Calculation of resistance force at firm clay digging with a cylindrical bucket

BACKGROUND: The performance of single-bucket hydraulic excavators affects many areas of activity. This parameter of the machine largely depends on the volume of the material being moved. However, the bucket resistance forces do not allow large buckets to be installed on an excavator. AIM: The paper discusses the design of the bucket which resistance to digging is reduced when it embeds into the ground. This statement has to be verified. METHODS: For this aim, the process of embedding the bucket into firm dry clay is considered. This kind of soil is the most difficult to be processed. Since there is no viscosity in this soil, the equations of spatial problems of elasticity theory are used to describe the process. A number of assumptions are made, and the system of differential equations describing stresses in the soil is solved. RESULTS: The result of the solution is the obtained dependence for determining the normal pressure from the soil in the process of its destruction, which helps to determine the overall digging resistance force. The initial parameters of the soil and bucket of the proposed design, developed for the excavator based on the YuMZ tractor, are described. The initial parameters are substituted into the resulting solution. CONCLUSION: The obtained value of the digging resistance force is significantly lower than the force that the hydraulic drive of an ordinary excavator has to overcome.