Triple Arm Excavator Design

A 2D Load assessment spreadsheet has been developed and is used to determine cylinder loads based on equilibrium of loads. An ANSYS script has also been developed so that a 3D ANSYS model can be created directly from the 2D spreadsheet. A finite element model has been constructed from geometry supplied by the client. A ½ model can be used for symmetric loadcases which reduces the computational effort. A full model is used for assessment of non-symmetric loadcases. These are used for a preliminary assessment, for proof load assessment, safety loadcase assessment and fatigue load assessment.