Analysis and optimization of forklift truck steering wheel idle vibration

Abstract

A forklift truck is one of the most important tools in ports, stations, factories, and warehouses. The steering wheel of such a truck is the main contact part between the driver and the truck, and the vibration intensity of this part directly determines the operating comfort of the driver. This paper mainly aims to analyze and optimize steering wheel idle vibration. Experiments are implemented on a group of faulty forklifts to investigate the performance trends and the root causes of the vibration problem. The Hilbert-Huang transform method is used to analyze steering wheel vibration features of faulty forklift trucks at idle. Along with simulation, we learn that resonance vibrations is the main reason that causes the excessive vibration at idle. Thus, we propose an optimization scheme that separates the support plate (referred as part A) from the brake pedal mounting plate (referred as part B) and increases the thickness of the front plate to restrain idle vibration. The results obtained from simulation and comparative experiments indicate that the proposed schemes can effectively suppress the idle vibration of the steering system.

Keywords

• forklift truck
• optimization
• idle vibration
• hht method
• resonance vibrations
• steering wheel