Influence of cutting drum specifications on the production performance of surface miner under varied rock strength – some investigations

Application of surface miners has increased phenomenally all around the world for rock excavation in varied rock mass conditions. There are numerous models of surface miners with wide range of specifications. Machine specifications, specially, power and drum dimensions (drum width and diameter) as well as operating parameter, i.e., depth of cut are related to production. This is in addition to the allowable cutting speed (M/s). ability of surface miner to operate and cut effectively in rock is limited to strength property of rock. Uniaxial compressive strength of rock is one of the important controlling parameters for excavation by surface miner. An in-depth knowledge of rock and machine interaction is imperative for smooth operation and mass production of surface miner. The paper presents the influence of uniaxial compressive strength of rock on normalized production for varied rock types. Production has been projected for different machine specifications especially, drum width, drum diameter and depth of cut (i.e., contact area of drum) and machine power for rocks having different uniaxial compressive strength. Production has also been analyzed with varying depth of cut for different rock strength. Combining various machine and rock parameters an empirical relation has been established to predict the production for a given surface miner of known power rating. Alternately, the power required for achieving a given production can also be arrived from the developed equation. However, the actual production could vary depending on the structure of rocks, abrasivity of material and also the cutting drum design variations (vane spacing, pick spacing, angle of wrap, etc.) which need further studies