Selection and Adaptation of Hydraulic Cylinders for Tipper

Hoisting
Manohar M Hegde
Introduction
Tipper trucks and Dump trucks are useful material handling equipment in construction
sites, quarries and mines. Tipper load bodies come in various sizes from 0.5 cubic
meters (small utility trucks) to 40.0 cubic meters and more (Big mining trucks, trailer
tippers).Efficiency with which a tipper truck dumps the material from its load body is
important to reduce the overall loading carrying dumping cycle time. Lifting of
material filled load body in a tipper truck is commonly accomplished by hydraulic
cylinders. Selection of cylinder (single cylinder, multiple cylinders, telescopic cylinder,etc)
and specification (diameter,stroke) plays an important role in building a tipper.The
selected cylinders should meet the functional requirement and also be cost effective.In
addition, tipper end users expect high reliability and durability. The utilisation pattern can
vary from site to site, from light duty to very heavy duty. Accordingly, the criteria to select
and adapt cylinders should also vary.

Tipper in normal condition

Tipper dumping
Fig-1

Fig-1 shows the general arrangement of the load body of a tipper during normal and
dumping positions.

Typical cylinder configurations

Loaded Tipper body in equilibrium

Fig-2

Fig-3

Fig-2 Shows the various ways in which hydraulic cylinders can be adapted to carry out
the tipping function.
1

Problem Statement
Functional effectiveness and the cost of cylinders are influenced by the maximum length
and bore diameter, which in turn depend upon the positioning of the cylinders with
respect to C.G. of the filled load body and the hinge pin. This process requires trial and
error calculations with various design parameters, and is thus time consuming.
Fig-3 show the tipper body being lifted by hydraulic cylinder. It can be seen that the
hinged load body structure, together with the lifting cylinder, can be represented by a
simple mechanism. Fig-4. Within the load body the force transfer paths form a triangle,
with the C.G. of the loaded body, the body hinge pin, and the cylinder connection point
representing the vertices. The dumping action can be defined as moving the C.G. of the
loaded body from a level of H1 to a level of H2,with one edge of the load body hinged to
the chassis. Fig-5. A certain amount of work needs to be done for moving a given mass
of material (weight W LB) from a level of H1 to level H2. This work is accomplished by the
force provided by the cylinders.
Depending upon the application, the angle through which the load body is tilted can vary
from 40 to 60.
The maximum values of the cylinder force and stroke can be estimated by carrying out
first a detailed kinematic analysis of the lifting mechanism and then force analysis.

Simplified mechanism model

Disposition of C.G.

Fig-4

Fig-5

Importance of selection of cylinder : The primary attributes of a hydraulic cylinder are

cylinder bore diameter and stroke. In addition, maximum operating hydraulic pressure,
and the number of cylinders used also play a role in the selection process. The minimum
functional requirement (for doing the work) can be achieved by various combinations of
cylinder diameter, cylinder stroke, system pressure and number of cylinders. However,
the maximum pressure is based on the finalised hydraulic system.Also, the tendency is
to go for minimum number of cylinders to keep adaptation simple. In general, single
cylinder with lesser bore diameter and lesser stroke is preferred to keep the costs down.
Since work done is a function of force and stroke, a smaller stroke necessitates a larger
diameter cylinder and vice-versa. With larger diameter also come larger forces, and to
withstand larger forces, the structure has to be made stronger, which again adds to the
cost. Thus a careful trade-off between cylinder diameter and cylinder stroke needs to be
made, to achieve a functionally satisfying and cost effective selection.
2

Simple Free Body Diagrams(FBD) of a loaded tipper body, actuated by a hydraulic

cylinder at two different stroke lengths(corresponding to two different levels of the loaded
body) are shown in fig-6. (For the sake of simplicity, the position of CG of the loaded
body is assumed to remain same during dumping, although due to the material falling to
the ground, the effective position is changing. This assumption will not have any bearing
on the sizing of the cylinder.)
Using simple trigonometric constructions, the cylinder stroke required to achieve the
vertical movement of C.G., and the force required at the cylinder to balance the weight of
the tipper load body at any position of dumping can be found out. Fig-6 also shows the
detailed disposition of the mechanism required to carry out the necessary calculations

Cylinder strokes L1 and L2

Analysis scheme of mechanism

Fig-6

The parameters defining the mechanism of the tipper body, and required to carry out the
calculations are listed below:
(Reference - 4500 /7000 Kgs Truck, weight of body with material - 2500 Kgs)
Sl No
1
2
3
4
5

Parameter
Total weight of body with
material
Height of C.G.
Initial height of CG
Final height of CG
Distance between CG and
body hinge pin (C.G.
moment arm)
Dimension Horizontal
distance between body
hinge pin and cylinder
anchor point on chassis
Dimension - Vertical
distance between body
hinge pin and cylinder
anchor point on chassis
Dimension - Side of the
triangle formed between
C.G., body hinge pin and
cylinder force application

Symbol

Value

Unit

W LB

2500

Kgs

Fixed design parameter

H
H1
H2

300
1000

mm
mm

Independent variable parameter,

Fixed design parameter
Fixed design parameter

1065

mm

Fixed design parameter

xc

mm

Primary design parameter

yc

mm

Primary design parameter

mm

Secondary design parameter

Remarks

point.
Dimension - Side of the
triangle formed between
C.G., body hinge pin and
cylinder force application
point.
Internal angles of the
above triangle

10

mm

1, 1,
1

Degrees

11

Angle between horizontal

and the C.G. moment arm

Degrees

12

Angle between horizontal

and cylinder axis

Degrees

13

Length of the hydraulic

cylinder

mm

14

Force in the hydraulic

cylinder required to
balance the load body

Fc

Secondary design parameter

Derived parameters using R,b

and c
Derived variable parameter. 1
and 2 are minimum and
maximum values of
respectively, derived from H1 and
H2
Derived parameter using
c,yc,L,,and 1.
Dependant variable parameter to
study behaviour of objective
function.L1 and L2 are the
minimum and maximum values
respectively, of cylinder length.
Dependant variable parameter to
study behaviour of objective
function. Fc_max is maximum
values of cylinder force.

Mathematically, cylinder stroke and cylinder force are represented as:

L= (H,xc,yc,R,b,c) ;

Fc = (W LB,L,xc,yc,R,b,c)

The solution to the problem involves the following steps :

1. Determination of maximum and minimum cylinder lengths required to lift and lower the
load body during a complete dumping cycle.
2. Determination of a range of position of the cylinder connection points fulfilling the
kinematic design constraints(Lmax,Lmin and Lmax-Lmin)
3. Determination of the maximum and minimum forces in the cylinder and hinge point
during complete dumping cycle.
4. Iteration by modifying the cylinder connection points until to fulfil structural design
constraints. (Fc_max,maximum hinge pin force)

Result :
Results of some iterations carried out using the above example are recorded below :
Parameters kept constant : W LB 2500 Kgs,H1 300mm,H2 1000mm,R-1065mm
Trial
no

Xc

Yc

Lmin

Lmax

Stroke

Fc_
min

Fc_
max

Pin_
max

1200

100

400

700

530

1093

563

12000

89000

84000

Cylinder length
medium, forces
moderate

400

100

350

790

413

758

345

21000

115000

102000

Cylinder length
short, high forces

Remarks

1400

100

350

750

681

1271

590

10000

87000

83000

Cylinder length
medium, forces
moderate

200

100

600

500

317

513

196

40000

155000

150000

Shortest cylinder,
highest values of
forces

2000

100

950

2000

440

2184

1744

5200

12300

20000

Longest cylinder,
lowest cylinder
force

Note : All dimension in mm, all forces in N

Qualitative behavior of cylinder length and force variation are shown in fig-7 :
Sl
No
1

Configuration

Cylinder Length Variation

Lmin=530mm

Cylinder Force Variation

Lmax=1093mm

Fcyl_max = 89000 N

Lmin=413mm Lmax=758mm

Fcyl_max =110000 N

3
Cylinder Force vs Height of C.G.
Cylinder Force N

Cylinder Length mm

Cylinder Length vs Height of C.G.

1400
1200
1000

800
600
400
200
0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

100000
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0

1200

Height of C.G. mm

400

600

800

1000

1200

Height of C.G. mm

Lmin=681mm Lmax=1271mm

Fcyl_max =87000 N

Cylinder Length vs Height of C.G.

Cylinder Force vs Height of C.G.

600

180000

Cylinder Force N

Cylinder Length mm

200

500
400
300
200

100
0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Height of C.G. mm

Lmin=317mm

Lmax=513mm

160000

140000
120000

100000
80000
60000

40000
20000

0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

Height of C.G. mm

Fcyl_max =155000 N

1200

5
Cylinder Force vs Height of C.G.
14000

Cylinder Force N

Cylinder Length mm

Cylinder Length vs Height of C.G.

2500
2000
1500
1000
500

12000
10000

8000
6000
4000
2000
0

0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Height of C.G. mm

Height of C.G. mm

Fcyl_max = 12500N

Lmin=440mm Lmax=2184mm
Fig-7

General observations on the various configurations studied :

Trial
no
1

Description
Cylinder below the load
body, cylinder anchor
point on chassis middle.
Cylinder fixed very close
to hinge pin, on the
chassis
Cylinder fixed away from
the hinge pin,on the
chassis.
Cylinder fixed very close
to the hinge pin,on the
chassis.
Cylinder fitted at the front
end, on the chassis.

Advantages
Cylinder can be
accommodated below the
body during normal position.
Compact cylinder ; easier
adaptation.
Cylinder can be
accommodated below the
body during normal position.
Very compact and space
saving adaptation possible.
Very low force required. Hinge
forces well balanced.

Drawbacks
Kinematically not feasible. Lmin <
(Lmax-Lmin).
Very high cylinder force. Higher
pressure / bigger bore diameter
required.
Cylinder with Longer stroke
required.
Very high cylinder and hinge
forces. Higher pressure / bigger
bore diameter required.
Kinematically not feasible. Lmin <
(Lmax-Lmin).Cylinder with special
designs (telescopic) may be
required.

Discussion :
It may be noted from the tabulated values that trial-1 and trial-3 ,where the cylinder is
similarly positioned with respect to C.G. and hinge pin, and the end connections are
similar, the variation of cylinder length and cylinder force are also similar. In the same
way, results of trials-2 and trial- 4 indicate similar behaviour. Trial-5 shows a totally
different behaviour due to the extreme positioning of the cylinder.
Close look at the parameter values and the results obtained indicate a need to make
many iterations with several combinations of the values, to obtain a satisfactory result.
It is evident that, unless a very meticulously planned iteration scheme is employed, the
effort required to obtain desired result is enormous.
Some planning can be done. For example, making a preliminary decision about the
maximum length of the cylinder, minimum and maximum cylinder forces, and the
maximum force the hinge pin can sustain will help to evaluate the results quickly.Fig-8,
fig-9a and fig-9b

Resultant Reaction on
Hinge pin vs Height of C.G.

120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0

200000

Force ,N

Force ,N

Resultant Reaction on
Hinge pin vs Height of C.G.

150000
100000

50000
0

500

1000

Height of C.G. mm

1500

500

1000

1500

Height of C.G. mm

Trial-2
Trial-4
Hinge pin force variation
Fig-9a
Fig-9b

Planning the target values

Fig-8

Conclusion :
1. In a Tipper, dumping of material requires moving the material filled load body from
one position to another position, and hydraulic cylinders are commonly employed for
the same.
2. The main objectives while selecting hydraulic cylinders for a tipper application are :
a) Keeping the maximum length of the hydraulic cylinder as short as possible, and, b)
Keeping the forces- cylinder force and pin force- as low as possible
3. As a first step in the selection process, a range of feasible cylinder lengths fulfilling
minimum functional requirement are determined by kinematic analysis, by iterating
with combinations of different cylinder configurations and design parameters.
4. In the next step evaluation of cylinder force required to move the fully laden load
body is done by static analysis. Iterations are then carried out by changing design
parameter values and cylinder lengths within the range of feasible solutions, and
lowest possible value of cylinder force and hinge pin force are determined.
5. After sufficient number of feasible combinations are generated and evaluated, final
selection can be made on techno-commercial considerations.
6. A systematic study by looking at the trend chart of objective functions helps to reduce
the number of iterations.