4.2.3 Excavation simulator

The figure shows schematic illustration of excavation test setup conducted at Tokyo Institute of Technology. The in-flight centrifuge excavator mounted on the top of the container consists of a movable table, a cutting blade and a soil retaining gate. The movable table sits on a pair of linear-way rails. The thrust is provided by a stepping motor through a timing belt and a pair of screw rods to the table. The vertical movement of the cutting blade and the soil retaining gate is conducted by worm gears built in to stepping motors. The stepping motors used in the excavator are small 5 phase stepping motors with a maximum torque capacity of 2.45 Nm which make accurate position control possible.

The strong box has a diaphragm wall with 100 mm in height at the bottom of the box as illustrated in the figure. Model ground is made in the space behind this wall and the space in front is left open to accommodate excavated soil.

Kimura, T., Takemura, J., Hiro-oka, A., Suemasa, N. and Kouda, N. (1993) : Stability of unsupported and supported vertical cuts in soft clay, Proc. of 11th Southeast Asian Geotech. Conf., pp. 61-70.

An application using the excavator appears here.