CHAPTER - 12

EQUIPMENT
PRODUCTIVITY
 LASER BASED MACHINE
CONTROL

The Need:
 Construction equipment using laser
control technology can achieve higher
levels of productivity
Grader with Topcon 30-MC Computer and Total-Station

Receiver
 THE TECHNOLOGY
 New systems use three modules to control the piece
of equipment:
 survey that upload in a total station using a computer
notebook.
 A receiver mounted on the blade of the equipment,
intercepts the laser beam.
 The interface between the positioning information and the
actual steering of the equipment is performed through the
use of a control system device which converts the digital
data into machine hydraulic pulses.
 The main benefit of these systems is the gain of
productivity. The laser devices can triple the
productivity of equipment on highway projects
 PRODUCTIVITY CONCEPTS
 The cycle of equipment pieces is the sequence of tasks
which is repeated to produce a unit of output (e.g., a cubic
yard, a trip load, etc.)
 There are two characteristics of the machine and the cycle
that dictate the rate of output; the cycle capacity of the
machine and the cycle rate or speed of the machine
 A hauler such as a scraper pan, usually has a rated
capacity. “Struck” vs. “Heaped” capacity. The bowl of the
scraper can be filled level (struck) yielding one capacity or
can be filled above the top to a heaped capacity
 The material has a different weight-to-volume ratio when it
is placed in its construction location (e.g., a road fill) and is
compacted to its final density
 This leads to three types of measurement; 1) bank cubic
yards ( in situ vol ), 2) loose cu. yd. and 3) compacted cu.
yd.
 PRODUCTIVITY CONCEPTS
(continued)
 Payment based on the placed earth construction so
that the “pay” unit is final compacted cu. yd. (see fig.
12-1)
 See pg. 186 equations to calculate percent swell and
the load factor
 Percent swell for fig. 12-1 is 30%
 Table 12-1 gives the load factor for various materials
 Higher the load factor, the smaller tendency to “bulk-
up”
 Therefore, with a high load factor, the loose volume
and the in situ vol tend to be closer to one another
 See pg. 187
Figure 12-1 Volume Relationships
Table 12-2 Typical Rolling
Resistance Factors
 CYCLE TIME and POWER
REQUIREMENTS
 The second factor affecting the rate of output of a machine
or machine combination is the time required to complete a
cycle
 This is a function of the 3 items; 1) the power required 2)
the power available and 3) the usable portion of the power
available
 The power required is related to the rolling resistance (RR)
inherent in the machine due to internal friction and the
friction developed between the wheels or tracks and the
related surface
 The power required is also a function of the grade
resistance
 Rolling resistance in tracked vehicles is zero since tracks
act as its own roadbed
 CYCLE TIME and POWER
REQUIREMENTS (continued)
 See table 12-2 for rolling resistance in lbs./ton of weight
 Rule of thumb, RR is 40lbs/ton plus 30lbs/ton for each
penetration of the surface under wheeled traffic
 If the deflection is 2 in. and wt. on wheels of a hauler is 70
tons, then RR is :
 RR= [40 +2 (30)]lb/ton x 70 tons = 7000 lbs

 The second factor involved in calculating power required is

the grade resistance (GR) see fig 12-3. In most cases slopes
(both uphill and downhill) will be encountered and lead to
higher or lower power requirements
 Fig 12-4; for the haul road profile with RR and % grade see
table 12-3, which gives the power required for each section
 Figure 12-2 Factors Influencing Rolling
Resistance

Figure 12-3 Grade Resistance

a) Negative (resting) Force
b) Positive (aiding) Force

Figure 12-4 Typical Haul Road Profile

Table 12-3 Calculations for
Haul Road Sections
 POWER AVAILABLE
 The power available is controlled by the engine size of
the equipment and the drive train, which allows transfer
of power to the driving wheels or power take-off point
 The amount of power transferred is a function of the
gear being used
 Most automobile drivers realize that lower gears transfer
more power to overcome hills and rough surfaces
 Lower gears sacrifice speed in order to provide more
power
 Higher gears deliver less power, but allow higher speed
 See table 12-4 for the power available in each gear
 See fig 12-5, nomograph, to determine power available
in graphical form
 POWER AVAILABLE
(continued)
 For tracked vehicles, the power available is quoted in drawbar
pull. This is the force that can be delivered at the pulling point
(i.e. pulling hitch) in a given gear for a given tractor type
 The power available for a wheeled vehicle is stated in pounds
of rimpull. This is the force that can be developed by the
wheels at its point of contact with the road surface
 Manufacturers also provide rated power and maximum power
 Rated power is the level of power that is developed in a given
gear under normal load and over extended work periods
 The maximum power is the peak power that can be
developed for a short period of time, e.g. a bulldozer is used
to pull a truck out of a ditch, a quick surge of power is used to
dislodge the truck
 Most calculations are done using rated power
 See example on pg 191, fig 12-5 and fig 12-6
Table 12-4 Speed and Draw Pull
(270 hp) (Track type tractor

)
Fig. 12-5 Gear Requirements Chart-35
Ton off Highway Truck
Fig. 12-6 Travel time (a) empty and (b) loaded
 USABLE POWER
 To this point, it has been assumed that all of the available
power is usable and can be developed
 Two main constraints in using the available power are the road
surface traction characteristics (for wheeled vehicles) and the
attitudes are which the operations are conducted
 Tires of a car spin on a wet or slippery pavement. Although,
engine and gears are delivering a certain horsepower, no
traction to develop power into the ground
 Combustion engines operating at high altitudes experience a
reduction in oxygen, which leads to reduce power
 First, is a problem with traction. The factors that influence the
usable power are the coefficient of traction and the vehicle
weight
 The coefficient of traction is a measure of the ability of a
surface to receive and develop the power being delivered to
the driving wheels and has been determined by experiment.
See table 12-5
USABLE POWER (continued)
 Power that can be developed = coefficient of traction X
weight on drivers
 In the consideration of RR and GR, the entire weight
was used in calculating usable power only the weight on
the driving wheels is used
 See fig 12-7 for determination of driver weights
 Illustration of usable power, see the example on pg. 194
& 195
 The altitude is also a problem with respect to usable
power. Bogota, Columbia (elevation 8600ft) can’t
develop the same power as one operating in Atlanta,
Georgia (elevation 1080ft)
 A rule of thumb to correct this effect is to decrease
pounds pulled 3% for each 1000ft above 3000ft
Table 12-5 Coefficients of
Traction
Figure 12-7 Determination of
Driver Eeights
 EQUIPMENT BALANCE
 In situations where two types of equipment work together to
accomplish a task, it is important that a balance in the
productivity of the units be achieved
 This is desirable so that one unit is not continually idle waiting
for other unit to “catch up”
 Consider the problem of balancing productivity within the
context of a push dozer loading a tractor scraper. A simple
model of this process is shown in fig 12-9
 The circles represent delay in waiting states, while square
designated active work activities with associated times can be
estimated
 The haul unit is a 30 cu. yd. scraper and is loaded in the cut
area with the aid of a 385-hp pusher dozer. The system
consists of two interacting cycles. See example pg. 197-200
 Fig. 12-9 Scraper-pusher dual cycle
model

Fig. 12-8 Impact of usable power

constraints
Figure 12-10 Travel Time
Nomographs
Fig. 12-11 Scraper-pusher cycle timing

Fig. 12-12 Productivity Plot

 RANDOM WORK TASK
DURATIONS
 In systems where the randomness of cycle times is
considered, system productivity is reduced further
 The influence of random durations on the
movement of resources causes various units to
become bunched together and thus to arrive at and
overload work tasks
 Results delay impact the productivity of cycles by
increasing the time that resource units spend idle
states pending release to productive work tasks
 Fig. 12-13 indicates the influence of random
durations on the scraper fleet production
 RANDOM WORK TASK
DURATIONS (continued)
 The curved line of fig. 12-13 slightly below the linear
plot of production based on deterministic work task
times shows the reduction caused by the addition of
random variations of cycle
 This randomness leads to bunching of haulers on their
cycle
 Fig. 12-14a, haul units are exactly 1.35 min apart
 In systems that include the effect of random variations
of cycle times, “bunching” occurs on the haul cycle as
seen in fig. 12-14b.
 The bunching effect is most determined to the
production