A METHOD FOR THE COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE TECHNICAL QUALITY OF DUMP TRUCKS WITH DIFFERENT STRUCTURES

Abstract

Introduction: An analysis of the special-purpose road construction machinery market reveals an immensely diverse range of vehicles that can be used in construction. Due to this diversity, users may experience difficulties when choosing a dump truck from a range of vehicles with identical performance parameters. The final choice is often based on the user’s subjective preferences and not always logically justified. This calls for designing a methodology that would make the choice of dump truck model less biased. Purpose of the study: The study is aimed to create a range of research and methodological tools for facilitating the comparative assessment of construction dump trucks that belong to the same category in terms of load capacity, but differ by structure. Methods: We compared and assessed our samples by contrasting the generalized vehicle quality parameters, as reflected by their technical quality coefficient. As research methods for collecting reference data for our assessment, we used information search, statistical analysis of information sources, expert studies, and mathematical modeling. Results: The comparative qualimetric assessment of the technical quality of different dump truck designs has prompted a conclusion that, when it comes to road construction, semi-trailer trucks are more preferable than chassis-based trucks. Specifically, semi-trailer dump trucks are characterized by better sustained performance, maneuvering ability, and terrain crossing capacity. Conclusions: The proposed method of technical quality comparative assessment allows for a more unbiased choice of dump trucks for road construction, based on analyzing their most vital performance parameters.

Keywords

• road construction
• dump truck
• performance parameters
• technical quality
• comparative assessment.