AN ENOURMOUS rock-breaking boom, believed to the largest of its kind in the world, has been installed in Western Australia.
The Transmin model XXHD 100/70 Rockbreaker is powered by a 150kW hydraulic power pack, has ten metre boom centres and seven metre jib centres and weighs around 30t.
The unit is also equipped with a Rammer model G100 hydraulic hammer, which weighs four tons on its own and delivers impact energy of up to 9,000J.
The company says the unit is able to cope with the unpredictably high loads which can arise from manipulating and breaking down oversize rocks.
According to the manufacturer, the XXHD model required innovative designs for both the boom and the hydraulics, in order to make it practical.
The boom had to be designed to suitable for applications in the biggest available gyratory crushers and dump pockets in the world. The company used a finite element analysis computer package to identify possible high stress fatigue areas and then engineer them out of the design. High tensile steels and specialised welding techniques were also used in the construction of the boom.
The hydraulics are powered by a high pressure piston pump and use a combination of Transmin-designed 20 and 23cm cylinders and twin pinion slew drives to provide quick and accurate positioning of the hammer.
The machine was assembled and tested at the manufacturer's works prior to delivery. This exercise alone required a special test frame, weighing approximately 20t to be built. The frame allowed the calculated loads to be compared with actual to assisting in its development.
The company will continue to use the test frame in the future, so it can provide customised models to clients.
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