Mathematical modeling of the dynamics of a shovel with flexible coupling

To study the possible ergonomic and energetic advantages on the use of a shovel with a flexible coupling, a dynamic analysis of the motion of the blade together with the lifted raw material was conducted. By this dynamic analysis, ordinary differential equations were set up. Therefore the closed-form solutions were found to obtain useful equations for simulation. The application of mathematical modeling both to the blade with elastic coupling and to the traditional one, allowed to quantify the zeroing of the operator effort in the second half of the blade lifting. However, in the first part of the lifting an effort increase occurs, but in this first phase the operator can take advantage from the support on the thigh, thus lightening the load on the spine.