Large foundries form the core of heavy component supply, not just for open market products but also as strategic sources for large OEMs, who have been investing heavily in Asian foundries to reflect future growth predictions. Weir Minerals recently advanced its global foundry supply chain strategy, completing the acquisition of the business and assets of the Cheong foundry in Malaysia, in February 2013. Based near Kuala Lumpur the facility supplies castings to a number of industries, including mining. Weir said the acquisition enables it to add foundry capacity to serve the Asia-Pacific region with high quality products from a best cost sourcing region. In addition, agreement has been reached to acquire the plant, equipment and buildings of Xmeco Foundry, a specialist large casting foundry in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Xmeco expands Weir Minerals’ capacity and capability on the African continent, enabling the full product range to be locally produced. Subject to regulatory approval, completion was expected in May 2013.
Weir Chief Executive, Keith Cochrane, said: “The Cheong and Xmeco foundries enhance the group’s presence in important growth markets by expanding our low cost capacity in the fast growing regions of Asia-Pacific and Africa, enabling us to deliver quality products more quickly to our customers.”
ME Elecmetal owns four foundries in the Americas, plus one as a joint-venture in Chile and another one as a licensee in Mexico, with a combined casting capacity of more than 100,000 t per year. The company also has a joint-venture for manufacturing grinding media in China and recently started the construction of a new foundry in the same country with a future capacity of 30,000 t.
ME Elecmetal’s customer base includes hard rock mining, construction and OEMs in more than 30 countries. Heavy engineering products for mineral processing include large grinding mill liners (up to 12,000lb) for AG, SAG, ball and rod mills. Larger liners minimise the number of pieces that need to be handled during change out. This reduces downtime while increasing mill throughput. Its liners are present in many mineral processing plants around the world including grinding mills up to 40 ft in diameter. The group also designs and manufactures concaves, mantles, spider arm guards and caps for large gyratory crushers, including primary mantles, in weights up to 20 t. It also designs and manufactures smelter ladles and slag pots in sizes up to 75 t.
ME Product Development Engineers review each individual ladle or pot, working closely with the end- users to refine designs to maximise life as well as meeting other requirements that may be needed. Proper design can minimise potential deformation helping to assure safer use through the product’s life cycle. To assure maximum quality and life, all of its smelter ladles and slag pots are subjected to strict quality controls, which include visual inspection, dimensional inspection, ultrasonic inspection, radiography inspection, and magnetic particle inspection. ME Elecmetal also uses simulation software, based on finite element modelling, for simulating the mechanical and thermal properties, helping to identify possible deformation locations.
Metso is continuing to strengthen its presence in China by acquiring a manganese steel foundry – JX – in Quzhou City, Zheijang Province, some 400 km southwest of Shanghai. The company said that the acquisition of JX would help it improve its capabilities to supply wear parts to mining and construction industry customers in China and other markets in Asia Pacific. The move follows a joint venture set up in November 2012 with LiuGong, whereby the two companies formed a 50-50 partnership to develop a track mounted crushing and screening business in China. Late last year, Metso also acquired 75% of Shaorui Heavy Industries, which is one of the leading mid-market crushing and screening equipment producers in China.
The joint venture combined Metso’s knowledge in track-mounted crushing and screening and technology with LiuGong’s extensive distribution resources and manufacturing capabilities in China. Initially, the venture is covering the design and manufacture of localised versions of Metso’s Lokotrack 1000 series mobile crushers and screens. The products are being sold under a dual brand, Metso LiuGong. The joint venture company is also promoting Metso’s global track-mounted crushing and screening equipment in China. “The acquisitions of JX and Shaorui Heavy Industries Ltd and the joint venture with LiuGong Group Corp Ltd announced last November, significantly strengthen our supply capabilities for mining and construction industries in China. Metso now has a complete range of capital equipment and wear parts covering a wide range of customer requirements. By acquiring a new steel foundry in China we are able to better serve the needs of our Chinese customers”, states Andrew Benko, President, Mining and Construction, Metso.
“We already have the most extensive services hub and distribution network in our industry. With this acquisition we will strengthen our manufacturing presence in China and further develop our services business. We will improve our capability to supply wear parts to our mining and construction customers close to their operations and increase the flexibility and resilience of our wear products supply chain. We intend to use the acquired site as platform to further develop our services capabilities in China”, says Joao Ney Colagrossi, President, Services Business Line, Mining and Construction, Metso.
The transaction covers the acquisition of assets of Quzhou Juxin Machinery and Quzhou Chixin Machinery from the current owner and his associates. The acquired assets and approximately 275 employees are expected to be transferred to Metso as of closing. Metso currently has five foundries and an extensive network of external casting suppliers serving the mining and construction industries. Its foundries are located in Ahmedabad, India; Isithebe, South Africa; Prerov, Czech Republic; Sorocaba, Brazil and Tampere, Finland. JX has, until now, been a supplier to Metso.
Anglo American finally announced the completion in late November 2012 of the sale of Scaw Metals Group, a key mining wear parts supplier including cast products, chain, wire rope and grinding media. Anglo had previously announced the intended sale in April 2012 of Scaw Metals to an investment consortium led by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) and Anglo American’s partners in Scaw Metals, namely Izingwe Holdings, Shanduka Resources and the Southern Palace Group of Companies.
For a mining perspective, Scaw Metals is an important supplier of wear parts. Its Standard Foundry manufactures a wide range of earthmoving ground engaging tools (GET), dragline wear parts and bucket components and general engineering products in plain carbon and low alloy steels of up to 8 t in finished weight. The Boksburg Foundry manufactures the complete range of manganese mill liners, screens and grids used in the gold mining industry. The Eclipse East Foundry specialises in low alloy steel and high chromium iron mill liners, manganese crushing wear parts for gyratory crushers and jaw crushers and low alloy steel earthmoving under carriage wear parts.
All of the foundries are serviced by in-house machine shops which include vertical and horizontal boring mills, CNC machining centers, lathes and planers. Castings of 25 t and 5 m in diameter can be machined to close tolerances. Smaller castings that require CNC batch production runs are also accommodated.
Chain Products manufactures a wide range of round link welded chain products sold under the recognised McKinnon and Max-Alloy brands. Scaw Grinding Media is a leading producer of high chrome and forged grinding balls supplied primarily to the African platinum, copper and gold mining industries, with operations located at Scaw’s Union Junction site near Johannesburg.
Finally, Scaw Metals Group also has a 31% shareholding in GSI Lucchini (Italy), and a 50% shareholding in Consolidated Wire Industries (South Africa) as well as a 50% share of Proacer, which produces cast steel grinding media in Chile.
Q&T steel plate
The supply of quenched and tempered steel plate forms the basis of many key mining equipment structures, from mobile equipment to fixed and semi-mobile structures, including dump truck bodies, storage bins, hoppers, chutes and a wide range of others.
NLMK Clabecq has increased the pace of its developments in quenched and tempered steels in order to propose wider ranges of thickness and grades. This year, as outlined in the IM April BAUMA article, the Belgian mill has specialised in thin and large steel plates and will come on the market with superior grades for Quard, its abrasion resistant steel and Quend, its high yield strength steel. It will allow to the group to complete its range of solutions for heavy machinery manufacturers.
Thanks to the major technological developments & process throughout the production chain and experience gained over the past year, the mill is speeding up its development planning for 2013, in order to finalise the industrial production of the Quard 500 and the Quend 960. The group states: “NLMK Clabecq’s abrasion resistant steels and high yield strength steels have passed all the cutting, bending, machining and welding tests with success. To explain these positive results, users all raise as differentiating points the superior surface finish, tight thickness tolerances, excellent flatness and consistent homogeneity. These characteristics are the direct consequence of the layout of the NLMK Clabecq rolling line, a unique combination between a four-high rolling mill and a four-stand continuous finishing mill, and of the performance of the new Quenching & Tempering unit.” With an expected production rate exceeding 200,000 t/y at full capacity, NLMK Clabecq expects to produce up to 100,000 t of Q&T steel plates in 2013.
Australia’s Bisalloy Steel, the supplier of the Bisplate Q&T plate products, reported that in 2012: “Demand for Q&T steel for new projects slowed, while demand for Q&T steel for repairs and maintenance is starting to increase as a number of new resource projects are completed and move into production.” Despite this volatility, Bisalloy maintained its volume of sales into its core domestic markets and says it increased its market share notwithstanding intense competition from overseas producers, who it says are driven by weak demand in their own domestic markets.
The group’s Chinese Joint Venture (CJV) – Bisalloy Jigang (Shandong) Steel Plate Co – is a major focus for the future with partner Jinan Iron & Steel. Bisalloy states: “The transition of power in China in 2012 has delayed many corporate commitments which had some shortterm impact on the performance of the CJV. China is also undergoing significant structural change at a time of economic instability in its key export markets. These factors have combined to extend the time needed for the CJV to establish itself as a premium Q&T supplier in the Chinese market. The board remains confident in the prospects for the CJV and is pleased by the significant progress already made, but it is still too early to provide specific guidance on the CJV’s potential profitability.”
The supplier of probably the best known steel plate brand in the market, Hardox, SSAB says its products “are well suited for a great number of mining applications including front loaders, dump trucks, buffer bins, railroad cars, discharge sites transfer chutes, feeders, screeners, crushers, conveyors, measuring bins and skips and much more. Its outstanding weldability and workshop-friendly properties allow it to be easily integrated into repair regimes, keeping production up and running while eliminating the need for a large stock of spare parts.” Additionally, SSAB offers a wide range of chromium carbide overlay products that are often employed by its technical sales force to complement Hardox wear plate in applications of extreme wear.
Beyond providing the high quality wear steel and related solutions, SSAB shares its expertise through its Wear Technology Group. This group supports the customer in its decisions to employ a material that is best suited for each application. This is often achieved by a complete analysis of the customer’s production chain or a certain application or component. SSAB’s proprietary WearCalc software assists clients in predicting relative wear life and in comparing different wear solutions. In South Africa, SSAB has partnered with EPCM groups and used this software to assist in designing the best wear solutions on greenfield and brownfield projects. The upgrading of quenched and tempered steels and reduction of steel thickness in storage bin, silo and chute applications it says have contributed to significant cost savings on these projects.
The groups cites a mine in Vancouver which had extreme wear issues with its transfer chutes. SSAB approached the company with an option of using its complex carbide overlay in combination with Hardox 450 compared to what it was using. The mine tested the option and found that the Hardox/overlay solution withstood 3.2 Mt prior to being replaced while the original material withstood only 44,000 t. In Witbank, South Africa, SSAB has substituted Hardox 400/450 for dragline bucket lip castings. As a result, the client can now repair the buckets onsite quickly and easily without having to order the required castings months in advance.
Finally, at Anglo American’s Los Bronces copper mine, SSAB Chile helped increase wear life of shovels and buckets with a new liner design for the equipment consisting of a combination of Hardox 500, 550 and 600. The group says that the new design configuration resulted in a 20% reduction in weight and a 25% increase in wear life as compared to its originalconfiguration of 500HB steel and overlay plate.
Formed metals and machining
This year at Bauma 2013, steel group voestalpine featured three divisions (Steel Division, Metal Forming Division and Metal Engineering Division) at a new voestalpine exhibition stand under the slogan “nextgeneration steel solutions”, where the focus was on presenting the innovative of the alform welding system and also its extensive manufacturing potential for roll-formed tubes and profiles.
The alform welding system is a co-ordinated total system of steel and filler metals for highstrength and ultra-high strength welds. The main advantages of the total system are the extended welding areas, crack-resistant weld seams and optimised weld properties.
Individually manufactured tube and profile solutions from the Metal Forming Division were primarily presented in the context of the demanding applications of cabin and metal formwork construction. High quality sheet pile walls were also exhibited.
Leading gear machining equipment supplier, Gleason Corporation recently announced the successful installation of a P8000/10000 gear hobber at Changzhou Tianshan Heavy Industry Machinery in Changzhou, China. The machine has the capacity to produce spur and helical gears up to 10 m in outside diameter, and has been fully demonstrated to consistently produce large gears at DIN 7 quality or better, reducing cutting times from as much as a week on older machines to as little as 10 hours. Founded in 2002, Changzhou Tianshan is a producer of approximately 35,000 gears per year ranging in size from 100 mm to 10,000 mm in diameter. Through investment in the most advanced gear production machines, Changzhou Tianshan has expanded rapidly and is today a factory of nearly 87,000 m2. The group said that the acquisition of the Gleason-Pfauter P8000/10000 hobber has “opened the doors for new projects in mining equipment” and other industries.
Crusher replacement parts
The year 2012 was a busy one for Excel Foundry & Machine, the full line crusher replacement parts supplier, as over $15 million in investment was spent on improvements to infrastructure. Excel built a 100,000 ft2 order processing centre, and installed several new cutting-edge machining centres. The processing centre is the new home of the warehouse, parts prep, paint, shipping and logistics teams, plus it is the hub for all incoming and outbound shipments. Products requiring critical assembly will pass through a brand new clean assembly room and a new, large work space is dedicated to staging, handling, and inspection of large components. Painted components will now flow through a state-of-the-art wash, paint and bake system that will greatly improve efficiency, speed, quality and handling. To assist with the flow of product, a 20 t and a 75 t overhead crane provide the capacity needed for its largest assemblies and are capable of running the length of the building.
Another leading crusher replacement parts player, UK-based CMS Cepcor, has announced that Baguley Precision Engineers, the whollyowned UK manufacturing subsidiary business of CMS Cepcor, has been transferred into its Precision Services Division. With recent investment in new premises in Coalville to accommodate a new technical centre, the company has made the decision to transfer all Baguley personnel into the newly formed Precision Services Division; subsequently relocating all machining services from Burtonon-Trent to the new technical centre.
The new technical centre represents a substantial investment in new premises, and CNC manufacturing capability, which will further enhance the manufacturing, inspection and repair facilities in Coalville and offers greatly improved manufacturing efficiency for the company. CMS Cepcor has also confirmed that all skilled engineering staff have been retained and further recruitment of skilled CNC operator/programmers is currently underway. The company’s approved facilities include CNC, milling, turning, boring, slotting, grinding, drilling, pressing, welding, co-ordinate measuring, material testing and assembly. Chris Sydenham – Technical Director, commented, “The recent transfer of Baguley into the Precision Services Division and our recent business expansion, will mark the beginning of a new manufacturing chapter for the company which will also provide further opportunities for our supply partners.”
The new technical centre, which was formally commissioned during the first quarter of 2013 is located at Samson Road on Hermitage Industrial Estate in Coalville, Leicestershire. CMS Cepcor has also again been awarded preferred supplier status, covering replacement crusher parts and manganese crusher liners and service by major quarrying group, Aggregate Industries. CMS Cepcor has held preferred supplier status in the UK since 2006, supplying a wide range of crusher services, crusher repairs, premium replacement crusher spare parts and premium manganese crusher liners.
Gears and mills
In early 2012, Ferry-Capitain, along with its Groupe CIF sister company, CMD, had been awarded a full scope of supply – girth gear sets, single-stage speed reducers, mill heads and trunnions – for large gear-driven 36 ft SAG and 26 ft ball mills, destined for two separate projects located in Russia and South America. Groupe CIF was also entering the late stages of an extensive capital investment campaign aimed at expanding capacities and capabilities to position its affiliates as leading supply sources for mining process equipment OEMs and related end-users. The company told IM: “While the grinding mill equipment projects have been successfully completed, with one entering the installation phase and the other in the final phases of shipment at the time of publication – and a duplicate of a large portion of the Russian project scope just underway for delivery in early 2014 – the capital investment program has also reached its pinnacle, with the installation and commissioning of the crown jewel of the campaign, a 52 ft capacity machining centre that is capable of turning, drilling, and gear cutting.”
The machining centre, dubbed “VBCM16” for Vertical Boring & Cutting Machine, is in the group’s Hattingen, Germany, facility in a dedicated temperature-controlled building, and can hold up to 450 t on its table for turning operations (350 t for gear cutting), accommodate part heights up to 6,000 mm, and cut gears of tooth size up to module 50 with face widths up to 1,500 mm. “Our customers for open gearing in the industry have often times expressed a desire to offer geared drivetrain solutions in place of gearless motors for SAG mills larger than 36 ft in diameter, which had been the practical physical limit for open gears for some time now. This machine’s capabilities will now allow us to offer open gearing for the largest SAG mills in existence”, said Emmanual Chevalier, Commercial Director.
The company is also undertaking a campaign to advance awareness of cast ductile iron as a prime open gearing material, through the promotion of its FerryNod proprietary grades of this material. A detailed technical article is in the final phases of being published, for eventual presentation during the AGMA Fall Technical Meeting in September 2013.
“We have championed ductile iron as gear material in the mining industry for a couple of decades now, and we have been at the leading edge of metallurgical developments to enhance its properties and application range” explained Chevalier. “Although there are still very few instances where a cast steel gear may be required, ductile iron has some specific advantages in terms of cost, lead time and inservice performance that make it an attractive first option in many cases. From our perspective, being as we manufacture and supply both cast steel and cast ductile iron gears, we don’t need to promote one over the other, but we do feel strongly about the benefits of FerryNod.”
In its 100th year, FLSmidth MAAG Gear has been looking back at the key milestones in company and technology development since 1913. Max Maag, a pioneer in the field of gear technology, founded Maag Zahnräder AG. On April 1, 1913, he moved the company to Hardstrasse 219 in Zurich and as a result, 1913 is considered the founding year of the company. The factory produced hardened, ground gears for a number of industries such as aviation (Zeppelin), car making, metal working and ship building. It also designed gear-cutting machines and gear grinders.
MAAG Gear milestones include 1910 with the invention of the Maag tooth design; still in use today, it provides gear manufacturers with an ideal method of influencing tooth shape to improve load bearing and sliding characteristics. In 1913 the company introduced a gear grinder guided by diamond tracers for precision-shaped gears for the car industry. This was used for the next 70 years. In 1939 the PH-60 gear-measuring machine was developed. By the time production was phased out in 1981, 1,260 machines had been delivered to customers worldwide, some of which are still in use today. The year 1949 saw the introduction of the HSS-360 gear grinder, which could handle gear diameters up to 3,600 mm and workpieces weighing up to 25 t, making it the largest gear grinder in the world at that time. Then 1966 saw the design of heavy-duty two-stage planetary gear units – called CPUs – for horizontal mills in the cement industry.
Around 1930, Maag went international and founded subsidiaries in France and Italy. Over the next 50 years, the company developed a number of successful gear measuring and gear grinding machines. In the 1980s the company board defined a new strategy and expanded into a new market by taking over a company that produced powder castings. The machine tool business was closed down and MAAG Gear was founded as an independent company. In the 1990s it became clear that this strategy was not working and MAAG Gear was sold to FLSmidth. Since then, FLSmidth MAAG Gear has designed, produced and maintained gears, gear units and drive systems for the cement and minerals industries.
In the modern era, in 1983 MAAG delivered its first WPU two-stage gear unit for a vertical roller mill. The largest WPU gear unit weighs 190 t and outputs 5,346 kW at a speed of 995/23 rpm. In 2007, MAAG introduced its unique concept of a three stage bevel planetary gear unit WPV with torque split. The torque split enables approximately 25% of the power to be guided directly through the planet shafts of the second stage into the output flange. The three-stage concept was the answer to the ever increasing mill sizes. The biggest MAAG WPV weighs 220 t and outputs almost 8,000 kW. In 2011, FLSmidth MAAG Gear launched an entirely new drive concept for vertical mills: MAAG CEM Drive (Central Electric Motor) combines the advantages of proven MAAG gear technology with an ingenious motor concept, all-in-one common housing.
Australia’s Hofmann Engineering recently manufactured a record gear for use in China. Manufactured at Hofmann’s Bassendean factory in Western Australia, the forged steel mill gear is believed to be the world’s biggest, with an external diameter of 13.2 m and a weight of 73.5 t. It will transmit 17,000 kW when driven by two 9 t pinions, also made by Hofmann. The completed gear set is bound for the grinding mill at an un-named copper mine in China.
Following the success of its CX conveyor drive launch, David Brown is to launch the new MDX mill drive system. The MDX system is available as a full system or as separate key components – girth gears, mill pinions, and mill drive gearboxes with barring/inching drives. The flexible ratio options of the MDX range means David Brown can offer complete optimised package solutions for primary and secondary grinding applications such as AG, SAG and ball mills, as well as kiln and dryer applications. The MDX range is adaptable and available as replacement units, drop in designs or designed as part of a complete mill drive system enabling the customer to utilise the most cost effective solution.
All of David Brown’s mining product suite – which includes girth gears, , pinions, shovel and dragline gearboxes, stacker reclaimer drives, conveyor drives, mill drives and barring drives, agitators and mixers drives – are now available with the company’s three-year extended warranty package ‘3X’. 3X is available on new David Brown products and also on gearboxes of any brand and model repaired or overhauled by David Brown, including competitors, and provides access to David Brown’s global network of service and repair centres.
Mine rolling stock
Anglo American Platinum’s Rustenburg Platinum Mines has placed an order with DCD Rolling Stock for 20 new side discharge hopper wagons that will be used to transport platinum ore from the mine’s various shafts to the processing plant. Manufacture is underway at DCD Rolling Stock’s facility in Boksburg and delivery will take place from April to June 2013. DCD Rolling Stock has a longstanding relationship with Anglo American Platinum’s Rustenburg Mines spanning about 20 years that has seen the company supply a number of hopper wagons to the mine. Daryl Leggitt, Technical Manager at DCD Rolling Stock, says the company has also worked alongside the mine’s engineers over the past decade to adjust the design of certain hoppers to suit changing mechanical and safety requirements and to refurbish existing hopper wagons.
The design of the units in the latest order features a unique safety mechanism on the bottom discharge doors that prevents the doors opening accidentally in transit and creating spillage, which presents a major safety risk. “We call this a ‘central shaft over top dead centre locking device’ and it has been designed specifically for Rustenburg Platinum Mines,” says Leggitt, who adds that this is a significant order from the mining industry. “The device comprises three offset levers connected to the doors with three links per door. The levers have two end stops to ensure that they rotate over the centre position, ensuring that the doors cannot open accidentally. As an additional safety feature, a pneumatically operated interlock is included, featuring a cam and hook that lock into place once the doors are fully closed.”
The discharge hopper wagons, having a gross mass off 85 t, have payload volumes of 26 m3 with 5 m3 volume reducers. The hoppers’ body and underframe comprise an all-welded construction utilising S355JR steel, delivering an increase in strength of about 18% compared to the previous hopper wagons supplied. The body ends, centre gable and volume reducer are angled to avoid any hang-up of ore during unloading operations.
The wagons will be fitted with high impact and wear resistant body liners manufactured from Tivar GR12 material, 20 mm thick on the body ends and volume reducer and 12 mm thick on the lower half of the centre gable. The braking system combines vacuum and air brakes, with each system capable of operating independently. The wagons will also be equipped with two self-steer HS Mk VII bogies manufactured from new components to comply with the latest Transnet specifications.
DCD Rolling Stock, part of the DCD conglomerate (previously DCD-DORBYL), operates as an international systems house with an in-house capability that allows it to offer a total rolling stock package, from design and manufacture, to refurbishing and modernising bogies and supporting the aftersales market for bogies, including supply of renewal parts.
DCD Rolling Stock has its own accredited quality, environmental and health & safety systems in place — SABS ISO 9001:2008, Moody International BS EN ISO 14001:2004 and Moody International BSI OHSAS 18001 — which ensure that manufacturing processes are carried out under controlled conditions to mitigate their impact on the environment and to international quality standards.
DCD Rolling Stock has been in business for more than a 100 years, having designed and manufactured more than 130,000 wagons on Cape Gauge lines, 1,000 Electric and GE Diesel Electric locomotives, and 4,000 underground locomotives. The Boksburg-based DCD Rolling Stock site, of which 40,000 m2 is under cover, incorporates state-of-the-art technology and equipment. The company holds the intellectual property rights on most of its manufactured products and has been granted licences for affiliated products from American companies such as McConway & Torley/NACO, Keystone Railway Equipment, Columbus Steel Castings/Buckeye and, locally, Railway Dynamic Systems for HS self-steering bogies.
Inspection investment
South Africa’s VR Steel was the 2012 overall winner of the Technology Top 100 Awards, while also being recognised for excellence in the Management of Systems and People area. The company told IM: “South Africa’s ability to compete with the rest of the world relies heavily on leaders of innovation in all industries. VR Steel spends around ZAR10 million a year on research and development, as well as stringent adherence to the technology that it uses to design, manufacture and maintain its products.”
The group says that despite a difficult business environment in South Africa, that it continues to benefit from its long-standing relationships and reputation within the mining industry. Kriel Colliery is the latest Anglo American mine to place an order for the VR Tapered Bucket for draglines. In other ranges, production in Shanghai, China has generated an upsurge in the commissioning of its Komatsu 930E and Hitachi EH3500ACII truck bodies. To date VR Steel has delivered 26 in a space of 15 months. In hydraulic excavators, since the launch of the VR Hydraulic Face shovel bucket a year ago, it has been delivered on eight RH340s which the company believes is testament to the “world class engineering designs programmes used.” Because of the optimised shape, determined by material flow simulations, the VR RH340 product has produced a consistent minimum 85% bucket fill. Parallel to the test that every new product gives its creator, VR Steel is targeting 3,000 and 6,000 maintenance-free cycles for the back jaw and back wall respectively.
Investment also continues at VR Steel’s operations, where it has recently added ZAR5 million of laser resources to the engineering department, namely the Romer Absolute arm, the FARO Focus 3D and Leica Laser Tracker. These are state of the art measuring instruments. By applying Point Clouds, these are vertices that are indicative of the external surface of a truck bowl, shovel, a dipper or bucket being measured. With the new technology, the engineering team is confident that clients are assured “of a faster and more factual inspection than previously with traditional methods.” VR Steel states that there has already been a reduced set-up time for machines and a decrease of production wait time as the data is more efficient and automatic. This technology was recently used for a VR Dipper delivered to the Exxaro Grootegeluk coal mine and for truck bowls manufactured in Shanghai: “The precision of the interface is the most consequential part of every attachment tool. The accuracy and speed of the effect of the measurements and distance between the primary and secondary parts that make up the interface have been very rewarding in comparison to conventional methods used previously. The craftsmanship of VR Steel’s Design engineers and the ultra-modern methods have accrued critical data to evolve their products and remain at the pinnacle of their industry.” IM
