Simulation Study of a Mobile Machine With Special Reference to Energy Efficiency

Computer simulation is a powerful and generally accepted practice to carry out research in the area of fluid power. This is especially true with heavy machinery. Production series are relatively small and unit prices are high. Due to this prototypes are rarely available for machine designers and researchers. There are also a lot of variables to be measured. This means that field measurements are difficult to arrange and also very costly. It gets even more time consuming if several machine configurations, mechanic or hydraulic, are to be tested. Environmental circumstances typically cause delays, too. Based on these facts simulation study can be very beneficial by technical and economical means. As an example a forest machine is discussed. Software implementation of the simulation model is presented. The simulation model is utilized to study the energy efficiency of the machine while undergoing a work cycle. Different hydraulic configurations are tested by means of the simulation model. The results are shown for qualitative comparison and decision-making.