Experimental Investigations on the Effect of Wheel Size on an Industrial Trolley

Abstract

Manual material handling using push–pull trolleys in small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) has become an inevitable activity. A study was carried out to find the best wheel size in pushing a newly developed industrial trolley. Three various wheels of sizes 100, 125 and 150 mm diameters were used in this study. The results present the best wheel size and comfortable handle height of the trolley for five subjects of different stature at five varying loads. Experiments were conducted in a laboratory for a selected population of five subjects with a varying stature 1650, 1740, 1780, 1790 and 1820 mm, with five different loads 75, 156, 188, 219 and 250 kg and with five different handle heights 900, 950, 1000, 1100 and 1150 mm. Handle height of 1100 mm and a 150 mm diameter wheel size was found to be better in reducing the effort required in pushing the trolley and in reducing the discomfort experienced by the subjects.