Resistance of particulate media to excavation: Application to bucket loading

ABSTRACT In excavation of particulate media the resistive force for cutting through, or digging, must be overcome by the cutting tool. A knowledge about this force is essential for designing the cutting tools and the excavating machinery. Such a knowledge becomes quite important, also, for automating the operation of these machines, which has recently gained a great deal of interest among construction and mining industries. It may be used for feedback purposes in order to monitor and adjust the motion of the excavating tool. In this article the excavation force on a loader bucket during loading is considered. After a preliminary analysis of the various components of this force, its variation in the course of a desired motion of the bucket is determined and is graphically illustrated.