Effectiveness of oscillatory gutter brushes in removing street sweeping waste

Abstract

In this paper, the novel concept of oscillatory gutter brushes of road sweepers is studied experimentally. Their effectiveness in removing different debris types is studied by means of a brushing test rig. The debris types dealt with are medium-size gravel, small and fine particles, wet thin debris, and compacted debris. The performance of two types of brushes, cutting and F128, under diverse operating conditions is investigated. The purpose of the tests is to ascertain whether brush oscillations superimposed onto brush rotation improve sweeping effectiveness. According to the results, brush oscillations seem to be useful for increasing brushing effectiveness in the case of bonded particles and wet thin debris, especially for bonded debris, but they seem to be of no value for other loosed debris. Also, appropriate values of brush penetration, sweeper speed, brush angle of attack, rotational speed, and frequency of brush speed oscillations, for the debris types studied are provided.

Keywords: Brushing effectiveness; Debris collection; Road waste; Street sweeping.