Development of a new design of a loader with a sand spreader for road maintenance
The subject of this study is a multifunctional road construction machine based on a single-bucket front-end loader, equipped with a transformable working element capable of loading, dozing, and sand spreading operations on high-altitude roads. The study examines the interaction of replaceable and transformable working elements with the road surface, operational loads, reliability, strength, durability, and operability of the machine's structural components.
Reason for the topic. The choice of topic was driven by the need to create efficient, cost-effective, and reliable multipurpose machines for servicing high-altitude roads, which are subject to challenging climatic and geological conditions, including rockfalls, mudflows, avalanches, heavy snowfalls, and icy conditions. Under current conditions, a significant portion of the roadway de-icing process is performed manually or by separate specialized machines, which have limited utilization and increase the operating costs of contractors.
The technological necessity of combining several functions in a single basic chassis is driven by:
high maintenance and transportation costs for individual specialized machines;
equipment downtime due to low process utilization;
the difficulty of operating individual machines on remote mountain road sections;
the need to improve the reliability and adaptability of machines to variable high-altitude conditions;
the lack of sufficient artificial structures to protect roads from natural elements.
Therefore, the proposed approach—developing a machine with a transformable working element—ensures increased productivity, reduced operating costs, standardization of process operations, and improved road maintenance efficiency in challenging conditions.
Potential Applications The results of the study can be applied in road management and operation of high-mountain roads (clearing roads from snow, ice and rockfall material; distribution of anti-icing mixtures; restoration of the road surface profile), in road construction and contracting organizations (replacing several units of equipment with one multifunctional machine; reducing the costs of maintenance, transportation and operation of the machine fleet; increasing the utilization factor of equipment), in operation in conditions of increased natural risks (work in avalanche-prone areas; road maintenance in conditions of seasonal ice and snowfalls; ensuring stable transport links in emergency situations), in design and engineering bureaus of road construction equipment (creation of new modifications of transformable machines; improvement of working bodies taking into account the criteria of strength, rigidity, wear resistance and vibration resistance; development of reliable and adaptive transformation mechanisms), in educational and research institutions (use of the results for training specialists; development of methodologies for assessing the reliability of multifunctional machines; conducting subsequent research in the field of adaptive and transformable working bodies).
The objective of the project is to develop a multi-purpose machine, specifically a new design of a road maintenance loader with a sand spreader, based on a selected model of existing loaders. This loader is used for clearing and treating the surface of mountain roads with reagents or inert materials to improve traction between vehicle wheels and the road surface.
Results:
The research and development work is being carried out according to the approved schedule and implementation plan:
1. The drive of the working elements was substantiated depending on the loads they bear.
2. The design of a sand spreader working element with longitudinal grooves, an auger, and staggered truncated pyramidal teeth on a cylindrical surface was developed and validated.
3. Calculation models were developed to determine the static loads acting on the shaft and bearing supports.
4. The main parameters were determined, taking into account the safety factor.
5. Calculation schemes have been developed, taking into account all external forces acting on the working element, to justify the geometric parameters of the working element in order to ensure the reliability and durability of structures, as well as to minimize energy and material consumption;
6. Mathematical models describing the multi-stage sequential movements of several functional mechanisms corresponding to different operating modes were developed and proposed. They are reduced to quasilinear systems of second-order differential equations with initial conditions. Mathematical models for all stages were developed, and a reliable numerical solution was obtained for the second stage of the DSM motion. A numerical shooting method using Euler's method schemes with a second-order approximation was used to integrate the aforementioned equations. More detailed numerical experiments for other stages of the problem solution are planned for the next stage of the study.
7. Equilibrium statics equations were derived and unknown quantities were determined, such as support reactions (ZA), (ZB), (XA), (XB), and the magnitude of the force (P) acting on the drive of the working element through a toothed pinion mounted on the end of the shaft.
8. Based on the conducted analyses, the presence of the friction force Ftr, which occupies a special place in mechanical engineering and their operation, was substantiated. It has been established that frictional force performs both useful and negative work, i.e., when it counteracts other useful work performed by machines and mechanisms, for example, when spreading sand or other reagents using a sand spreader. The frictional force Ftr, arising between the working element and the materials (sand, crushed stone, etc.), performs negative work in the form of resistance from the spreading materials, thus requiring certain drive forces. At the same time, Ftr performs certain useful work, such as preventing the spontaneous spillage of materials through the bucket crevices due to the frictional forces Ftr, arising between the particles of the ejected materials and the particles with the surfaces of the working elements, when the sand spreader operates in loader mode.
Using specific values of the unknowns, it is easy to derive safety factors, thereby determining the geometric parameters of the working element. Other geometric and kinematic parameters, such as bucket capacity, working tool rotation speed, the number of longitudinal grooves on the shaft, and others, will then be determined accordingly.
Based on the results of 2025, 1 article (“Design Features of a Sand Spreader Based on a Single-Bucket Loader with a Transforming Working Body” based on the results of the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference “Sustainable Development: Technology, Energy, Materials Science, Physics and Mechanical Engineering” (VMAEE-IV-2025)) was accepted for publication in the Scopus database, 2 more articles (“Mathematical model of description of a bulldozer-loader works in three-component quasilinear equations and analysis of numerical solution methods in implementing the problem”, “Justification of the geometric parameters of the bucket crack for pouring anti-icing materials onto the roadway”) were submitted for publication in Scopus journals, 1 article (“Justification of the values of the acting loads on the working body of a multifunctional sand spreader developed on the basis of a single-bucket front loader”) - in the journal “Vestnik SibADI” with an impact factor of 0.752.
