Heavy Truck Payload

Design & simulation solutions for heavy truck payload.

Designing for heavy truck payloads involves a complex set of challenges to ensure that the trucks are safe, efficient, and durable under heavy loads. In addition to crucial safety requirements such as structural integrity, and overall stability, engineers must strive to maximise load capacity and operational efficiency.

Multi-physics simulation helps to address these issues and more, providing detailed insight into how different design variations will perform under a wide range of operating conditions.

Preventing/Minimising Spillage

Spillage of material such as gravel, ore or coal during transport leads to lost payload, environmental damage and safety hazards. The tray design has to constrain the material without sliding or spilling, especially during movement on rough terrain.

Rocky DEM can simulate material flow into and out of the truck bed, as well as the packing density during transport. This allows the engineer to determine how the material will move during transport when subject to loads such as vibration, acceleration and uneven terrain. Rocky will allow the engineer to test different tray shapes, sidewall angles and load configurations.

Optimising Unloading Efficiency

Quick and efficient unloading is critical for customers. If the truck bed is poorly designed, material may stick to the sides or remain in the bed due to friction or poor discharge angle. this will result in longer unloading times and delays.

Rocky DEM can simulate how different bed angles and surface finishes (e.g., smooth vs. textured) affect material flow during unloading. By adjusting the design in simulation, engineers can visualise how materials will behave when tipping the bed, identifying the ideal geometry for complete discharge.

Understanding Truck Tray Loading

The tray has to cope with significant loads, especially when carrying heavy and abrasive materials – these cause wear and structural damage which can result in failure if not properly accounted for. Designing to avoid stress concentration areas is crucial as these are the biggest contributor to failures.

Rocky DEM can model the interaction between the material and tray, providing engineers with qualitative forces that will be encountered during loading, transport and unloading. This can be used to determine how the materials impact, weight and abrasiveness affect the trays surface and structure over time. Coupled with Ansys Mechanical FEA, Rocky can help identify stress points and optimise tray design. This all aids in preventing premature wear or failure and enhances the durabiity of the truck bed, reducing maintenance costs and downtime.

Managing Payload Distribution for Stability & Handling

Uneven load distribution will have an adverse affect on vehicle stability, increasing the risk of tipping, loss of traction and accidents. Risk is especially high during transport over rough or steep terrain.

Rocky can simulate the distribution within the tray (both in loading and during transport) and also allow engineers to test various configurations. This provides more complete and accurate load cases, allowing loading to be optimised and safer operations. Simulation also aids in designing the tray for improved handling and faster operations, while mitigating centre of gravity issues.

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