Digital evaluation of planetary concrete mixer efficiency

Abstract

Accurately evaluating the mixing efficiency of a planetary concrete mixer is the linchpin of estimating the rationality of the mixer structure, but it is currently difficult to establish a general and systematic evaluation method. This paper proposed a digital method for evaluating the planetary mixer efficiency based on the kinematic model of the mixing blade. The mixing efficiency of two typical symmetrical and asymmetrical planetary mixers was compared based on the digital data computed using the proposed method. An automated concrete mixing platform was established to experimentally validate the digital evaluation method. The results indicated that the asymmetric planetary mixer had higher mixing efficiency than the symmetric mixer. Additionally, the mixing efficiency of symmetric mixer increased about 18% as the angle between the two planetary arms changed from 90° to 45°, which was due to the difference in the coverage of the mixing blades on the mixing surface.