Experimental investigation of coating application on excavator bucket

Abstract

The durability and productivity of the bucket in any earthmoving machine is crucial for enhancing the performance of the machine. These buckets are frequently exposed to harsh environments, leading to rapid wear of the bucket material and component failure. This increases machine downtime and affects customers in terms of time and money. Therefore, the primary concern with excavator buckets is material wear. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of ceramic coating in reducing the wear rate of a bucket subjected to harsh environments. Another concern with the excavator bucket is productivity. During digging operations, wet soil adheres to the inner surface of the bucket and affects productivity. Therefore, this study was extended to understand the effect of hydrophobic coating on avoiding soil stickiness to the inner shell of the bucket. In this study, the outer surface of the bucket was coated with an epoxy ceramic coating, and the inner surface of the bucket was coated with a hydrophobic coating. The coated and non-coated buckets were tested under two different soil conditions (Type A and Type C) for 500 h. For type C soil, a 13.5% improvement was observed in the coated bucket compared to the non-coated bucket. The observed 13.5% reduction in wear is a strong indicative trend; however, it represents a preliminary result, and further controlled studies with multiple replicates are required to establish statistical confidence. However, for type A soil, the ceramic coating was not effective for wear resistance. In both soil conditions, the hydrophobic coating was not useful as the material adhered to the bucket inner shell. The ceramic coating samples were observed under FESEM (field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to understand the surface morphology, particle sizes, porosity, and quantitative compositions. This study aims to contribute to the development of high-performance excavator buckets that are more durable and efficient using epoxy coating technology.