Above: Liebherr® R9600 at a coal mine in Queensland, Australia undergoing a Condition Monitoring inspection.
Earlier this year a customer at a coal mine in Queensland, Australia approached Progress Mining enquiring about a replacement undercarriage for one of their Liebherr® R9600 hydraulic excavators. This excavator had already completed over 18,000 hours of operation and according to the OEM guidelines the undercarriage was forecast for replacement after 20,000 hours. The decision to ask for a replacement undercarriage was also based on the historical performance of another of their excavators a Liebherr® R996B operating in similar conditions on site.
Above: OEM undercarriage on Liebherr® R9600 excavator scheduled to be replaced.
As part of our free Condition Monitoring Service the team at Progress Mining had been monitoring this R9600 OEM undercarriage for almost three years. When the customer requested a replacement undercarriage our team reviewed the reports and saw that the wear rates on the R9600 were low, data indicated that there was significant life left in the OEM components. To ascertain if this was still the case an undercarriage inspection was organised to verify if current wear rates were in line with previous trends.
Above: Platform specific gauges being used to measure component wear during the inspection on the Liebherr® R9600 OEM undercarriage.
The data gathered during the inspection was analysed and used to generate the undercarriage condition report which confirmed that the tracks and sprockets were still less than 50% worn. Based on the results of this inspection and the recommendations of the team at Progress Mining, the customer decided to re-plan the undercarriage change out to a conservative target of 30,000 hours. This change immediately gave the customer an extra 50% more undercarriage life over what they expected. The team at progress Mining will continue to inspect the machine to monitor the wear rate of the components to see if they meet the new projected changeout target.
Above: Charts extracted from the Condition Monitoring Report on the Liebherr® R9600 OEM undercarriage show that the tracks and sprockets were still less than 50% worn.
Having knowledge of the R9600 platform design improvements as well as extensive performance data, the team at Progress Mining were able to provide real value and support to the customer by extending the life of the OEM undercarriage. As demonstrated by this example our Condition Monitoring Service helps us and the customer understand how long components last in specific working environments and conditions. This data and the reports generated help plan for servicing and replacement schedules, reducing machine down time and extend undercarriage life.
If you encounter similar problems at your mine site and want to know more about how our expert team can help visit our Services page email us at info@progressmining.com
Where ever mining is Progress Mining is there to help.