[2] Literature Review:

There are four major area of work say kinematics, dynamics, soil-tool interaction and FEA and
optimization on which the literature review carried out for development of kinematic model,
dynamic model, utilization of soil-tool interaction model for resistive force calculations, FEA
for strength based design and to develop optimized design of backhoe excavator attachment.

2.1 Literature Review on Kinematics of backhoe excavator attachment:

An excavator is a typical hydraulic heavy-duty human-operated machine used in general

versatile construction operations, such as digging, ground levelling, carrying loads, dumping
loads and straight traction. these operations require coordinated movement of boom, arm and
bucket in order to control the bucket tip position to follow a desired trajectory. The basic
problem in the study of mechanical link mechanism is of computing the position and orientation
of bucket of the backhoe attachment when the joint angles are known, which is referred to as
forward kinematics. The inverse kinematics problem is, thus to calculate all possible sets of joint
angles, which could be used to attain a given position and orientation of the bucket tip of the
backhoe attachment. The problem of link mechanism control requires both the direct and inverse
kinematic models of the backhoe attachment of the excavator, R. K. Mittal, I. J. Nagtath (2008).
The kinematic modelling helpful to follow the defined trajectory as well as digging operation
can be carried out successfully at required location of the terrain using proper positioning and
orientation of the bucket and ultimately digging task can be automated. There are many
researchers have carried out their research work in the field of kinematic modelling of the
backhoe attachment to understand relations between the position and orientation of the bucket
and spatial positions of joint-links as well as helpful to understand and improving the operating
performance of the backhoe excavator attachment.

P. K. Vaha and M. J. Skibniewski (1993), have described the kinematics of the excavator with
the coordinate frame. To describe the position of the points on the mechanism of an excavator,
coordinate systems are first defined. A fixed Cartesian coordinate system is assigned to the
body of the excavator. The local coordinate frames are assigned to each link of the
mechanism. A systematic method to define the local coordinate systems for the serially
connected links (upper structure, boom, arm, and bucket) of the excavator is accomplished by
applying the Denavit and Hartenberg procedure. The kinematic model of an excavator
presented here provides a useful computational platform for investigating the machine
behaviour of a typical excavator. In particular, the model can serve as a basis for
computer simulation of excavator behaviour during the motion. Moreover, it is useful in
designing a controller to make the excavator motion track a specified path for a given
digging task.

M. Bodur, H. Zontul, A. Ersak, A. J. Koivo, H. O. Yurtseven, E. Kocaozlan, and G.

Pqamehmetolu (1994), have control the cognitive force for the automation of the land
excavation is developed to include the kinematics of the excavator arm. During digging at a
certain point on the excavation trajectory, both the crawler and the rotational super-structure
bodies are stationary, and thus the kinematic model is reduced to 3 degree of freedom. The
cognitive force control prevents excessive ram-forces by converting the control of the ram-
forces into the modification of the digging trajectory, which is getting by kinematic model.
5
A. J. Koivo (1994), presented the kinematics of specific construction machines as excavators
(backhoes and loaders). A systematic procedure is presented to assign Cartesian coordinate
frames for the links (joints) of an excavator. If the lengths of the actuators or the joint
variable angles are given, the position and orientation (pose) of the bucket are
determined by the forward kinematic equations. If the position and orientation of the
bucket are specified, the joint variable angles corresponding to this bucket pose and the
lengths of the actuators are calculated from the backward (inverse) kinematic equations.
The corresponding velocity relations are derived for the hydraulically driven excavator
(backhoe and loader). The kinematic equations presented establish the foundation for
automatic computer control of this type of construction machine.

David A Bradley and Derek W Seward (1995) the LUCIE system has demonstrated a number
of novel concepts in its approach to automated and robotic excavation and in particular features
such as the use of velocity vector control and software force feedback to control the motion of
the bucket through ground. The equations for angular velocities of each joint were developed.
This structure is implemented in real-time using a production rule based AI format. They have
control the movement of the excavator or LUCIE through ground by implementation of a real-
time artificial intelligence based control system utilising a novel form of motion control strategy.

C.F. Hofstra, A. J. M. van Hemmen, S. A. Miedema and J. van Hulsteyn (1999) described the
kinematics of the backhoe of Komatsu H245S with a 12 m boom and a 8.5 m stick. This
kinematics of backhoe utilized by them for the development of dynamic model. They have
determined the relation between the machine orientation and the desired trajectory. In order to
do this effectively while describing the position and orientation of the bucket the Denavit-
Hartenberg (DH) approach based on homogenous co-ordinates is utilised.

S.S. Rao and P.K. Bhatti (2001), have developed a probabilistic model of the manipulator
kinematics to account for the random errors in the kinematic parameters in 2001. Based on the
probabilistic model, kinematic performance criteria are defined to provide measures of the
behaviour of the robotic end-effectors. Gaussian distributions are assumed for the various
manipulator parameters, and the joint efforts are modelled as Markov stochastic processes.
Indices called kinematic reliabilities are proposed as measures to assess the performance of a
manipulator. The analytical approach is computationally more involved and the simulation
technique is numerically more convenient to compute the performance measures of a
manipulator.

Hsin-Sheng Lee, Shinn-Liang Chang and Kuo-Huang Lin (2002), a CAD/CAE/CAM and
remote control integrated system for a pneumatic excavator mechanism was developed. The
vector loop method and Visual C++ language were used to build the position analysis module.
The velocity of the links could be obtained easily by differentiating the position equation with
respect to time. Link accelerations were then obtained by differentiating the velocity equation.
The position analysis determines the working space of the excavator loader and helps the
designer to choose the proper length and link configuration.

Fuad Mrad, M. Asem Abdul-Malak, Salah Sadek, and Ziad Khudr (2002), have developed
simulation package using Matlab with several embedded design and analysis tools. Emulation
was also carried out on the RHINO educational robot to confirm the simulation results. The
6
constructed simulation package offered an integrated environment for trajectory design and
analysis for an excavator while addressing the constraints related to the excavator structure,
safety and stability, and mode of application.

Donald Margolis, and Taehyun Shim (2003), a complete pitch/plane model of a backhoe was
developed that includes the hydraulic dynamics and kinematics of the control linkage. The
developed model is based on Bond graphs, which are a concise pictorial representation of the
interactive dynamics of all types of energetic systems. The model predicts the instability
observed on the actual backhoe, and is now ready to be used as a design tool for future backhoe
development.

Emil Assenov, E. Bosilkov, Radoslav Dimitrov, Tzvetan Damianov (2003) have carried out
study on kinematics of working mechanism of hydraulic excavator. The mechanism of this
manipulator is plane multilinkage, which consists of arms joined and hydraulic cylinders. They
have considered the working mechanism as conjunction of jib, arm and bucket, which are joined
by the cylindrical joints and hydraulic cylinders. The equation for the length of the cylinder is
derived. Simulation of such a mechanism is made by using Lagrange equation of the first type
with unknown multipliers. The results can be used for creation of a control system of the
working process of the hydraulic excavator.

Boris Vidolov and Svetoslav Genchev (2005) have developed two heuristic approaches for
inverse kinematics of a real 12 MXT MECALAC redundant excavator. They have presented a
priority approach and alternating approach. In simulation, the method gives a very smooth
overall motion. They have developed a simulator in order to test and validate their
developments. This is generic tool that allow us: to simulate different kinematics and dynamic
models (differential equations systems), to evaluate various control algorithms, to observe the
behaviour of the different body, actuators, tools of the studied arms, to quantify the capacities of
developed approaches to follow specified trajectories.

Daqing Zhang, Qinghua He, Peng Hao and HaiTao Zhang (2005) have derived the full
kinematic model of the excavator arm, regarded as a planar manipulator with three degrees
(boom, dipper and bucket) of freedom, to find a feasible way to control excavator‟s arm and
realize autonomous excavation. The exponential product formula based on screw theory is used
to develop the kinematic model of manipulator to get the desired trajectory. The experimental
result exhibits good tracking performance for boom cylinder under the controller developed. The
peak error is less than 4 degrees.

A.S. Hall and P. R. McAree (2005) have studied on the excavation arm of a large hydraulic
mining shovel having a multi-loop kinematic form. They have described an iterative algorithm
that allows the position of the bucket to be tracked from measurements of the linear actuator
extensions. The important characteristic of this algorithm is that it is numerically well-behaved
when the linkage is close to singular configuration. They have also carried out forward
kinematic tracking using a multi-dimensional Newton–Raphson solver which is helpful to
determining the time-varying trajectory from measure ments of the cylinder lengths.

F. Geu Flores, A. Kecskemethy and A. Pottker (2007) have described a method based on the
concept of “kinematical transformers” for finding closed-form solutions for the kinematics of

7
Terex face-shovel excavator RH-340. The work space of an excavator is carried out for a
practical face-shovel excavator using the designed software.

Hyongju Park, Sanghak Lee, Baeksuk Chu and Daehie Hong (2008), the recurrent neural
network was implemented for better kinematics control of the excavator with obstacle avoidance
capability. A recurrent neural network algorithm and joint constraints was conducted to
effectively accomplish the goals of excavation task execution, joint limit control, and obstacle
avoidance at the same time. The forward kinematics model of the excavator was established.
With additional bound constraints, excavator model can perform its job without any problem,
such as malfunctioning, sudden stop and etc. Simulation results show that the position error was
reasonably small, on the assumption that excavator model has only one available redundancy.

Michael G. Lipsett (2009) have described a simple framework for assessing different shovel
designs, including kinematic performance of face shovels for surface mining excavation.
Key design considerations for an excavating shovel to meet the performance and reliability
specifications are based primarily on kinematics. The Terex O&K RH 400 is analyzed as a case
study; reachable workspace, mobility during digging and achievable cutting forces are
presented with some simplifying assumptions for the dynamics of the machine. Methods for
determining the parameters of the models are discussed. Forward kinematics yields the
location and orientation of the bucket lip, given the three joint displacements.

Dongnam Kim, Kyeong Won Oh, Daehie Hong, Yoon Ki Kim and Suk-Hie Hong (2009) a
novel concept of applying tele-operated device was developed for the remote control of
excavator-like dismantling equipment. As a tele-operated system, this controller is designed to
improve the operability of the excavator. They have developed all the necessary kinematic
analysis to design the tele-operated system and basic motion control simulations to the real
excavator working at construction site are conducted with designed tele-operated system. This
device is designed based on the kinematics of the excavator, which can cover 3-dimensional
workspace.

Hongnian Yu, Yang Liu and Mohammad Shahidul Hasan (2010) have described modelling of
excavator to carry out the kinematic which give the trajectory of the excavator bucket based on
the trajectory of the excavator arm joints and the inverse kinematics which give the desired joint
variables corresponding to the desired bucket trajectory. They have utilized three control
approaches: adaptive control, robust control and iterative learning control which have been
developed on the fully actuated robot manipulator.

2.2 Literature Review on Dynamics of backhoe excavator attachment:

Due to severe working conditions, excavator parts are subjected to high loads. The excavator
mechanism must work reliably under unpredictable working conditions. The excavation task is
in cyclic nature. Poor strength properties of excavator parts like boom, arm and bucket limit life
expectancy of the excavator. Dynamic modelling is an important step in the design of excavator
parts. The dynamic model of a backhoe is useful for computation of torque and forces required
for execution of a typical work cycle, which is vital information for the design of links, joints,
drives, and actuators. Here presenting a review of a work carried out by researchers in the field
of dynamic modelling of the backhoe attachment of an excavator. The dynamic behaviour of the

8
backhoe provides relationship between joint actuator torques and motion of links for simulation
and design of control algorithms.

P. K. Vaha and M. J. Skibniewski (1993), have developed the dynamic model is intended for
further development of an automated excavation control system for terrestrial, lunar, and
planetary excavation. This dynamic model for an excavator is based on Newton-Euler equations
of motion. The mass moment of the inertia calculated based on the shapes of boom, arm and
bucket. The forward difference equations and backward difference equations are determined
using general formulas. They have developed relationship between forces and torque; also
calculate the required ram forces. The developed dynamic model of an excavator provides a
useful computational platform for the behavior of a typical excavator and designing a controller.

M. Bodur, H. Zontul, A. Ersak, and A. J. Koivo (1994) have developed a dynamic model of a
hypothetic backhoe excavator which was simulated to obtain an experimental environment for
cognitive force control. Including the dynamic model into the cognitive force control
simulations gives a means to modify the digging trajectory in time as well as in digging
depth. The presented method bounds the ram-forces satisfactorily to a pre-determined
allowable limit.

A. J. Koivo, M. Thoma, E. Kocaoglan and J. Andrade-Cetto (1996) developed a dynamic model

for an excavator that is needed for the controller design can be derived by applying Newton-
Euler equations to each link. The model derived systematically corrects several inadequacies
that appear in the model developed by Vaha and Skibniewski (1993). Simulations illustrate the
use of the dynamical model and the performance of the control scheme. The dynamical model
obtained can be used as the basis for automating the operations of excavators.

J. Medanic, M. Yuan, and B. Medanic (1997) a design model and a nonlinear polar controller
are developed for the Caterpillar 325 excavator modeled as a two-link system. They have
described the 8th order model of excavator dynamics, the structural properties of this model,
and the 4th order design model of the link dynamics employed in the development of the
polar controller. The dynamic equations of motion are obtained from Lagrangian equations. The
results provide strong indication that this design approach can solve the tracking problem for the
full dynamics.

F. Malaguti, and S. Zaghi (2000) have used the Newton-Euler notation to describe the
parameters affecting the dynamic equations of the excavator arm. The test results shows that the
parameters indentified in dynamic conditions and considering cylinder friction are more accurate
with respect to static conditions. They also note that the estimated torques follows the trend of
measured torques, but it is evident that the errors on the torque related to the bucket are large
with respect to the error of stick torque. They were unable during the course of the research to
find the reasons for these discrepancies.

Q. P. Ha, Q. H. Nguyen, D. C. Rye, and H. F. Durrant-Whyte (2000) have described the

dynamics of each link by Newton–Euler equations. The driving joint torques of the boom, arm,
and bucket are generated by the forces of the hydraulic ram actuators. The translational and
rotational motions of these links are described by the dynamic model of the excavator system.

9
They have developed a robust sliding mode controller for impedance control of excavators
dealing with uncertainties in its dynamical model, friction and bucket–soil interactions.

S. S. Rao, and P. K. Bhatti (2001), a probabilistic model of the manipulator dynamics is

developed to account for the random errors in the dynamic parameters in the year 2001.
Gaussian distributions are assumed for the various manipulator parameters, and the joint efforts
are modeled as Markov stochastic processes. The analytical approach is computationally more
involved and the simulation technique is numerically more convenient to compute the
performance measures of a manipulator.

Y. H. Zweiri, L. D. Seneviratne and K. Althoefer (2002), an integrated physics based detailed

analytical non-linear model for a front end excavator vehicle is developed. The model describes
the dynamic relationship between the operator input and forces of the vehicle and the excavation
arm. The dynamic model has the potential to be used in advanced controller design for
automated excavation systems. The dynamic model for the excavation system is validated
against measured data.

B. Fox, L. S. Jennings, and A. Y. Zomaya (2002) have presented the dynamics of actuator
mechanisms using a multibody modeling approach to concisely express the structure of the
system equations. The model is general in nature and caters for arbitrary mechanism
connectivity and physical properties.

Juma Yousuf Alaydi (2003) has used the Kane method to build static and dynamic model in
closed form. Analysis of the excavator was performed applying the Newton-Euler equations and
Kane method. The mathematical methods were used to (i) develop excavator's dynamics,
and (ii) establish the relationship between excavator parameters and the resistive forces from
the material formation during excavation process.

Zygmunt Towarek (2003) has discussed the dynamics of a spatial model of a single-bucket
excavator on a caterpillar chassis, in which the strain of the soil foundation being taken into
consideration. For the dynamic description Lagrange second-order equations have been used.
The system of differential equations obtained has been solved numerically, for numerical data
corresponding to a single-bucket excavator of its bucket capacity of 1.10 m3.

Donald Margolis and Taehyun Shim (2003). a complete pitch/plane model of a backhoe was
developed that includes the hydraulic dynamics and kinematics of the control linkage. Equations
were derived directly from the bond graph and programmed for simulation using a digital
computer. Simulations were run for an initial condition response from near equilibrium. The
model predicts the instability observed on the actual backhoe, and is now ready to be used as a
design tool for future backhoe development.

Emil Assenov, E. Bosilkov, Radoslav Dimitrov, and Tzvetan Damianov (2003) have studied
kinematic and dynamic parameters of working mechanism of hydraulic excavator. They have
developed the 3D solidwork model for dynamic study. The created dynamic model is simulated
in the Dynamic Designer environment and shown the results of Velocity of the mass center of
the bucket, Piston force, and reaction force in the hinge between the arm and the jib.

10
H. I. Torres-Rodriguez, V. Parra-Vega, and F. J. Ruiz-Sanchez (2004) a complete non linear
excavator model was presented. This model consider the actuator dynamics effects, and is used
for simulation in a virtual environment developed in Java 3D. The dynamic model of the
excavator obtained from the Euler Lagrange equations, innovates precedeizt models, introducing
the dynamics of the hydraulic actuators.

Jun-Yong Park, Wan-Suk Yoo and Heui-Won Kim (2004) have presented a three dimensional
modeling and simulation of a hydraulic excavator using flexible multibody dynamics code
ADAMS. To increase the modeling accuracy, the flexible multibody dynamic analysis is carried
out to predict the dynamic behavior of the excavator.

Daqing Zhang, Qinghua He, Peng Hao, and HaiTao Zhang (2005) have developed a kinematic
and dynamic models to find a feasible way to control excavator‟s arm and realize
autonomous excavation, regarded as a planar manipulator with three degrees (boom, dipper
and bucket) of freedom, the exponential product formula based on screw theory was used in
kinematic model, by which objective angular series of the working mechanism was connected
with the desired trajectory of the bucket, and the Lagrange equation was used in dynamic
model.

Etsujiro Imanishi, Takao Nanjo, Eiko Hirooka, and Naoki Sugano (2007) have presented a
domain decomposition method with iteration for the flexible multibidy system in order to reduce
the calculation time. It is cleared that the presented method is effective for the speed up in the
computing time by applying the dynamic simulation of the actual digging works on the
hydraulic excavator.

Yang Liu, Mohammad S Hasan, and Hongnian Yu (2009) have made study on trajectory
tracking control of the excavator and robust control of the excavator arm. The dynamic model of
the excavator expressed concisely using the form of the well-known rigid-link manipulator
equations of motion. Then, they have developed a robust control approach which is effective to
reject external disturbance during excavation.

Hongnian Yu, Yang Liu and Mohammad Shahidul Hasan (2010) have investigated modeling
and remote control issues of industry excavators. They have developed architecture for remotely
controllable excavators and the dynamics which describe the behavior of the excavator system.
The dynamic model describes the relationships among the joint angles which utilized for
intelligent control of excavators.

2.3 Literature Review on Soil-Tool Interaction of backhoe excavator attachment:

Since the late 50‟s hydraulics have been the systems of choice where high force-to-weight ratios
are required. The skilled operator also cannot know about the terrain condition, soil parameters,
and the soil-tool interaction forces exerted during excavation operation are required to find
because these forces helpful for better design of the tool, backhoe parts and for trajectory
planning. The manufacturers of backhoe excavators have not upgrading the technology used on
their machines, all the backhoe excavators sold in India until 2003 had 15 year old technology
A. J. Koivo, M. Thoma, E. Kocaoglan, and J. Andrade-Cetto (1996). Earth moving process
passages huge challenges to scientist and researchers due to the complexicity of the dynamical
11
environment, in particular era of design, dynamics and controlling of the excavation process of
an excavator. The design of all excavation machinery and the attachments are very as per their
functional requirements and depends on their applications. So, herein the greatest opportunity
for model development to predict soil-tool interaction forces for robust design of the tool as well
as these forces helpful for trajectory generation for excavation task. The following section
highlights the review on soil tool interaction to carry out the interaction forces and generation of
tool trajectory.

Reece (1964) recognized that in the case of earth moving tasks, the soil is always brought to a
state of complete failure and therefore the principles of soil mechanics should be applicable and
should permit the development of a theory of earthmoving machines. He carried the analysis of
a flat blade moving through soil. He found that the total force need to cut the soil is a function of
the soil density , soil cohesion c, soil surcharge q, and the soil to metal adhesion ca, and
developed the equation of the force required to cut the soil as:

…. (2.1)

Where F = resistive force experienced at a tool or excavation force necessary to cut the soil in
Newton (N), c = soil cohesion (N/m2), b = operating depth of the tool (m), = soil density
(N/m3), q = the surcharge pressure (N/m2), ca = soil to metal adhesion (N/m2), and Nc, Nγ, Nq,
and Na are the factors describing the shape of the soil failure surface, and depend upon the angle
of internal shearing resistance , angle of soil to metal friction , and on the shape of the failure
of soil and soil mass involved in the system. This equation (2.1) is now popularly known as
FEE (Fundamental Earthmoving Equation). Reece developed this 2D analytical model by
approximating the failure shape of the soil as logarithmic spiral, which is the closest shape to the
exact soil cutting shape ahead of the blade. Because these N factors depend upon the shape of
the soil failure surface, he could not develop direct equations for these N factors due to the
complex logarithmic spiral shape of the soil cutting surface.

McKyes (1985) developed an analytical 2D soil-tool interaction model on the basis of the
method of trial wedges. He assumed the exact shape of the lowest soil slip line caused by the
cutting tool to be a straight line, and carried out the excavation force in terms of the standard
FEE form, while giving the exact equations of the N factors. He also proposed the methodology
to cause one of the N factors to be a minimum and then to find the resistive force, so that found
resistive force utilizes the optimum soil-tool parameters. As the model of McKyes was giving
the complete understanding of the soil cutting with the blade, it became more popular than the
model of Reece (1964) for the researchers to utilize the same in designing the controller or for
the better tool design.

T. V. Alekseeva et al. (1985) attempted to estimate cutting resistance for various types of
earthmoving machines, based on empirical relations for those machines. During the digging
operation, the reaction force on the edge of bucket is determined by Alekseeva et al. (1985) as
follows:

…. (2.2)

12
Equation (2.2) determines the resistive force Fa (N) of Alekseeva (1985) model. Where; (unit
2
less term) and (N/m ) = specific resistances in cutting silty clay, constants d (m) and h (m) =
width and thickness of the cuts slice of soil respectively, (unit less term) is the coefficient of
friction between the bucket and soil, (N) = the pressure force of the bucket with the soil,
2 2
(Kg/(m /sec )) = coefficient of resistance experienced in filling the bucket during the movement
of the prism of soil, (m3) and (m3) = volumes of the prism of soil and bucket
respectively; and = increment along the horizontal axis (m).

But the problem with their work is that rather than using first-principle mechanics, it relies
heavily on empirical results to capture characteristics such as the ability of a particularly shaped
tool to penetrate into the terrain.

H. Cannon (1999) developed an analytical 2D model that compensates for the slope of the
terrain. He developed the model for the hydraulic excavator or backhoe in particular. The reason
that he considered the terrain slope in the mass excavation, involves the uneven slope of the
terrain, and due to this the material that passes over the blade is captured and retained by the
excavator bucket. But the excavation operations with the mini excavators or the compact
backhoe excavators used for light duty construction work do not involve the uneven terrain
slope.

In contrast D. Zeng et al. (2007) developed a soil-tool interaction model based on principles of
soil mechanics, which would be easy to use and parameters be easy to obtain using conventional
soil test. He developed the soil-tool model to design excavation tools by predicting accurate
excavation force for digging and pushing lunar regolith for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU)
applications.

To be concluded the model of McKyes (1985) and the model of D. Zeng et al. (2007) have been
developed with less assumptions and thus will be used in this thesis in chapter 6 for the
calculation and application of the resistive forces by an analytical approach.

2.4 Literature Review on FEA and Optimization of backhoe excavator attachment:

Force analysis and strength analysis is an important step in the design of excavator parts. Finite
Element Analysis (FEA) is the most powerful technique in strength calculations of the structures
working under known load and boundary conditions. In general, computer aided drawing model
of the parts to be analyzed must be prepared prior to the FEA. It is also possible to reduce the
weight of the mechanism by performing optimization task in FEA. This review provides the
platform to understand the Modelling, FEA and optimization of backhoe excavator attachment,
which was already carried out by other researchers for their related applications and it can be
helpful for development of new excavator attachment.

Naresh N. Oza (2006) had carried out the FEA and optimization of Earth moving attachment as
backhoe in 2006. Accuracy of results is dependent on choice of elements, number of nodes,
selection of proper material, boundary conditions, applied loads and expertise of the analyst.
Principal steps of Finite Element Analysis are Creation of geometry and its cleanup, specify
material and element properties, meshing of geometry in into nodes and elements, apply the
loads and boundary conditions, and finally carry out the solution and post processing results.

13
After getting the results, interprets the results and do required corrective steps on it to fulfil the
requirement of the problem. They have done the EFA of the boom, arm and bucket by following
the standard practice of analysis and carry out the solution for stress and deflection analysis;
finally the results are compared with the results obtained from the MathCAD. Optimization for
weight is also carried by them and reduces the weight of arm from 180 Kg to 154 Kg and
stresses reduced from 386 MPa to 263 MPa. The weight of the bucket is reduced from 165 Kg to
156 Kg, and the developed stresses are within the limit.

The computational modelling techniques and computer programs developed for the structural
design analysis of a micro excavator digging arm mechanism under static or quasi-static
loading conditions are outlined by MA Bromfield and WT Evans in 1988. The computer
programs allow the design engineer to analyze the forces and stresses at numerous locations
on the digging arm, which can assume various geometric configurations. The computer
theory was used to develop an integrated CAD software package to allow the design
engineer to carry out structural analysis and design optimization calculations on the
Powerfab 360WT micro excavator, MA Bromfield and WT Evans (1988).

Ram Vadhe and Vrajesh Dave (1993) have developed a multi-body model of an excavator and
to simulate the prototype testing conditions. The stress results of particular gauge locations are
also compared with experimental data. They have concluded that the desktop prototype testing
helps the designer to find out the worst operating condition, severe conditions and locate the
trajectory of operation.

Jun-Yong Park, Heui-Won Kim and Wan-Suk Yoo (2004) have presented a three dimensional
modeling and simulation of a hydraulic excavator using flexible multibody dynamics code
ADAMS.

Yefei Li, Xianghong Xu and Qinying Qiu (2006) have presented an application of Grid-enabled
computing technologies in the field of engineering design using Finite Element Method (FEM).
A Grid-enabled analysis environment with self-developed codes provides easy access to
computational and database capabilities to enhance the engineering system based on FEM
results. The aim is to obtain better lighter and cheaper designs by using Finite Element Method
based computational analysis models with easy-to-use grid environment. Optimization is carried
out using genetic algorithm followed by a local search on the best point found using the
Lagrange interval search method.

Tadeusz Smolnicki, Damian Derlukiewicz, and Mariusz Stańco (2008) have represented an
application of the finite element method and accurate representation of the rigidity of support
elements, mounting bolts, and phenomena occurring in the raceway–rolling element–raceway
assembly of a caterpillar excavator, allowed for identification of the load distribution onto the
individual rolling elements of the bearing.

Luigi Solazzi (2010) has carried out study on the boom and the arm of an excavator in order to
replace the material, which they are usually made of, with another material. In particular, the
study wants to substitute the steel alloy for an aluminium alloy. This change lightens the
components of the arm, allows to increase the load capacity of the bucket and so it is possible to
increase the excavator productivity per hour. Based on this study they achieve that the total

14
weight of the arm is reduced of about 50% and the capacity of the bucket increased of about
30%. Also increase the capacity of the bucket from 1 m3 to 1.35 m3 and so to increase the
productivity per hour of the excavator.

J. Mottl (1992) has described „Voting Method‟ for optimization of the weight of an excavator.
He has carried out optimization for all parts of the excavator such as the chassis, cabin,
jib, etc. with consideration as non-linear programming problem.

Mehmet Yener (2005) Parameterization of boom geometry is done to add some flexibility to
interface called OPTIBOOM. Optimization of boom carried out for HMK 220LC model
excavator.

Bipin N. Patel (2007) has carried out study for optimization of backhoe attachment components
like boom and arm for the purpose of reduction in weight. He has done the modelling using
CATIA software, meshing in Hypermesh software, analysis in Abaqus software, and post
processing in I-deas software. Optimization of boom is doing in Optistruct software. After
performing the optimization task, the weight of the boom is reduced up to 95 Kg. Same way
optimization is done for arm and result shows the 40 Kg reduction in weight of the arm, without
increasing the stress level compare to previous geometry of the arm and boom.

Cevdet Can Uzer (2008) has utilized the OPTIBOOM software developed by Mehmet Yener
(2005), which generates a CAD model using a finite set of parameters and then performs
a finite element analysis by using a modified commercial program. The model parameter
generation, model creation, analysis data collection and data evaluation phases are done
by the Python and Delphi based computer codes. Actually obtained result is not the best
one but it is one of the good results which is satisfying design criteria and aimed mass.

Feng Suli, Tian zhigang, Zhai Xuhua, Zhang Guangyu and Li Yan (2008) optimization
mathematical model is established, where the mass is defined as objective function and the
performance is taken as constraints condition. A genetic algorithm method was used to
optimize the design of the top guard of excavator by developing computational program and
optimization program. After optimization 47.8% mass is reduced from the original mass of the
structure.

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