Conference Agenda

The design of crawler undercarriages equipped with front blade systems is a critical task in the development of earthmoving machines, since it commonly requires repeated iterations between Computer Aided Design (CAD) models and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) validation environments. This pro-cess increases design time and computational cost, especially when consoli-dated sizing rules are not available. To address this limitation, the proposed work defines a preliminary design approach and a supporting engineering tool that translates empirical geometric evidence, load case modeling and structural verification criteria into practical rules for the preliminary sizing of standard front blade assemblies. The approach combines a benchmark analy-sis of existing machines, the definition of characteristic geometric ratios, and an analytical model for the evaluation of the forces exchanged within the mechanism under relevant operating load cases. The calculated loads are then used to support the preliminary verification of the main structural and functional components, including hydraulic actuators, pins, connections, blade rods and crossbars. The force prediction model and the stress estima-tion procedure are validated on a representative case study within commer-cial CAE environments. The implemented calculation tool is intended to support designers during early-stage development, reducing the need for re-peated CAE iterations.