# Stability Evaluation of a Simplified Reclaimer Using Fluid-Structure Interaction
## 1 Introduction  
Mining reclaimer equipment is widely employed in the mining industry for the efficient transportation of materials. These machines, which were extensively used in the past, were designed to handle the retrieval and transportation of bulk materials such as ones, coal, and other minerals. The primary purpose of a mining reclaimer is to gather and load materials from stockpiles onto conveyors or trucks for further processing or transportation. The mining reclaimer typically consists of a large boom equipped with a bucket or blade that can be raised, lowered, and rotated. This configuration allows the equipment operator to excavate materials from a stockpile in a controlled manner. The reclaimed materials are then deposited onto a conveyor system or loaded directly onto trucks for transport to processing plants or distribution centers [1]. These reclaimers are known for their high productivity and efficiency, as they can handle large volumes of material in a short period. They are usually equipped with advanced control systems and sensors to optimize the material retrieval process and ensure precise placement on conveyors or trucks. Crosswind stability of large equipment has long been a key aspect to be assessed. Wind tunnel tests have been widely applied in aerodynamic studies due to some unique advantages [2]. Some examples of the use of wind tunnels to optimize the geometry of equipment to obtain a more efficient operation can be found in the literature. [PERSON] [3] assessed the influence of wind forces on a container ship geometry inside a 1:450-scale wind tunnel. [PERSON] et al. [4] evaluated the potential advantages of some aerodynamic effects on a model-scale generic ship using a wind tunnel. The development and advancement of computers have increased the use of numerical techniques, which have been used to complement the experimental analyses carried outin wind tunnels. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solves the governing transport equations for the fluid flow, offering a predictive methodology to evaluate the behavior of the structures. The combined use of multiple-body dynamics (MDB) and CFD techniques allows for reducing the differences found in the solution when the dynamic effects are neglected. By taking into account the turbulence and dynamic excitation effects on the bodies, better experimental approximation results can be achieved [5]. Advanced numerical methods and CFD equations can be used to forecast the aerodynamic action forces on structures [6; 7; 8; 9; 10]. The authors predicted the aerodynamic forces on distinct structures, based on the pressure fields numerically obtained, allowing the optimization of the geometry regarding the wind loads. However, they disregarded the effects of the dynamics of the structures, which can be considered using the coupling of CFD and finite element analysis (FEA) into fluid-structure interaction (FSI) techniques. [PERSON] et al. [11] developed software coupling CFD, FEA, and MBD techniques, based on the free and open-source CFD software OpenFOAM v10. The authors compared seven simple coupling tests with commercial codes such as Abaqus and Comsol, obtaining differences lower than 1%. The software was called Solids4 FOAM 2.1 and it was also used in other works [12; 13]. The FSI analysis can detect oscillatory phenomena that can cause structure instabilities, such as the effect known as flutter, which causes an increase in the stress and displacements of the structure excited by a fluid if a critical velocity is achieved. Therefore, the displacements experienced by the structure may be higher than the static displacements, leading it to fail at low wind speeds. This effect has the potential to be significantly harmful and it is very important to evaluate the structure stability, which can only be studied in FSI analyses. Several works in the literature used FSI to evaluate the effect of the flow in structures. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [14], [PERSON] et al.