Wear Model for Teeth and Segments (Wear Parts)

Please note: This assignment is a student thesis. In order for your application to be considered you need to be a currently enrolled university student eligible to complete a Master thesis as part of your university program.

Volvo wheel loaders and excavators are used globally in several applications. In some of these, wear parts (in this case teeth and segments) are mounted on the bucket edges to

• Facilitate bucket penetration into material being excavated.
• Protect the bucket edge

The necessary replacement of these wear parts can be a significant part of the total hourly cost of the machine. For Volvo Construction Equipment it is important to understand what drives the cost of wear parts and being able to predict this cost when selling new machines.

Suitable background:
We are looking for 2 Master of Science students working together, with the following profile:
• specialized towards material science and/or mechanical engineering / engineering physics
• Strong in English both written and spoken
• Confident in self management
• Structured
• Previous experience in working machines and their environment is an advantage, since the job might require field studies

Description of thesis work:
Work should start with a literature study to establish an overview of what wear rate models that currently are available. Possible sources of knowledge are Sandvik Mining and Construction, Caterpillar, Atlas Copco etc.

The following part of the thesis should focus on 2 things.
1. Developing a wear rate model to give Volvo Construction Equipment a way of predicting the hourly cost of wear parts.
2. Recommending of materials to lower the cost per hour.

Hence, the expected outcomes of the thesis are:
1. Wear Model to be used when calculating cost / hour for teeth and segments
2. Suggestion of better material in teeth / segments to decrease the cost / hour.

Main activities:
1. Material selection analysis of which material and material structures that will give the lowest wear rates.
• Focus should be on materials currently used in teeth and segments.
2. Wear test study in laboratory on existing and alternative materials selected in step 1
• Focus on materials currently used in teeth and segments.
• Formulation of a wear model.
3. Field study of the most promising materials. The existing materials will be compared with new solutions.
• An initial field study will be performed by Volvo in 2011-12. This can be a part of the validation of the laboratory tests.
4. Comparison of laboratory and field tests with cost per hour of existing and alternative materials.
5. Conclusions and recommendations
• Of wear rate model
• For material selection of the components.

Thesis Level:
Master of Science

Language:
English.

Starting date:
2012-01-01

Number of students:
2

Tutor:
Erik Uhlin, MSc. Technical Project Leader, tel; +46 16 541 57 62