Experimental and Analytical Study on the Force-carrying Process of the Sand-collecting Shovel

The sand-collecting shovel is an important part of the track sand removing vehicle. In order to analyze the force changes during the sand collecting process, and get an optimization method of its structure, the paper took the method of the combination of experiment and numerical simulation. The sand test bench was designed and built to simulate the sand-collecting working process. Because the torque reflected the force of the shovel during the sand-collecting working process, the torque received by the sand collecting shovel was measured. Using the method of coupling discrete element and multi-body dynamics method, the force of the straight blade, 15 degree the 30 degree blade under the same working conditions were simulated and analyzed in the X, Y and Z directions. The experimental result was similar to the simulation results, which proved the feasibility of the coupling method of discrete element and multi-body dynamics to research the interaction mechanism between the sand and shovel. Then, the force of shovels working in the depth of 50mm and 70mm were simulated and the values were compared. It can be seen that changing the edge angle caused a different force regular changing of the blade in three directions, but the total force of the sand collection was reduced. The research results provided a theoretical basis for the structural optimization of the sand shovel and have an important guiding significance for relevant mechanical design.