Académique Documents
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123
Eugeniusz Rusiński Przemysław Moczko
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering— Faculty of Mechanical Engineering—
Department of Machine Design Department of Machine Design
and Research and Research
Wroclaw University of Science Wroclaw University of Science
and Technology and Technology
Wrocław Wrocław
Poland Poland
Heavy machines are the main equipment in surface mines around the world. With
the development of new technologies, surface mining has also been evolving.
Among the leading drivers for change and development in this area are the
increasing requirements to improve safety, to reduce the environmental impact and
to reduce operating costs. The current and future challenge involves modernizing
and maintaining old, worn-out machines and designing new structures.
The construction and operation costs of these machines are counted in hundreds
and even millions of euros. These machines are designed for operation 24/7, so
when they are out of operation due to failure, they generate huge losses.
Occasionally, catastrophic failures happen, which can have negative economic
consequences, but which, nevertheless, cannot be compared to the damage to
human health and life.
In addition to rock processing, mega machines are mainly used in lignite surface
mining. Despite the global trend to obtain energy from renewable sources, a sig-
nificant percentage of energy production will still come from conventional sources
of fuels for many decades. This is dictated by the need to ensure a cheap and stable
source of energy. In many countries, the amount of energy consumed from brown
coal is significant (e.g., Germany, Poland, Serbia, Greece). In emerging markets
(Brazil, India, China), the lignite mining industry is rapidly developing. The most
common problem, however, is the age and thus overuse of mining and processing
machines (European market). Many of them are over 35 years old, and hence their
operational life is close to wearing out. This is a considerable challenge for the
users. However, users have gained unique experience over the years, which is an
excellent base for developing further operational guidelines and an invaluable
source of knowledge that can be used in designing new structures. The research and
methods presented in this book have been developed and reviewed in cooperation
with the users of such machines. Therefore, the presented content is not a collection
of theoretical considerations, but rather of practical guidelines that can be applied in
reality. The developed solutions use both the already known research tools and the
most modern scientific methods. What is most important, however, is that they are
practical and modern.
v
vi Preface
The examples of applications and methods presented in this book have con-
tributed to the increase in the competitiveness and innovation capacity of the
mining and rock processing industry. They are an important contribution to the
development of knowledge of the construction and operation of heavy machinery.
Above all, however, they have a wide practical application, which provides a more
economical, efficient and safe operation.
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Main Problems Related to the Operation and Maintenance
of Mega Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 The Design of Surface Mining Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2.1 Bucket-Wheel Excavators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2.2 Bucket-Chain Excavators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.3 Spreaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.3 Main Mechanical and Structural Subassemblies of Surface
Mining Machines and the Problems that Occur During Their
Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.4 Main Phenomena During the Operation of Surface Mining
Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.5 Disadvantages of Traditional Methods of Dimensioning Surface
Mining Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 Methods of Condition Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 41
3.1 Experimental Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 42
3.2 Analytical and Numerical Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 47
3.3 Preventive and Predictive Approaches in Condition
Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 48
3.4 Combined, Comprehensive Experimental and Numerical
Condition Assessment Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.4.1 Identification of Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.4.2 Identification of State of Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.4.3 Methodology of Fatigue Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
vii
viii Contents
3.5 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.5.1 Tests on the SRs 2000 Excavator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.5.2 Tests on the SchRs 4000 Excavator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.5.3 Tests on the KWK1500 Excavator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4 Failure Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.1 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.2 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.2.1 KWK 1400 Excavator Collapse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.2.2 Failure and Repair of the SRs 2000
Excavator Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 105
4.2.3 Fracture of a Half Axle of Crawler Track Set in the
ZGOT-11500.100 Stacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 114
4.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 126
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 127
5 Modernization of Existing Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.1 Objectives of Modernizations—Increase in Lifetime of Machines
and the Optimization of Operational Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.2 Modernizations—Examples of Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.2.1 Modernization of Buckets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.2.2 Load-Carrying Structure of the KWK jib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.2.3 Modeling and Modification of Modal Characteristics
of the KWK 1500.1 Excavator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
5.2.4 Modernization of Portals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.2.5 New Solutions Introduced to Surface Mining Machines . . 153
5.3 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
6 Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
About the Authors
ix
x About the Authors