A New System for Excavator Commutation Wheeled-Tracked and Connections Parts Analisy

In the present paper a system to transform a wheeled excavator in a tracked excavator and vice versa will be disclosed. The system permit the commutation of operation mode of the excavator for the achievement of the best travel condition in off road and in road. The goal is to have very flexible machine, which has the ability of a wheeled excavator and a tracked excavator as well. An important issue is to keep a machine in high efficiency in different condition, from the off road to in road. In this paper the possibility to have the optimal performance in different soil condition and with different type of advancing mode will be shown. The tracked type machine is a good solution for raw terrain condition or in off road situation. However the wheeled type machine is better for long travel in road and doesn't cause the asphalt deterioration. In this work a mechanical solution will considered based on a 16 ton excavator size. After that the method for the commutation from wheeled to tracked excavator and vice versa will be shown, explaining the basic principles of the connections between the prototype parts. Finally a Mathematical Comparison Between three solutions, Wheeled, Tracked and Switchable Excavator will be undertaken on a Standard Mission Profile analyzing the performances of Travel Time and Energy Consumption.