LAUSR

Abstract The traditional hydraulic transmission system for wheel loaders is inefficient and, in power matching, prevents improvement in performance during spading and transport. This paper proposes a power reflux hydraulic transmission system (PRHTS) with a capacity adjustment device, which retains both flexible transmission and the advantages of the low-speed high-torque characteristics while improving transmission efficiency, and the capacity adjustment device can meet the requirements for the capacity factor of the hydraulic transmission system during spading and transport. Based on numerical calculations and an analysis of the basic characteristics of the proposed PRHTS, a method for the optimal design of power matching systems for wheel loaders is proposed. The results for matching show that compared with traditional hydraulic transmission systems, the proposed method increases the range of the high-efficiency working area (η ≥ 75%) during transport by 384 r·min–1, enhances average efficiency during transport by 10.99%, reduces the average working fuel consumption rate by 10.61 g·(kW·h)–1, and increases the average output power by 36.72 kW while ensuring the original power performance and fuel economy of the wheel loader during spading.