Optimizing the Capacity of Dozer Blade with Hydraulic Foldable Wings to Enhance Productivity

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Crawler Dozers play a critical role in global construction, mining and industrial sectors, performing essential tasks like pushing the material, grading, leveling and scraping. In the highly competitive dozer market, meeting the growing demand for increased productivity requires strategies to enhance blade capacity and width. Dozer operations involve pushing the material and dozing, where blade capacity significantly influences performance. Factors such as mold board profile, blade height, and width impact the blade capacity which are crucial for productivity in light weight applications such as snow removal and dirt pushing. Blade width is also pivotal for grading and leveling tasks. Traditional blade designs, like straight or fixed U-type blades, constrain operator flexibility, limiting overall productivity. The integration of hydraulic-operated foldable wings on both sides of the blade offers the adaptability to adjust blade capacity which also helps to reduce material spillage. This study investigates the impact of hydraulic folding wings on blade capacity, especially analyzing the correlation between fold angle and blade capacity. In this study, an empirical formula is derived to calculate the blade capacity of a folding blade for different wing folding angles. The optimal fold angle for maximizing capacity is determined for a standard material through analytical methods. Furthermore, a comparative analysis is carried out to assess the blade capacity of a foldable blade at the optimal folding angle in contrast to a straight blade. The study aims to evaluate the consequent influence of the blade capacity on the overall productivity. It is found from the study that the blade curvature included volume accounts for 16% of the total blade capacity and at optimum wing folding angle, the blade capacity is 26% more compared to the straight configuration.</div></div>