22nd DANUBIA-ADRIA Symposium

on Experimental Methods in Solid Mechanics

September 28 - October 1, 2005

MONTICELLI TERME / PARMA - ITALY

SOME ASPECTS OF BUCKET WHEEL EXCAVATOR MODAL

FREQUENCIES IDENTIFICATION
Eugeniusz Rusiński, Tadeusz Smolnicki, Grzegorz Przybylek
Wroclaw University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
ul. Lukasiewicza 7/9, 50-371 Wroclaw, Poland, tadeusz.smolnicki@pwr.wroc.pl

Introduction Fine-tuning of model

The main difficulty in applying modal analysis to The fine-tuning of the model consists in the selection
highly complex mechanical objects is the discrepancy of model features which ensure agreement with the
between the model and the real object. In the case of results of random experiments (fig. 1). Changes are
simple objects, eigenvalue modes and the introduced into the model by taking the geometric
corresponding modal frequencies can be determined model imperfections into account, changing the
with a very high accuracy. The more complex an object material and damping parameters and introducing
is (its interactions with the environment being subject additional mass and elastic elements or dampers to
to flexibilities and damping which are hard to obtain agreement with measurement results at a
determine), the more the numerical simulation results required tolerance. The procedure is iterative.
diverge from the results obtained from measurements
performed on the real object [5]. In the case of a
harmonic analysis or a time history, the divergence can
be wide [4]. To avoid this, one must fine-tune the
numerical model on the basis of experimental data [1].
The determination of bucket wheel excavator modal
frequencies and the results of a harmonic analysis are
presented below.

Error factors
The modal frequencies and eigenvalue modes of an
object are affected by three factors [4]: mass
distribution, stiffness distribution and damping. Mass
distribution in the FEM model is defined as mass
matrix [M] which, in turn, is defined on the basis of the
system’s geometry and the arrangement of the
concentrated masses of compact elements. The mass Fig. 1. Fine-tuning of computational model.
matrix’s error is relatively low. The stiffness
distribution in the model is described by stiffness Investigated object
matrix [K]. Stiffness is not only affected by geometry In order to retrofit an SchRs 4600.30 excavator (fig. 2)
but also by material properties. Errors arise here mainly a harmonic analysis had to be carried out to determine
from taking into account stiffness in friction pairs, the the level of vibration for a new drive having a different
stiffness of elements with a non-linear characteristic excitation characteristic [2].
(e.g. rigging) and the stiffness of the environment.
Damping in complex mechanical objects is
complicated due to the simultaneous occurrence of
material damping and structural damping.
Consequently, it is hard to define and is a source of the
largest errors in the determination of modal frequencies
[3]. Damping matrix [C] is usually defined for
Rayleigh damping as a linear combination of a stiffness
matrix and an mass matrix or as modal damping
(relative to critical damping) assuming a constant value
for all the modes (in most FEM computing packages)
or introduced into each mode separately (ABAQUS, Fig. 2. Excavator SchRs 4600.30.
COSMOS/M, etc.).
A discrete model (fig. 3) for FEM strength The model was fine-tuned by changing rigging and
computations was made and had to be fine-tuned to the base stiffness and damping values. The results for
real object. selected frequencies are shown in table 1.

Experimental studies
Experimental studies were carried out. Accelerations at
three selected points in the machine were measured
(fig. 4). Seismic gauges for registering long-duration
accelerations with small amplitudes were used.

Fig. 6. Vibration energy density versus frequency.

Table. 1. Measured and FEM frequencies before and

after fine-tuning.
Mode FEM modal Measured FEM modal
frequency modal frequency ∆f
before fine- frequency after fine- [Hz]
tuning fexp tuning
Fig. 3. Discrete model of excavator. f [Hz] f
[Hz] [Hz]
The gauges were fitted into a measuring block to II. 0.481 0.389 0.403 0.0141
ensure the orthogonality of the particular measuring III. 0.576 0.572 0.575 0.0024
channels. The measuring range was ±30m/s2. The VI. 1.536 1.339 1.327 0.0119
sampling frequency was 1500Hz. A 16-channel TEAC
recorder and a PC were used to record the Conclusion
accelerations. By fine-tuning the model to the selected real object
features good agreement between the experimental
results and the numerical results was obtained. Fine-
tuning ensures proper reliability of the results obtained
from dynamic analyses of complex objects.

References
[1] Dascotte E.: Practical Applications of Finite
Element Model Tuning using Experimental Modal
Data, Sound and Vibration Magazine, June 1991,
Revised 2000
[2] Durst W., Vogt W.: Bucket wheel excavator.
Trans Tech Publications 1986
Fig. 4. Arrangement of measuring points. [3] Reix C., Tombini C., Gerard A., Strobbe J.,
Dascotte E., Updating the Damping Matrix using
Low-pass filtration at level L=10Hz was carried out. A Frequency Response Data, Proceedings of the 14th
typical trace after low-pass filtration is shown in fig. 5. International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC),
February 1996, Dearborn, Michigan.
[4] Rusinski E.: Application of microcomputers to
strength calculations of off-road vehicle and earth-
moving machine load-carrying structures (in
Polish), WKiL, Warsaw, 1990.
[5] Rusinski E., Czmochowski J., Smolnicki T.:
Advanced finite element method for load-bearing
structures (in Polish), Wrocław University of
Technology Publishing House, Wroclaw, 2000.
[6] Zienkiewicz O.C., Taylor R.L.: The finite element
method. Vol. 1, Vol. 2. McGraw-Hill Bool
Fig. 5. Exemplary acceleration trace after low-pass Company, London 1991
filtration. [7] I-DEAS Master Series, Mechanical
CAE/CAD/CAM Software, Structural Dynamics
Fourier analysis was applied to the traces in order to Research Corporation, 2000 Eastman Dr., Milford,
obtain the investigated object’s frequency OH 45150
characteristics. The energy density-frequency plots are
shown in fig. 6.