Abstract: A monitoring system for a hydraulic shovel, including strain and pressure gauges at critical locations on at least a boom or stick of the hydraulic shovel at which a failure is predicted to occur; a processor with memory hardware configured to process the acquired real-time data from the gauges to determine measures of actual instantaneous stress or accumulated damage and a real-time operating state; an output device configured to provide information comparing measures of actual instantaneous stress or accumulated damage with corresponding reference values of maximum allowable stress or accumulated damage, and to provide the real-time information derived from the real-time operating state. The real-time information derived from the real-time operating state includes a warning when one of the measures of actual instantaneous stress or accumulated damage exceeds or approaches the corresponding reference value, and programmed advice of appropriate corrective action having regard to the real-time operating state.

Abstract: A monitoring system implemented on a truck. The system includes: a plurality of strain and pressure gauges at critical locations at which a failure is predicted to occur; a processor with memory hardware configured to process the acquired real-time data from the gauges to determine measures of actual instantaneous stress and a real-time operating state; an output device configured to provide information comparing measures of actual instantaneous stress with corresponding reference values of maximum allowable stress, and to provide the real-time information derived from the real-time operating state. The real-time information derived from the real-time operating state preferably includes an amount of cumulative damage or closeness to failure having regard to the measures of actual instantaneous stress and the real-time operating state.

Abstract: A system provides stress and/or accumulated damage monitoring on earth moving equipment, such as excavators, trucks, electric rope shovels and drills, hydraulic shovels, wheel loaders and graders. The system includes: strain gauges (51-60), each gauging strain at one of multiple strain gauge locations; a data acquisition unit (41) to acquire real-time strain data from the strain gauges (51-60); a processor and memory (42) to process the acquired real-time strain data to calculate one or more measures of actual accumulated damage and/or actual instantaneous stress; and at least one output device (37) to provide information comparing the measures with corresponding reference values.