HEAVY ENGINEERING
Where Hofmann is earning a reputation with
miners is providing tailored engineering solutions
that solve the problems they come up with.
“In crushing, we may be looking at what
improvements we need to make to get the most
wear life possible, for example, out of specific
components bearing in mind the ore
characteristics, application, etc,” Jarrod Hofmann
explained.
He gave another example: “For a hydraulic
excavator, we might try and, for example, improve
the gearbox for the swing transmission. Here, we
would be making that improvement and that
engineering modification, and then applying it
across the board, so all future gear boxes are
manufactured like that.” A 3 MW load testing
facility for gearboxes in Perth helps with this work.
This typically involves the company pulling
apart an entire machine and reverse engineering it
to ensure that specific component performs better
in the field through increased wear life or
functionality. It may also involve manufacturing a
more cost competitive solution than others
already on the market.
“That is the main way we have been able to
grow,” he said. “Normally, how it has happened is
a customer has come to us with a problem, given
us that problem, we’ve solved it for them and
given them the results. Then, a couple of months
later, they return to us with another issue for us to
take the same approach on.”
Using the latest five axis machines, next
generation welding technology and digital tools,
the company has managed to create and continue
to build this niche for itself.
Game-changing innovations
Austin Engineering has made a name for itself
across its native Australia, and globally, for
designing robust and innovative engineering
solutions for hauling and loading equipment both
above and below ground.
It is leveraging this expertise – and a huge
databank of designs – to create new products, as
well as advise clients on not only ways to increase
truck or shovel payload, but also loading and
haulage efficiency.
Deon Wessels, Engineering Manager for Austin
Engineering, says mining companies are slowly
coming round to the fact that payload alone is not
the most critical factor in loading and hauling
applications. Instead, they should focus on
payload matching – when the capacities of truck
and shovel are matched to the application at
hand.
“It is a change in the game in the last two years
and is really making people think differently about
loading and haulage,” he told IM.
For reasons of price, contracts, preference and
proven performance history, many miners will
purchase an excavator from OEM ‘A’ and trucks
from OEM ‘B’. Because the bodies on the trucks
are not matched – as set by the manufacturer – to
the loading tool, the concept of payload matching
enters a grey area, productivity drops and costs
around load and haul increase markedly,
according to Austin Engineering.
This mismatch becomes apparent on site as
truck OEMs look at variations in the 10/10/20 rule
(no more than 10% of loads are over 110% of
target payload and never exceed 120%) to
maximise payloads and the direct effect the
specific gravity of the product has on loads.
Although unique, these two elements have a close
correlation when loads and capacities are being
decided, Austin says.
The ASX-listed company has invested heavily in
advanced software to match loading tools to truck
bodies and, argues Wessels, devotes a lot of time
and effort to the science of payload matching and,
by extension, maximising productivity and profit
for the end user.
This software is also leading to the design and
development of new products that the industry is
eating up.
Wessels says other engineering companies use
the same type of fatigue analysis and simulation
software, but few have the database and detailed
engineering design capabilities of the Australiabased
firm.
“This enables us to run a lot more options with
the software to test the product and input
scenarios from real-life applications,” he said.
One of the products to have come out of this
R&D is Austin’s two-piece excavator bucket.
Originally designed following a remit from BHP
to remove wear liners from buckets following a
fatal accident at the miner’s majority-owned
Goonyella Riverside mine in Queensland,
Australia, this innovation is now finding
widespread appeal.
The bucket assembly features well-defined
reusable upper and consumable lower structures
designed for quick and safe bucket change-outs
during scheduled maintenance intervals, Austin
says, with the bucket structurally verified for the
nominated fatigue life using both the ANSYS finite
element analysis (FEA) software and EDEM
simulation Wessels spoke of.
The upper and lower sections of the new bucket
are fabricated with combinations of high-strength
steel for maximum fatigue resistance and
durability, according to the company, with the
typical baseline service life for the upper section
service in the vicinity of 30,000 hours. This is
around four-to-five years based on industry
expectations of conventional one-piece buckets of
similar size and capacities, the company says.
Like most of Austin’s products, options are
available, with the bucket coming in fully-lined or
liner-less configurations. The consumable lower
section features a simplified design to improve the
change-out time of a complete lower section or
the removal and replacement of worn individual
components, according to the company. For fully
liner-less lower bucket assemblies, the resulting
structure uses alternative high strength and wear
resistant materials in key areas along with
increased thickness of identified structural
components, Austin says.
Wessels says a trial at BHP’s nickel operations
in Western Australia impressed, while another Tier
1 miner is currently carrying out its own internal
tests to decide if it should incorporate the design
into future bucket procurement plans.
“The advantage of going liner-less, on top of
the safety aspect, is you have a lighter bucket, so
you utilise more bucket capacity,” he said. “By the
end of the year, I imagine this could end up being
the standardised bucket design for us.”
Over that same time frame, the company could
also have launched a two-piece design for wheel
loaders, Wessels said, adding that it has already
started trialling a prototype.
Aside from two-piece developments, Wessels
says the company is busy testing out SSAB’s
Hardox ® 500 Tuf steel wear plate for use in its
future products. “We anticipate improved
properties, including increased wear life, which
will allow us to provide better solutions for our
customers,” he said.
Austin is also looking to digitalisation
developments to help its customers increase haul
truck utilisation, with Wessels confirming the
company is trialling the use of sensors on its
dump bodies for real-time wear analysis.
“We’re building software to get that real-time
data to our customers,” he said, adding that this
could improve safety and eradicate the need for
scheduled maintenance in not just manual haul
trucks but also autonomous ones.
Trials took place in March and the results are
expected to be available by the end of the year,
according to Wessels.
Austin’s new Stairway Access Tank for large
water tanks – built to improve efficiency, operator
safety and truck stability – could soon be seen on
the world’s first fully autonomous water tank, set
to be commissioned in Australia, too, according to
Wessels.
Scaling up digital developments
Australia- and US-headquartered technology and
engineering company, CR, has recently expanded
its footprint in North and South America with the
acquisition of Berkeley Forge & Tool.
CR’s product range already included cast lip
systems, dragline buckets, GETs, dragline rigging,
conveyor systems and fixed plant wear products,
in addition to real-time mining data technology
capabilities through the CR Digital Titan 3330™
Load Haul Optimisation System.
The BFT deal broadens the company’s product
36 International Mining | JUNE 2020