Excavator structural stress - hand calculations

B. Ravindra

Excavator design engineers need to be familiar with methods to calculate pivot

forces arising out of the specific kinematics of excavator and structural stresses.
Finite Element Analysis methods notwithstanding, doing calculations by hand
provides engineers with a keen insight on the magnitude of forces at play and
stresses that are set up in his structural designs. These are key inputs to avoid
expensive FEA iterations. This document gives a method to compute section
stresses once pivot forces are know. It is assumed that readers are familiar with
basic strength of materials and applied mechanics concepts.
Below is an image of an excavator dipper arm with bucket in maximum breakout
force position. Just for the purposes of this sample calculation lets assume the
maximum breakout force is 45kN and acting at the corner of the bucket. Link
lengths and position for maximum force are assumed to be known to arrive at forces
in the links. Section dimensions of Arm structure are given in later images.
Once the Breakout force vector is completely defined it is not necessary to calculate
the link & pivot forces to get sectional stresses. It is given here only to let readers get
a feel for the magnitude of the forces in links arising out of breakout force and the
linkage system. A Breakout force of 4.5 Tons sets-up pin forces of 16.5 Tons in the
Arm. That is what you get as a consequence of the excavator 4-bar mechanism. A
similar feel for forces in boom pivots can rationally explain why an excavator boom
is more generously dimensioned than the Arm.
For sectional calculations, Arm is oriented with the horizontal axis passing through
bucket pivot and the arm cylinder pivot (on the arm). A typical hand calculation of
stresses would require about four to six sections analyzed and about ten sections
analyzed in the boom. Sections in the arm are numbered from 1 to 4. There would
be at least a couple more passing through the two end pivots. We would
demonstrate the hand calculation in section 3-3.
There is nothing sacrosanct about the orientation of the section. Sections can be
taken any which ways but then interpretations of stresses become meaningless
when section orientations results in plate thicknesses very different from actual.
Also one is interested not just in stresses at one section but in a number of sections
along the length of the structure and a non-uniform distribution of sections just
doesnt help.

LOAD CASE: MAX BREAKOUT FORCE of 45kN (Forces left of section 3-3)

Force at Pin joint F

Ff

16414 daN

Force at Pin joint J

Fj

13835 daN

Width of bucket
Wb

710 mm

Breakout force
Fbr

4500 daN

Subtended angle w.r.t section 5-5

1.6 deg

Subtended angle w.r.t 5-5

87.9 deg

Half width of bucket

W hb

Wb
2

Subtended angle w.r.t section 5-5

br

54.2 deg

Section properties: 3-3

4

Iyy

31924067mm

4
Area moment of Inertia X-X Ixx 52197335mm Area moment of Inertia, Polar Ip

84121402mm

Sectional area

Acc

Area moment of Inertia Y-Y

5369mm

Dimension to outer fiber of top plate (for stress due to bending about X axis) d bx

127.2mm

Dimension to outer fiber of side plate (for stress due to bending about Y axis of section)
d by

Arm side plate thickness (for stress due to torsion & transverse shear stress)

102.5mm

ds

6 mm

Torsion area = Area bounded by the center line of the wall cross-section
At

Section modulus X-X

Wx

Ixx

( 185

Section modulus Y-Y

dbx

6) mm ( 254.4 6) mm

Iyy

Wy

d by

Shear area
Areas of side half plates

area1

727.2mm

area2

1230 mm

First moment of areas for transverse shear stress along X-X

A sx

2 area1 60.6 mm

Resolution of forces & moments about axes 5-5

Horizontal component of forces

Vertical component of forces

Ffh

Ffv

Horizontal component of Breakout force

Vertical component of Breakout force

Ff cos

Ff sin f

Fjh

Fj cos

Fjv

Fj sin j

Fbrh

Fbr cos

Fbrv

Fbr sin br

br

area2 124.2mm

Vertical distances from 5-5 axis to section centroid (refer section dimensions above)
d fv

254.4
2

69.8 mm

d jv

d fv

26.1 mm

Horizontal distances to section 3-3 centroid

d fh

800 mm

Stress analysis at section 3-3

d jh

d fh

203.3mm

Bending moment at section 3-3

Mbx

Ffh d fv

Ffv d fh

Mbx

Stress due to bending along X-X at 3-3

bx

bx

Wx

Bending moment on Arm perpendicular to Axes 5-5 due to bucket corner

loading

Fjh d jv

169.541MPa

M by

Fbrh W hb

by

30.003MPa

.d

29.616MPa

Mby

Stress due to bending along Y-Y at 3-3

by

Wy
Ffh

Direct stress due to horizontal components

d

Torsion

Fjv d jh

Fjh

A cc
3

Fbrv W hb

.f

1.296 10 daN m

.s

24.283MPa

40.899MPa

Torsional stress

2 At ds

Transverse/horizontal shear stress due to varying bending moment along X-X

Fjv

Fbrv

Ffv Asx

Ixx2 ds

Maximum Principal stress

bx
max

by
2

max 192.05MPa

bx

by
2