Integrity assessment and determination of residual fatigue life of vital parts of bucket-wheel excavator operating under dynamic loads

Abstract In this paper are presented results of tests and analyses of complex dynamic loads carried out on the bucket-wheel excavator SchRs 650/5 × 24 Krupp, as well as assessment of service life of vital welded structures of a bucket-wheel excavator boom subjected to cyclic loading with a variable amplitude through the use of experimental tests carried out in order to determine operational strength and growth of a fatigue crack for one structural part. Bucket-wheel excavator was built by “Thyssen Krupp” company, Germany. Outer loads, or in other words digging forces for the overburden and coal have been calculated on the basis of measured values of actual current intensity of the bucket-wheel drive and recorded output values of changeable loads. Correlations between the power of the bucket-wheel drive system and adequate hourly production, depending on the overall digging resistance which affects the stress condition of the bucket-wheel, were also determined. Results of the theoretical and experimental analysis of natural and forced oscillations of the support structure for various exploitation conditions are presented in first part of the paper. Deformations e i determined by tensometric measurements on the rotating shaft of the bucket-wheel were converted into tangential stresses through the introduction of the modulus of elasticity and Poisson's ratio, which, along with the polar moment of inertia of the cross-section, define the moment of rotation on the bucket-wheel shaft. Through the use of the load - strength comparison method (maximization of the ratio of load and strength indicators) the application factor of the gear with the largest number of turns K A has been determined. In the second part of the paper methodological approach for the assessment of service life of vital welded structures of a bucket-wheel excavator boom was presented. Assessment was done in order to determine operational strength and growth of a fatigue crack, through the use of experimental tests. Realized researches and results presented in this paper offer great possibilities for the analyses of behaviour of vital welded structures of the bucket-wheel boom. By the application of the measurement device with 8 channels for registration and processing of electric signals HBM Spider 8 and measurement tapes HBM 6/350 × XY31 deformations were measured at vital welded structures of the boom in the area of the bucket-wheel. The objective of the test is to determine if there is a possibility of occurrence of plastic deformations or initial cracks due to fatigue at vital welded structures and to obtain data which define crack growth.