of the bucket structure is complicated and variable, which lead to complex working conditions. Cutting edge is the part of Wheel loader bucket, on which the OEMs put a lot of efforts in improving the penetration into the pile and performance. The maximum applied force on bucket cutting edges depend on working load conditions. Reaction forces on different pivots of front implements of the wheel loaders, have been evaluated to understand the loading on pivots. The finite element stress analysis was carried out on the bucket structure, through which, various stresses were obtained in few of the identified regions of the bucket. The stress analysis carried out in this study, showed that the stress in different regions of the bucket, depends on shape of the cutting edges. General purpose wheel loader bucket cutting edge are analyzed by observing their Von Mises stresses and total deformation pattern.