Joshua C Henze, Tim G Joseph, Robert Hall and Mark Curley
Ultra-class surface mining haul trucks are commonly used to transport ore and waste material. They account for a significant portion of a total equipment fleet and maintenance budget. The payloads they carry are important when considering truck reliability, as balance and magnitude contribute to performance. Unbalanced payloads cause increased rack (twist), pitch and roll (bias) events, resulting in increased maintenance and lost production through loss of availability. Excavator operators often report a restricted visibility of the truck body during loading, with limited aids to assist in balancing placed loads. In order to provide payload placement assistance, payload modeling has been developed based on the work of Chamanara and Joseph. Haul truck strut pressures were used to estimate and display the location and shape of a payload within the truck body. To verify the model, data from an operating Caterpillar 785C haul truck and lab tests using a scale Caterpillar 797B model were analyzed. Although the model accuracy will decrease for materials that clump and do not flow freely, the results were found to be useful for field implementation.
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