Structural Validation of Portable Compressor Trailer Under Dynamic Conditions

Abstract Portable air screw compressors are the most reliable, effective, and well-suited for the unique needs of building roads, performing restoration work, conducting civil engineering, mining, sandblasting, oil and gas exploration etc. This compressors must be designed to withstand tough site circumstances and difficult-to-reach site locations that may have challenging topography. Compressed air at remote locations is also used to power tools on the site, such as power hammers, drills, saws, wrenches, nail guns etc. These portable compressors are exposed to higher load such as dynamic load, lifting/towing load and random vibration load during their operation such as towing/lifting and transportation from one location to another. Fatigue life, stability and performance of majority of the structures and systems depend significantly on dynamic loadings applied on them. In order to guarantee effective product performance without trolley base frame failure over product life, it is crucial to examine the structural strength of the compressor base frame under such dynamic loading scenarios. Ingersoll Rand India is equipped a portable compressor unit using cutting-edge technology to meet the requirements of the business. The Modal and random vibration analysis of the portable compressor trolley base frame has been analyzed in the current study to evaluate the compressor trolley base frame. To verify dynamically, the unit’s Natural Frequency has been computed using modal analysis. According to SAE J 2380 standard, random vibration analysis has been performed to examine the base frame’s strength and its fatigue life against random loading for 92.6 hours of testing duration. Successful validation of a given equipment implies 100000 miles of life with 90% success probability without any random vibration fatigue failure. A thorough investigation of modal and random vibrations analysis was performed using ANSYS 2020 R2. Random vibration analysis was performed by applying PSD G acceleration at support base as per SAE J 2380 standard. The strength of the trolley base frame has been evaluated through a number of parameters, such stress accumulation, natural frequencies, fatigue life, and damage factor. According to the results of the investigation, estimated system natural frequency was found away from the operating frequency of the system which ensure the system will operate without critical resonance and high stresses while in operation. Under the random vibration analysis, random fatigue life, random fatigue damage factor and equivalent stress were found to be acceptable. According to the numerical investigation, the compressor’s base frame was unlikely to fail during its service life against the dynamic loads random in nature. Physical test of the compressor unit was also carried out for various road profiles and found the system structurally strong enough & having good degree of agreement with virtual validation.