Visualising the dump truck performance - be it mechanical or electrical, either while it is being designed or after its launch is an involved task. The complexities in the selection of power train and the conflicting design parameters make the selection procedure complicated and elaborate.
The ‘Performance Charts’ give a simulated travel performance of the Off-Highway trucks. The charts are the graphical output of vehicle speed vs. tractive effort vs. gradeability and are hence useful in determining the trucks' ability to negotiate grades at various speeds.
The performance charts have been either manual or involved reading two graphs - speed vs. tractive effort and speed vs. gradeability. The article looks at the computerised combined chart.
The steps involved in getting the performance charts are listed. Through an example it is shown, how, with the help of CAD, the blank semi-log performance charts can be obtained and using the data base, the curves can be plotted on the performance charts.
By comparing the performances of the currently used dump trucks with the near-obsolete truck, the design trends and the methodology is analysed.