Optimization of Tractor Trolley Axle for Reducing the Weight and Cost Using Finite Element Method

In India Tractor trolley or trailers are very popular and cheaper mode of goods transport in rural as well as urban area. But these trailers are manufactured in small scale to moderate scale industry. Especially in the small- and middle-scale agricultural machinery industry, insufficient use of new technology and new design features can cause problems such as breakdowns and failures during field operations. The existing trolley designed by the industry uses heavy axle without considering static and dynamic loading conditions which in turn leads to higher factor of safety increasing the overall cost of the axle. In this study, existing trolley axle is redesigned considering the static and dynamic load conditions. Based on finite element analysis, redesign of axle was carried out for reducing the cost and weight and maintains the mechanical strength with easy manufacturability and cost reduction. Results of static, modal and transient analysis of proposed axle under loading due to modified combine showed that the proposed model is suitable to install on trolley. In this paper we tried to optimize the hollow axle for the ultimate value so that the strength should be maintained with the reduction in cost and weight and we find the weight is reduce 40 to 60 %. The design is optimized based on the manufacturing cost of the axle. The failure analysis is performed on the axle of trolley used in agricultural area. These results provide a technical basis to prevent future damage to the location axle.