Safeguarding availability and productivity of the bucket wheel loader
The removal of overburden and the extraction of lignite in the open cast mine Amsdorf, which is operated by ROMONTA GmbH, are executed by one bucket wheel excavator 1447 SRs 1200, belt conveyors and a stacker. As the excavator is at the heart of all mining activities, it is vital for Romonta’s productivity that it is operative without any interruptions. Consequently, Romonta takes great pains to maintain and upgrade existing equipment. Cutting resistance, however, caused severe vibrations throughout the entire machine under certain circumstances during the digging process. In order to avoid unnecessary stress on the excavator, overall performance had to be reduced, which lead to a considerable reduction of productivity. It was assumed that the bucket wheel excited the excavator’s superstructure at certain speeds. To verify this assumption and to back up the planned enhancements, employing simulation software seemed to be the most viable solution.