Evaluation of large-scale load-carrying structures of machines with the application of the dynamic effects factor
(*) Tekst artykułu w polskiej wersji językowej dostępny w elektronicznym wydaniu kwartalnika na stronie www.ein.org.pl in the construction industry which are usually designed to transfer only static loads and thus only need to fulfill the ultimate strength requirement. Dynamic loads accelerate the progressing degradation of the load-carrying structure, which is manifested in an increasing number of fatigue cracks. Fig 1 shows an example of a fracture and its location. Such faults are difficult to spot and if the fracture is located in a critical area, it can grow uncontrollably and lead to a catastrophic failure. A fracture similar to the one in Fig. 1 caused the catastrophe of the KWK 1400 excavator (Fig. 2). Such load-carrying structures are most often found in the mining, rock processing or bulk material handling industry. The situation in this case is even more special because some of the basic technological processes (e.g. excavating, crushing) are very often subject to large dynamic loads [15, 16]. Due to the environment in which such machines most often operate, it is difficult to use solutions that are effective at reducing vibrations but are not susceptible to damage [2, 48]. In addition, the design of load-carrying structure can be prone to excitation [7,17] (e.g. long-span superstructures of surface mining machines). Such machines are still being designed in accordance with standards from the 1980s, which define the dynamic effects factor, which, in turn, is used in calculations of fatigue life. Both the definition of this factor and its assumed values, in accordance with the standards, do not reflect the actual operating conditions. This is manifested in the occurrence of numerous cracks in superstructures [1, 12, 37] and undercarriage structures[1, 4, 13, 46]. Over the years several studies have been carried out aimed at solving this problem
Material handling and mining equipment: International standards recommendations for design and testing
Bucket wheel excavators, spreaders, reclaimers etc. are a group of heavy machines commonly used in the mining, power and bulk-handling industry. As machines of this type are used worldwide in various operational conditions, different design and testing approaches were developed. The paper presents and compares the theoretical assumptions stated in most common standards (DIN, AS, ISO, BG...) as well in the technical and scientific literature. Moreover, the paper presents real life application giving this way the opportunity for reliable assessment of the obtained results over the normative theoretical assumptions.
Computer-Aided System of Virtual Testing of Gas Turbine Engines
The article describes the concept of a virtual lab that includes subsystem of gas turbine engine simulation, subsystem of experiment planning, subsystem of measurement errors simulation, subsystem of simulator identification and others. The basis for virtual lab development is the computer-aided system of thermogasdynamic research and analysis “ASTRA”. The features of gas turbine engine transient modes simulator are described. The principal difference between the simulators of transient and stationary modes of gas turbine engines is that the energy balance of the compressor and turbine becomes not applicable. The computer-aided system of virtual gas turbine engine testing was created using the developed transient modes simulator. This system solves the tasks of operational (throttling, speed, climatic, altitude) characteristics calculation, analysis of transient dynamics and selection of optimal control laws. Besides, the system of virtual gas turbine engine testing is a clear demonstration of gas turbine engine working process and the regularities of engine elements collaboration. The interface of the system of virtual gas turbine engine testing is described in the article and some screenshots of the interface elements are provided. The developed system of virtual gas turbine engine testing provides means for reducing the laboriousness of gas turbine engines testing. Besides, the implementation of this system in the learning process allows the diversification of lab works and therefore improve the quality of training.