Engineering, Energy, Transport AIC

Roman SERPUTKO – Postgraduate Student of the department of Machine Design and Automotive Engineering, Lviv Polytechnic National University (12 Stepan Bandera Str., Lviv, Ukraine, 79013, e-mail: roman.s.serputko@lpnu.ua, https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9324-0368).

The issue of dosing and weighing materials will remain relevant for many years to come. The need to measure a required amount of material can be found in almost every area of activity – from microscopic substances to massive materials, compounds, and aggregates. Therefore, the search for the most optimal and efficient solutions in this field remains a constant and pressing task.
The primary characteristics of a weighed material are the accuracy of its weighing and the speed of the weighing process. The presented gravitational feeder is a high-performance device that ensures continuous material weighing in flow, without interruptions or stoppages. However, its weighing accuracy depends on many design features, especially the main working body – the curvature radius that receives the material flow. Accordingly, conducting experiments to calibrate the gravitational feeder allows one to understand how static and dynamic operating conditions affect measurement accuracy, which can characterize the system’s behavior during real-world operation.
The aim of the study is to configure an experimental setup for conducting tests to optimize the design, determine the optimal parameters of the curved working body, and identify the most effective tilt angle of the working element relative to the vertical axis.
This work provides a detailed description of the construction of the experimental setup, methods of material feeding, parameters of the variable tilt angle of the feeder’s working plane, as well as the methodology for collecting and processing experimental data.
Special attention is paid to the dynamic feeding mode, in which the load on the measuring element – the strain gauge sensor – changes. Key issues arising in this mode are identified: signal fluctuations, the influence of the tilt angle, and the physical and mechanical properties of the bulk material. A comparative analysis of measurement results under different conditions was conducted, calibration curves were constructed, and the dependencies between mass and voltage were interpreted.
Based on the results of the study, recommendations were developed for adjusting the feeder control system considering changes in technological conditions. The methodology can be implemented in automated production lines, particularly in the food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. The presented data have practical value for process engineers, equipment developers, and researchers in the field of conveying and dosing systems.

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