Structure Analysis Of ZL60Loader Drive Axle Assembly

The loader has become one of the main types in earth and stone construction of engineering construction because of its large carrying capacity, high efficiency and good maneuvering performance.The drive axle assembly is the main assembly systems of a loader, and is also a high failure rate assembly part in the loader system.The drive axle failures account about30%of a loader’s total failure. Axle housing is the drive axle’s shell, and is also the load-bearing structure of drive axle. The drive axle housing withstands the axle load, supports the weight of the loader, and withstands various forces and moments which are passed over by the wheels. These forces and moments include:the traction which guides the vehicle forward, the braking force to slow down and stop, and the lateral force in the tilt and slippery roads. Dynamic transfer characteristic of the drive axle housing also affects a loader’s vibration and comfort. Therefore, the drive axle housing’s strength, rigidity and dynamic characteristics are need to be analyzed. Main reducer is the key part of the drive axle transmission, and It plays an important role in reducing speed and increasing torque. Spiral bevel gear, the core component, exposes to the alternating load’s cyclical role, and is vulnerable to fatigue failure. Therefore, the main reducer’s life prediction under loads is an important work of Drive axle Analysis.This paper is from the Zhejiang provincial science and Technology Department’s special science and technology project that the wheel loading machine drive axle’s key technology’s research and industrialization. The the research object is ZL60type wet drive axle. And this paper studied the bridge shell’s finite element structure and main reducer life prediction.This article focuses on:1) Combined with geometric features and characteristics of the drive axle, Simplified and established a drive axle in Pro/ENGINEER.By the Hypermesh divided high-quality mesh,then import Ansys software established a finite element model.2) Stress analysis of the drive axle housing,caculaed the load of the drive axle housing in the bench,sideslip condition, brake condition and traction condition; drive axle housing displacement and stress field distribution obtained by finite element analysis in various typical conditions.3) Modal analysis on the drive axle housing,natural frequencies and modes of access to the drive axle housing.The results show the drive axle housing conditions stress less than the yield limit of the drive axle housing material,on the working condition of the gantry displacement is less then the industry standard,natural frequency effectively avoid the excitation frequency,to avoid the resonance with the external excitation.The ZL60-type drive axle housing strength and stiffness to meet the design standards.4) Tested drive axle main reducer strain-time histories and obtained main reducer typical operating conditions the load spectrum;built a drive axle main reducer test-bed and the preparation of a bench test load spectrum then done accelerated life testing and obtained the fatigue life of the main reducer. According to the fatigue accumulated linear theory derived the relationship between the life of the main reducer bench test and the actual working conditions life, then obtained the life of the actual operating conditions of the drive axle main reducer.