Simulation of the Resistance Forces of Bulk Media to Bucket in a Loading Proce

In this work the process of penetration of a bucket into bulk media (for loading or excavation) is simulated based on the forces that are involved in the process. The main objective is to simulate the resistance force of medium to cutting by a tool (bucket/blade) during a loading or excavation process. The work stems from an initial purpose to evaluate the effectiveness and performance of a strategy for automation of loading of bulk media (autoloading) by an excavator. In addition to serving for that purpose, the results of this work can be used in the development of training simulators for construction and excavation machines that include animation of the motion of a bucket, but lack the behaviour of the material during the process.

The encountered resistance by a tool (bucket) dictates its motion. The medium resistance can change significantly even within a small area and it depends on the tool orientation. If not controlled, the cutting tool follows the path with the least resistance. For this simulation a planar motion is considered for the sake of simplification of the complicated process. As can be depicted by a number of examples, the paper shows that the simulation is valid and can be successfully used.