Design and Development of a Mechanised Cutting Tool for Foundation Piles
A Novel Mechanism to Reduce Operator Musculoskeletal Load
J.C.H.M. Tuijp (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
A.H.A. Stienen – Mentor (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
W. Mugge – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
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Abstract
Manual pile grinding of foundation piles (screw injection piles) with an angle grinder is the most physically demanding task at foundation pile contractor De Waalpaal B.V, which is part of the Van ’t Hek group.
A Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) identified it as the task with the highest ergonomic risk level with a REBA score of 11. This score corresponds to a ”Very High” ergonomic risk level. Indicating that the operators using an angle grinder endure a high musculoskeletal load during this process. However, currently no dedicated tool exist to mechanise this process in order to reduce this musculoskeletal load.
This thesis presents the design and development of a mechanised cutting tool aimed at reducing operator musculoskeletal load during pile grinding. Requirements were derived from on-site interviews and observations using a Quality Function Development (QFD) method. These requirements were the basis of the three developed clamping concepts. Using these requirements, a final clamping concept was chosen and refined through an iterative design process. Furthermore, three cutting subsystem concepts were made and the best was selected.
The final design clamps around the pile using a ratchet tie down and rotates around its circumference on a set of contact wheels. The finalised mechanised cutting tool was evaluated in two test sessions. The first test session was performed by the author, while the second test session was performed by an intended end-user.
The tool met most of its defined requirements. Most importantly, it reduced the REBA score from 11 to a maximum of 6, moving the task from a ”Very High” to a ”Medium” ergonomic risk level. However, some limitations remained. Future work should focus on solving these limitations.
In conclusion, these results show that the developed tool is a functional proof of concept that substantially reduces the ergonomic risk level. However, it still requires further development before it is suitable for reliable use on construction sites.