DISTRIBUTION OF FORWARDER PASSAGES AND CONSTRUCTION OF OPTIMAL SCHEMES OF SKIDDING TRAILS LOCATION AT A CUTTING AREA

Abstract

Introduction. Multiple passes of a skidding tractor  along one and the same trace lead to a trail destruction, track pit formation in the place of passages, and as a result,  to efficiency loss of tractor. Traditional approaches to the designing of transport network of a cutting area are related to the choice of a typical scheme of skidding and use of it at a certain cutting area. The goal of the research is to elaborate the optimal  schemes of trail location and to compare them with the typical schemes by the type of  the passages allocation of a skidder. Point of departure. To achieve the goal, it is necessary to elaborate the  mathematical algorithms of planning of transport network at a cutting area and to use an automated analysis. Construction of schemes of trails which give a significant effect when simple computation algorithms, are based on the following condition: 1) Skidding trail in cutting strip is the complex of the compartments, difference in the passages between neighbor compartments is two passages, number of passages at the compartments grows  in the direction of skidding; 2) Compartments with different soil type are grouped by four property categories, location of the compartments is  designed at a  cutting area; 3) Skidding tracks with maximum number of passages should be designed along the compartments of a cutting area with maximum ground bearing capacity; maximum number of passages for a certain compartment shall be minimized. Compartments with poor load bearing capacity are either excluded or number of passages of tractor should be minimized; 4) Loading point location is designated; distance between the skidding trails is not changed; distribution of stand at the cutting area is equal. Software to develop schemes of skids on the basis of management of distribution of tractor passages along the skids can play a role  of a device to support decision-making in designing of a  primary transport network. Conclusion. In such conditions, it was registered a significant dissimilarity of calculated schemes from the typical ones (an automated analysis was used). There is a critical redistribution of the passages from the compartments with  low-load-bearing capacity soil  to the compartments with high-load-bearing capacity soil. Radial scheme is the closest typical scheme to the calculated one. Difference in the number of passages between the most loaded compartment and the compartment  with the minimum number of passages is decreased (for the considered examples: calculated scheme – difference is 15 times; typical schemes –25 - 65 times).