Effect of design parameters and operating conditions in concrete twin shaft mixers

Abstract

In the sector of construction industry, research aims at designing new products, with better and better performance and able to guarantee a reduction in production times, costs and energy consumption. This paper deals with the optimization of concrete twin shaft mixers with the aim of proposing a model able to evaluate the influence of design parameters on the machine’s power consumption during the different phases of the mixing cycle. Mixers of different size have been analysed to propose geometrical changes in terms of length and width of the tanks, keeping the working volumes as constant parameters. The model has been validated by means of experimental campaigns performed on real twin shaft mixers. The results demonstrate how the power consumption varies during the different mixing phases when geometrical parameters are changed.