WorldWide Drilling Resource

bauma 2016 Poised to be the Hub for Innovation Adapted from a Press Release by Messe München Low emissions, low fuel consumption, and energy efficiency: All these qualities are becoming even more important to the building industry and to manufacturers of construction machinery. So, what progress has been made? What new developments are there, and what can these machines still do? Answers to these questions will be given at bauma, the world’s leading trade show for construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construc- tion vehicles, and construction equipment, April 11-17, 2016, at the Messe München exhibition center in Munich, Germany. Since the introduction of the Exhaust Emissions Directive in 1999, the construction machinery industry has drastically reduced the emissions from its products. According to VDMA (the German Engineering Federation), emissions of nitric oxide and diesel par- ticulates have been reduced by more than 95%. Joachim Schmid, managing director of the VDMA’s Construction Machinery and Building Materials Machinery Association, describes the status quo: “With the aim of optimizing energy efficiency and obtaining the best possible work result, these days construction machines decide for themselves what is most economical in a particular work process: to transfer the power to the wheels mechanically or hy- draulically. The drive chain delivers only as much power as needed; energy is stored and delivered as required. And for years the eco mode has been standardized in many types of machinery.” Despite what has already been achieved, there is still room for improvement with transmission systems in construction ma- chinery - especially when manufacturers and suppliers com- bine their expertise. This was the case in the TEAM project (development of tech- nologies for energy- saving transmission systems in mobi le machinery), which culminated in the spring last year with the presentation of a “ g r e e n wh e e l e d loader”. For three years, 18 machinery manufacturers and suppliers - among them Caterpillar, Danfoss, Deutz, Hydac, and Rexroth Bosch - five university institutes, and the VDMA worked on an innovative operating strategy for linking parts of the drive system. A demonstration wheeled loader was presented which combines an optimized diesel engine, a powersplit transmission system, displacement-controlled working hydraulics, and a hydrostatic hybrid system in a new drive chain. In comparison to a current series machine, this new development is over 10% more fuel-efficient in prac- tical operation. At bauma, further information and details about this development will be presented live in the “Research Initiative” in Hall B0. Special power-split transmis- sions are definitely gaining ground in wheeled loaders. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marcus Geimer, Chair in Mobile Machinery at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology commented, “In a wide variety of operations, these transmission systems deliver improved efficiency as compared to hydrostatic transmissions or switchable converter drives.” Geimer re- ports corresponding prototypes and designs have already been presented at various specialist conferences. “Now I am keen to see which manufacturers will showcase these components at bauma 2016,” he said. 14 FEBRUARY 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®