Impact of the track wheel axles on the strength of the bucket wheel excavator two-wheel bogie

This paper presents the results of the study dedicated to the problem of the bucket wheel excavator two-wheel bogie (TWB) strength. Two variants of the TWB structure were analysed: the originally designed and the redesigned. Three calculation models for stress state identification were used for each of the variants. The first does not iclude the influence of the track wheel axle on the lateral loads distribution. The second model includes the mentioned influence while the third considers the track wheel axle as a structural part of the TWB. Validation of the FE models is done by FE simulation of the experiment carried out on an originally designed testing bench. The obtained results fully clarify the occurrence of cracks in the original TWB structure, as well as the considerable impact of the track wheel axles on the TWB structure stress state