International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Development

Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijeted/ijeted_index.htm

Issue 4, Vol.3 (May 2014)

ISSN 2249-6149

A Study of Failures in Excavator Arm

Prof. Megha S. Londhekar#1, Prof. Sachin B. Bende#2
#1 Asst. Professor, JCOET, Yavatmal, 9766936711.
#2 Asst. Professor, IBSS COE, Amravati, 8793480644.

ABSTRACT:
The aim of this work is to study the mechanism of Excavator arm in order to find out
failures occurring in the different components of the Excavator arm. For this purpose various
configurations of the Excavator are taken into account. Different types of Excavators are studied
and the various Excavator attachments are also studied. Basically there are three main parts of
the Excavator arm and they are boom, arm and the bucket. These parts of the Excavator arm are
subjected to various forces during the operations. Lifting and digging are the two major
operations performed by the Excavator arm. Failure occurs frequently while performing these
two operations, since various stresses are developed in the Excavator arm. These stresses are
mainly due to the forces acting during lifting and digging operations and also due to the
gravitational force acting on the boom, bucket and maximum on the arm. Failure involves
cracking of boom, failure in adaptor and dislocation at the bucket end due to the play in pin joint
which is mainly because of digging force. In order to suggest the solution to these problems
existing in the Excavator arm, it is necessary to do complete study of the Excavator and failures
occurring in it.
Key words: Excavator arm, lifting, digging, failure, stress.

Corresponding Author: Prof. Megha S. Londhekar

INTRODUCTION
An excavator is heavy equipment consisting of an articulated arm (backhoe),
bucket and cab mounted on a pivot (a rotating platform, like a Lazy Susan) a top and
undercarriage with tracks or wheels. Their design is a natural progression from the steam shovel.
Excavators are intended for excavating rocks and soils. Excavators may have a mechanical or
hydraulic drive. Hydraulic excavators are the most important group of excavators. A typical
hydraulic backhoe excavator linkages is shown in fig.1.

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International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Development

Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijeted/ijeted_index.htm

Issue 4, Vol.3 (May 2014)

ISSN 2249-6149

Fig 1: A typical hydraulic backhoe excavator

CONFIGURATIONS
Excavators come in a wide variety of sizes. The smaller ones are called a miniexcavator or compact excavator. One manufacturer's largest model weighs 84,980 kg (187,360
lb) and has a maximum bucket size of 4.5 m (5.9 yd). The same manufacturer's smallest miniexcavator weighs 1470 kg (3240 lb), has a maximum bucket size of 0.036 m (0.048 yd) and the
width of its tracks can be adjusted to 89 cm (35 inches). Another company makes a mini
excavator that will fit through a doorway with tracks that can be adjusted to only 70 cm (28
inches) wide.
To identify the basic pieces, the cab attaches by way of a pin to the deck which
holds the final drives which have a gear that drives the tracks. The Boom attaches to the cab by
way of a large pin. Attached to the Boom is the Stick. Attached to the stick is the bucket and
optionally, the thumb. Usually 2 large hydraulic cylinders lift the boom. Some booms have a
swivel capability so the boom can swing independent of the cab. The stick provides the reach
along with the boom. Usually a model of excavator has optional lengths of stick that enhance
either reach (longer stick) or break-out power (shorter stick). Bucket sizes and configurations are
used for varying purposes. A wide "clean-up" bucket is used in situations where too much dig
force would make the surfaces uneven. It "cleans-up" a site smoothing and filling the ground. A
"dig bucket" is much smaller and usually has teeth to break into the ground. Buckets have
numerous shapes and sizes for various applications. "V-shaped" buckets can penetrate frozen
ground.

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Issue 4, Vol.3 (May 2014)

ISSN 2249-6149

EXCAVATOR ATTACHMENTS
In recent years, hydraulic excavator capabilities have expanded far
beyond excavation tasks with buckets. With the advent of hydraulic powered attachments such as
a breaker, a grapple or an auger, the excavator is frequently used in many applications other than
excavation. Many excavators feature quick-attach mounting systems for simplified attachment
mounting, increasing the machine's utilization on the jobsite. Excavators are usually employed
together with loaders and bulldozers. Most wheeled versions, and smaller, compact excavators
have a small backfill (or dozer-) blade. This is a horizontal bulldozer-like blade attached to the
undercarriage and is used for pushing removed material back into a hole. Prior to the 1990s, all
excavators had a hang over, or "conventional" counterweight that hung off the rear of the
machine to provide more digging force and lifting capacity. This became a nuisance in tight turn
areas - the machine could not swing the second half of its cycle due to restricted turn radius. In
the early 1990s The Komatsu Engineering Company launched a new concept excavator line that
did away with the "conventional" counterweight design, and so started building the world's first
tight tail swing excavators (PC128.PC138,PC228,PC308). These machines are now widely used
though out the world.
TYPES OF EXCAVATOR
[1] Compact Excavator
A compact hydraulic excavator or mini excavator is a tracked or wheeled
vehicle with an approximate operating weight from 0.7 to 7.5 tonnes. It generally includes a
standard backfill blade and features independent boom swing. The compact hydraulic excavator
is also referred to as a mini excavator.

Fig 2: Compact Excavator

The compact hydraulic excavator is somewhat different from other
construction equipment in that all movement and functions of the machine are accomplished
through the transfer of hydraulic fluid. The compact excavator's work group and blade are
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International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Development

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ISSN 2249-6149

activated by hydraulic fluid acting upon hydraulic cylinders. The excavator's slew (rotation) and
travel functions are also activated by hydraulic fluid powering hydraulic motors.
[2] Dragline Excavator
Dragline excavation systems are heavy equipment used in civil engineering and
surface mining. In civil engineering the smaller types are used for road and port construction.
The larger types are used in strip-mining operations to move overburden above coal, and for tarsand mining. Draglines are amongst the largest mobile equipment (not water-borne), and weigh
in the vicinity of 2000 metric tonnes, though specimens weighing up to 13,000 metric tonnes
have also been constructed.

Fig 3: Dragline Excavator

A dragline bucket system consists of a large bucket which is suspended from a
boom (a large truss-like structure) with wire ropes. The bucket is monired by means of a number
of ropes and chains. The hoist rope, powered by large diesel or electric motors, supports the
bucket and hoist-coupler assembly from the boom. The dragrope is used to draw the bucket
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International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Development

Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijeted/ijeted_index.htm

Issue 4, Vol.3 (May 2014)

ISSN 2249-6149

assembly horizontally. By skillful manoeuvre of the hoist and the dragropes the bucket is
controlled for various operations. A schematic view of a large dragline bucket system is shown
in the above diagram.
[3] Long reach Excavator
The long reach excavator or high reach excavator is a development of the
excavator with an especially long boom arm, that is primarily used for demolition. Instead of
excavating ditches, the long reach excavator is designed to reach the upper stories of buildings
that are being demolished and pull down the structure in a controlled fashion. Today it has
largely replaced the wrecking ball as the primary tool for demolition.

Fig 4: Long reach Excavator

[4] Suction Excavator
A suction excavator or vacuum excavator is a construction vehicle that removes
earth from a hole on land, or removes heavy debris on land, from various places, by powerful
suction through a wide suction pipe which is up to a foot or so diameter. The suction inlet air
speed may be up to 100 meters/second = over 200 mph.
The suction nozzle may have two handles for a man to hold it by; those handles
may be on a collar which can be rotated to uncover suction-release openings (with grilles over)
to release the suction to make the suction nozzle drop anything which it has picked up and is too
big to go up the tube. The end of the tube may be toothed. This helps to cut earth when use for
excavating; but when it is used to suck up loose debris and litter, some types of debris items may
snag on the teeth.
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Issue 4, Vol.3 (May 2014)

ISSN 2249-6149

The earth to be sucked out may be loosened first with a compressed-air lance, or
a powerful water jet. Its construction is somewhat like a gully emptier but with a wider suction
hose and a more powerful suction. Excavating with a suction excavator may called "vacuum
excavation", or "hydro excavation" if a water jet is used.

Fig 5: Suction Excavator

FAILURES
The Excavator arm or boom is subjected to torsional and bending loads imposed by
lifting and digging respectively. Because of this stress concentration is more at the bucket end of
the arm. Failure occurs frequently because of torsional and bending stresses. At the bucket end,
there is a play in the pin joint and so dislocation occurs.

Fig 6: Play in pin joint

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International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Development

Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijeted/ijeted_index.htm

Issue 4, Vol.3 (May 2014)

ISSN 2249-6149

Cracks occur in the welding between adaptor and bucket surface which leads to the
failure.

Fig 7: Cracks in the bucket

Fig 8: Adaptor and teeth of bucket

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International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Development

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Issue 4, Vol.3 (May 2014)

ISSN 2249-6149

CONCLUSION
The paper investigates a detailed study of Excavator arm for finding out the
different failures occurring in it. The detail study includes the study of various configurations of
Excavators, different Excavator attachments and the various types of the Excavator. The
complete mechanism of the various types of Excavator arms are studied and it is found that
critical failures are occurring at some parts of the Excavator arm. Failures include dislocation at
the arm-bucket joint due to the play in the pin joint, cracks are being developed and propagated
at the bucket end due to the digging force exerting on it. Also, sometimes the boom of the
Excavator arm get cracked. So, in order to eliminate this failures it is found that the complete
Excavator arm must be redesigned considering the various factors such as material, geometric
shape and size.
REFERENCES
[1] Grathof, H., Design (Constructional Characteristics) of Large Bucket Wheel Excavators,
Journal of Mines, Metals, and Fuels, 34(4), 204-213.
[2] R. Paoluzz, G. Rigamonti and L. G. Zarotti, Simulation studies of vehicle transmission
interactions, Journal of Terramechanics, 1996, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 143-153.
[3] Shahram Tafazoli, Peter D. Lawrence, and S. E. Salcudean, Identification of Inertial and
Friction Parameters for Excavator Arms, IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation,
Vol.15, No.5, October 1999.
[4] Yahya H. Zweiri, Lakmal D. Seneviratne and Kaspar Althoefer, A Generalized Newton
Method for Identification of Closed-chain Excavator Arm Parameters, Proceedings of the 2003
IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation Taipei, Taiwan, September 14-19,
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[5] Chang Lv and Zhang Jihong, Excavating force analysis and calculation of dipper handle,
IEEE 2011.
[6] A textbook of Theory of Mechanisms and Machines by Amitabha Ghosh.
[7] www.volvo.ac.in

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