Performance analysis of hydraulic excavators in complex excavation environments and different bucket trajectories

Simulations of excavation operations not only help understand how excavators perform in specific environments but also can be used to optimise operating parameters. In this work, we explore the performance of hydraulic excavators under conditions of cohesive and size-dispersed materials and different bucket trajectories. The results indicate that with the cohesion increasing, the spillage of particles from the bucket is reduced, but the hydraulic power fluctuates greatly due to the strong collision of particle aggregates on the bucket. As the particle size distribution turns wider, small particles exert an intensive interaction force on the bucket, and the stress distribution on the bucket becomes wider. Therefore, some suggestions are given for practical excavation operations in different stockpile scenarios. Additionally, the bucket can be initially placed close to the base of the stockpile to achieve low specific energy consumption and high productivity.