Title: Frictional-thermal fatigue of cutting tips of roadheader picks

Authors: Piotr Cheluszka; Stanisław Mikuła; Jarosław Mikuła

Addresses: Department of Mining Mechanisation and Robotisation, Faculty of Mining, Safety Engineering, and Industrial Automation, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland ' Department of Mining Mechanisation and Robotisation, Faculty of Mining, Safety Engineering, and Industrial Automation, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland ' Department of Engineering Materials and Biomaterials, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego 18A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

Abstract: The phenomenon of frictional-thermal fatigue, caused by the strong friction of pick tips against the excavated rock mass, occurring during the operation of conical picks of machines used in particular for the mining of hard rock is of a complex nature. In this article, we describe the nucleation and development of the failure of cutting picks caused by frictional-thermal fatigue in conjunction with other pick tip destructive processes. Guidelines have been formulated, and the implementation of which will help to reduce the emergence and development of frictional-thermal fatigue. In this study, we present a constructional proposal of cutting picks with ring-type tips that allow for the implementation of water spraying in the cutting zone with simultaneous rotation of the picks around their longitudinal axis through a turbine system. This considerably increases the service life of the cutting tools thereby improving the efficiency of the machine during the mining.

Keywords: excavation; conical picks of mining machines; wear and tear; frictional-thermal fatigue mechanism; central water spraying system; modification of construction; improvement of durability; reducing the picks load; lowering the energy consumption.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMME.2022.129518

International Journal of Mining and Mineral Engineering, 2022 Vol.13 No.2, pp.119 - 134

Received: 17 Jun 2021
Received in revised form: 11 Jul 2022
Accepted: 12 Jul 2022
Published online: 13 Mar 2023 *

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