With over 30 years of experience in off-highway machinery, I’ve encountered countless ways electrical systems can fail. The most challenging, frustrating, and exhausting aspect of my work has been troubleshooting intermittent circuitry. My background spans electrical design, product evaluation, product support, and project management, where I’ve planned, designed, evaluated, and troubleshot both simple and highly complex electrical circuits.
One of my most interesting experiences was traveling to the forests of the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec to diagnose and repair large logging equipment. Like any major production operation, owners and operators generally disliked seeing engineers in the woods because our presence disrupted work, reducing production and daily margins.
These machines are critical to logging operations and the livelihood of loggers. With initial investments exceeding $500K, there is a high expectation that the machinery will withstand the harsh environments they operate in. The sophistication of these machines, relying on complex electro-hydraulics and human-machine interfaces, adds to the challenge.
Electrical systems on these machines are continually evolving, now incorporating embedded controllers, remote controls, GPS, communication systems, and ruggedized PCs. These advanced systems utilize multi-pin high-density connections, Ethernet, USB, Bluetooth, and other wireless technologies.
However, critical power generation, distribution, transformation, and utilization circuits still rely on single or multiple conductors connected through bolted joints. With the shift towards hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric machinery, the demand for electrical system integrity is increasing. A common aspect of these transformations is the replacement of traditional engines or powertrain systems. As powertrain systems transition from traditional hydraulic motion controls to higher voltage electrical systems, a random electrical failure now has a higher probability of causing machine downtime, production loss, and reduced margins.
To ensure the electrical integrity of bolted joints, it is crucial to understand the critical design requirements in both the mechanical and electrical domains. These requirements must not only be functional but also account for the harsh environments the machine will encounter. Once these requirements are understood, appropriate design, testing, and processes must be employed to support them. Without this support, connections can fail, leading to sub-system failures and machine downtime.
Given this background, I invite you to join me in a brief exploration of the critical dependency on the mechanical integrity of electrical bolted joint connections, particularly in EV machinery.
Karle brings more than 30 years of experience in off-highway machine development to industry leading manufactures including Caterpillar, John Deere, and Vermeer. Karle’s career opportunities included project management, system design, product validation and verification, product support and research and development for Ag, Construction, Forestry and Military applications.
With a Masters’ Degree focused on Sustainable Forestry Management from Oregon State University; Karle’s field interests include mechanical harvesting operations and planning. Coupling my degree with 14 years in mechanical harvesting, and processing equipment design provides an insight to industry demands with customer focus.
He currently serves as a technical consultant and trainer in electrification and electrical systems engineering for Matrix Engineering Consultants.
Karle will be speaking at IFE 2024 on Wednesday, September 11 from 10:30AM – 11:00AM. Register today!
