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TruckModelling

ModellingTruckPerformanceinaSpreadsheet
Introduction
Mostopenpitstodayareminedusingthetruckandshovelminingsystem(referFigure1).
Theseoperationsusuallymodeltheirminingschedulesandcostmodelsusingaspreadsheet.
However,truckperformanceandultimatelyhaulagerequirements(thatistrucknumbers)areusually
modelledinaspecialisedtruckhaulageprogramsuchasTALPACTM.
Asdiscussedhere,truckperformanceandhaulagerequirementscanbemodelledinaspreadsheet,there
aresomesimpleformulaswhichcanbeappliedwithsignificantbenefits.
Figure1Truckandshovelinoperation

Modellingtruckperformanceinaspreadsheet
Thephysicsormathematicsbehindthetruckperformanceisnotdifficultandtheresultsmatchwellwith
truckmanufacturersperformancegraphs.
Thecalculationoffuelburnsisalsopresentedhere.
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Fuelsburnsareofinterestbecauseoftheimpactofincreasingfuelpricesandbecausetheyareoften
basedonhistoricalusageratherthancalculatedaspartofthetruckperformance.

Thephysicsofatruck
Theupramptruckspeedisdependentontheenergyavailablefromtheenginetoliftthetruckweight,
includingitspayload,againstgravityandtoovercomerollingresistanceandtransmissionlosses(refer
Figure2andEquation1).
Figure2Rollingresistancemodel(imagescourtesywww.hitachimining.com)

Equation1:Upramptruckspeed
UpRampTruckSpeed=3.6*GrossEnginePower*TransmissionEfficiency*(1+RampGrade*RampGrade)^0.5
TotalTruckWeight*9.81*(RampGrade+RollingResistance)

Thedownramptruckspeedisdependentontheenergythatenginecanabsorbgeneratedbythetruck
runningdownhillfromgravitybutlessrollingresistanceandtransmissionlosses(referEquation2).
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Equation2:Downramptruckspeed
DownRampTruckSpeed=3.6*GrossEnginePower*RetarderFactor*1+RampGrade*RampGrade)^0.5
TotalTruckWeight*9.81*(RampGrade+RollingResistance)

Inbothcasesthemaximumtruckspeedneedstobelimitedtothemanufacturersrecommendation.
Furtherspeedrestrictionsmaybeappliedforsitespecific(i.e.safety)reasons.
Thegrossenginepower(inkilowatts),trucksweights[maximumandunloaded(intonnes)]arepublished
inthetruckmanufacturesmanuals.
Thetransmissionefficiencyfactorandtheretarderfactorareusedtocalibratethemodeltothe
manufacturersperformancegraph.
An80%transmissionefficiencyanda115%retarderfactorseemstoworkuniversally.
Figure3showsthemodelplottedagainsttheCaterpillar777Dtruck(usingtheperformancegraphand
assuming3%rollingresistance,referFigure4).
Theuprampperformancecalibrationisverygood.Thedownrampperformanceapproximatesthegear
speeds.Thisisconsideredsufficientformostapplications.
Figure3Truckmodelcalibration

Figure4Caterpillar777Dtruckperformancegraphs(imagescourtesyCaterpillarhandbook)

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Electrictrucksandtrolleyassist
Themodelwillworkforelectrictrucksandtrolleyassistapplicationsbutcalibrationofthetransmission
efficiencyandretarderfactorsmayberequired.

Retarderoptions
Sometruckshaveadditionalretardercapacityoptions.Inthesecasestheretarderfactorwouldhavetobe
increased.

Engineload
Theengineloading(upramp)iscalculatedinEquation3.
Equation3:Engineloading
EngineLoading=UpRampTruckSpeed*TotalTruckWeight*9.81*(RampGrade+RollingResistance)
3.6*GrossEnginePower*TransmissionEfficiency*(1+RampGrade*RampGrade)^0.5

Fuelconsumption
Fuelburnestimatesareapproximate(+/10%)(referEquation4).
Equation4:Fuelburns
FuelBurn=23.3%*GrossEnginePower*(EngineLoading*96%+4%)
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The23.3%factorseemstobeareasonableaverageestimate.
Ifthemaximumfuelburnisknownforthetrucktypethenthefactorcanberecalculated(referEquation
5).
Equation5:Fuelburnfactor
FuelBurnFactor=MaximumFuelBurn
GrossEnginePower

Practicalapplication
Table1containstheformulaspreviouslydiscussedinasimplemodelfortheHitachiEH4500truck.
Thekeyassumptionisthatthehaulageprofilesegmentscanberecalculatedintoanequivalentprofile
usinglevel,up10%or10%down,segments.
Realhaulageprofilesnevermeetthisconstraintbuttheerrorresultingfromtheassumptionisnot
consideredsignificant.
Table1TheEH4500truckperformancemodel
EH4500
Truckparameters:

Level UpRamp DownRamp

Grade

0.0%

10.0%

10.0%

Enginepower(kw)

2,014

2,014

2,014

Transmissionefficiency

80%

80%

80%

RetarderEfficiency

115%

115%

115%

Rollingresistance

2.5%

2.5%

2.5%

Loadedweight

479

479

479

LoadedSpeedLimit

45.0

30.0

30.0

Speed

45.0

9.9

23.8

EnginePower

91%

100%

0%

469

14

Unloadedweight

211

211

211

UnloadedSpeedLimit

45.0

30.0

30.0

Speed

45.0

22.5

30.0

LoadedPerformance:

FuelConsumption(ltr/hr) 429
UnloadedPerformance:

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EnginePower

40%

FuelConsumption(ltr/hr) 197

100%

0%

469

14

Notes:
Sometruckmanufacturersshuttheinjectorsoffwhenthetruckisrunningdownramp.
Thebluetextareinputvalueswhiletheblacktextarecalculatedvalues.

Theunloadedweightisfromthemanufacturershandbookbutcouldbeincreasedifnecessarytoallow
forcarryback(thatismaterialstucktothetrucktray).
Table2illustratestheextractionofthekeydatafortruckmodelling.
Table2RationalisedEH4500truckperformance
TruckSpeeds(km/hr)

Loaded Unloaded

Level

45

45

UpRamp

9.9

22

DownRamp

24

30

TruckFuelBurns(l/hr) Loaded Unloaded

Level

429

197

UpRamp

469

469

DownRamp

14

14

Idle

14

14

Table3Scheduletruckcapacity,effectiveoperatingtimeandcycledelays
TruckScheduleData

Values

UnloadedTruckWeight

198

MaximumTruckWeight

480

CarryBack

5%

NominalCapacity
Moisture(%)

100%
4%

ProductiveHoursperYear

6600

EffectiveMinutesperHour

50

Queue&Spot

1.0

Load

2.5

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Dump

TruckModelling

1.0

Table4presentsanexamplehaulageprofile.
Table4Haulprofile
HaulDistances

Values

ForwardTrip(Loaded):

Queue&Spot

Load

Level

800

UpRamp
DownRamp

1,800
300

ReturnTrip(Unloaded):

Dump

UpRamp
DownRamp
Level
TotalMetres

300
1,800
800
5,800

UsingthetruckspeedsfromTable2andhauldistancesfromTable4,thecycletimecanbecalculated
(referTable5).
Table5Cycletimes
CycleTime
ForwardTrip(Loaded):

Values

Queue&Spot

1.00

Load

2.50

Level

1.07

UpRamp

10.89

DownRamp

0.76

ReturnTrip(Unloaded):

Dump

1.00

UpRamp

0.80

DownRamp

3.60

Level

1.07

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CycleTime

TruckModelling

21.68

UsingthetruckfuelburnsfromTable2andcycletimecomponentsfromTable5thefuelburnscanbe
calculated(referTable6).
Thefuelburnpereffectivehour(50minutehour)isthefuelburnpercyclemultipliedbythecycletime.
Table6Fuelburns
FuelBurn
ForwardTrip(Loaded):

Values

Queue&Spot

0.23

Load

0.59

Level

7.63

UpRamp

85.15

DownRamp

0.18

ReturnTrip(Unloaded):

Dump

7.82

UpRamp

6.26

DownRamp

0.84

Level

3.51

Litres/Cycle

104.39

Litres/EffectiveHour

288.92

Table7presentsthefinaltruckproductivityandfuelburnperproductivehour.
Table7FinalTruckproductivityandfuelburns
TruckCycleTimeandFuelBurnCalculations

Values

Truckproductivity(tonnes)perProductiveHour

593

TruckFuelBurn(kilolitres)perProductiveHour

243

Truckproductivity(tonnes)perYear

3,912,381

Sensitivities
Forthepracticalexampleabove,a2.5%rollingresistancewasapplied.Thisvalueissuitableforgood
roadconditions.
Whatwouldhappeniftherollingresistancewas3%andthemaximumlevelspeedreducedto30km/hr
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(from45km/hr)?
Themodel(referTable8)suggeststhatproductivitywouldfallabout6%(orhaulagecostswouldrise
about6%).
Table8Truckproductivityfor3%rollingresistanceanda30km/hrspeedlimit
TruckCycleTimeandFuelBurnCalculations

Values

Truckproductivity(tonnes)perProductiveHour

555

TruckFuelBurn(kilolitres)perProductiveHour

241

Truckproductivity(tonnes)perYear

3,661,768

Conclusion
Themodellingoftruckperformancedirectlyinaspreadsheetisnotparticularlydifficultandallows
tighterintegrationofthescheduleandcostmodel.
Usefulforwhatifscenarios,asdemonstratedabove.
Ifyouwouldlikeacopyofthespreadsheetusedabove,clickthelink(TruckModelling.xlsx).

YoucancontactmeatMaster@AlanCooper.id.auifyoufeeltheneed.

Home

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