Analysis of wear generation in mine excavator bucket

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the wear phenomena on the bottom surface of an excavator bucket and optimize the design parameters to reduce wear rate by converting sliding motion to rolling motion of rock during the time of operation.

Design/methodology/approach

A test rig has been developed to study the wear phenomena and type of wear on the excavator bucket. Three different bottom plates have been fabricated for experiments to observe the difference of severity of wear in terms of volume of material removal.

Findings

It has been observed that the bottom plate having the mesh-type wear bar pattern was comparatively more resistive to wear than the other two models. Wear-affected zone on the bottom plate was also detected and represented with the help of colour contour.

Practical implications

It is expected that these findings will contribute towards the development of the bottom plate of the excavator bucket with some new pattern of a wear bar, which will be efficient to reduce the phenomena on its surface.

Originality/value

The excavator is one of the important equipment in coal mining. A proper design of the excavator bucket will reduce the wear, as well as the running cost of equipment, and increase the rate of production.

Citation

Sarkar, M., Ghosh, S.K. and Mukherjee, P.S. (2015), "Analysis of wear generation in mine excavator bucket", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 67 No. 1, pp. 52-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-09-2013-0102