Topology Optimization Design Of Gearbox Housing For Heavy Scraper Conveyor

Scraper conveyor is the key equipment of fully mechanized coal mining.The CST reducer is widely used to withstand the difficult start-up and large impact load problems of the scraper conveyor.As one of the important parts of CST reducer,the gearbox housing plays significant roles in supporting and reducing vibration during the service life of the reducer.The gearbox housing is very vulnerable to damage in form of fatigue that will significantly affect the working performance and service life of the CST reducer under the impact load since its serious working conditions.Therefore,the finite element analysis and the optimization design was performed to the CST gearbox housing in this study.Firstly,the Pro/E software was used to establish the three-dimensional model of the reducer housing,and the rigid-flexible coupling model of the gear transmission system was provided with ADAMS.The loads applied to each bearing seat of the housing were obtained by dynamic simulation.The finite element model of the box was built based on the above conditions.Secondly,the static analysis of the housing model was carried out to obtain the stress and displacement distribution of the housing under the rated and maximum working conditions.In addition,the dynamic analysis of the housing was performed which consists of modal analysis,transient dynamicanalysis and harmonic response analysis.An experimental investigation was presented on the vibration characteristics in terms of displacement,acceleration and stress distribution.Based on the experiments,corresponding finite element simulations have been undertaken using HyperMesh and the accuracy of these modes validated against the test results.Finally,the topology optimization design was performed based on the variable density method under constraint conditions of the global stress,displacement,the first mode frequency and volume fraction.The minimize value of weighted strain energy was selected as the objective function.The gearbox housing was rebuilt according to the optimized material density distribution nephogram.After optimization,the weight of the housing was reduced 4.26%with respect to 228.03 kg.The results show that not only the stiffness and strength of the optimized housing still meet the requirements,more importantly,the lightweight design of the gearbox housing was also achieved.