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New steel design behind sturdy dumper cab
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SSAB Tunnpl
: 05 April, 2001 (New Product) |
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A new dumper cab made from high-strength steel has been developed by Volvo Articulated Haulers AB and Volvo Construction Equipment Cabs AB. The number of production parts has been reduced by more than two thirds. The result is a sturdier cab, which is safer for the driver and costs less to fabricate than earlier models. Laser-cut cold-formed plate parts are used in the new design, instead of a tubular fabrication. |
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A new dumper cab made from high-strength steel has been developed by Volvo Articulated Haulers AB and Volvo Construction Equipment Cabs AB. The number of production parts has been reduced by more than two thirds. The result is a sturdier cab, which is safer for the driver and costs less to fabricate than earlier models. Laser-cut cold-formed plate parts are used in the new design, instead of a tubular fabrication.
The new cab is the result of extensive development work on a new design solution for future dumper cabs. A crucial factor is the use of a steel which combines high strength and good forming properties. Volvo decided on SSAB Swedish Steel's hot-rolled Domex 420, a high-strength cold-forming steel with a minimum yield point of 420 N/mm2.
The steel has opened the way for completely new ideas where the designers have succeeded in combining a range of functions in the same part. In this way the number of design parts has been reduced by 69 per cent, from 352 to 110. The cab is therefore simpler and cheaper to produce in addition to which it is stronger and enhances driver safety.
'The new cab has a front payload energy level double that of previous designs,' comments Mr Jan-Åke Johansson of Volvo Articulated Haulers AB, who heads the team which developed the new cab body.
For more efficient production, investments have been made in a completely new robot welding station where the cab is twinarc welded. This method makes for faster welding, since the nozzle used has two parallel welding electrodes. It also gives very good gap penetration with small throats in thick sheets.
'We have established a completely new approach where forming methods make considerable demands on the purity and formability of the material. In my opinion, it's primarily the use of high-strength material which has resulted in the new generation of cabs,' Mr Johansson concludes.
Volvo Articulated Haulers' new cab design was recently awarded second prize in the Swedish Steel Prize international industrial design contest.
'Volvo's work is a good example of an innovative approach to industrial design which includes the use of high-strength steel,' remarks Ms Cecilia Dalén, Swedish Steel Prize project manager at SSAB Swedish Steel. 'Any company which includes high-strength steel in its engineering designs can enter the competition, irrespective of which supplier it uses. We instituted the award to promote innovative thinking worldwide.' |
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