28 Mar 2023
After two decades of repairing and rebuilding heavy haulage trays, SMW Group decided there was a better way to approach the common maintenance issues experienced. They did this by combining excellence in design and quality materials to create the Ultrahaul trays.
The Ultrahaul tray is maintenance-free and increases the productivity of each truck by 40 per cent by optimising the tray size to suit the mined product.
The trays are designed to OEM specifications and engineered to suit the site’s specific material. The trays use 40 tonnes of predominantly BISALLOY® Structural 80 steel and BISALLOY® Wear 400 and 450 steel to assist the design in withstanding the toughest wear and tear.
BISALLOY® Structural steel grade is used for the frame of the heavy haulage dump truck trays to provide higher strength-to-weight ratios while maintaining structural integrity to accommodate for the maximised payload.
BISALLOY® Wear steel grades are then used in the body of the tray to accommodate for the extensive wear and tear the increased payload requires. With superior hardness and abrasion resistance, BISALLOY® Wear grade steel provides the body of the tray with increased wear life while preventing fatigue cracking. This further decreases the downtime on-site due to costly repairs and maintenance.
In addition to the time and money saved on maintenance, using different grades of steel to reduce the overall weight of the tray increases the fuel efficiency of the entire fleet, which provides significant reductions in emissions and the overall cost of operations for the mine site.
Utilising the broad range of Bisalloy’s Australian-made, quenched and tempered steel grades has optimised the efficiency and performance of the customised Ultrahaul trays to allow SMW Group to provide the best solution for their customers.
SMW Group designed, delivered and manufactured the Ultrahaul in response to common faults. The trays are achieving maximum truck design payload (plus freeboard) and are monitored by SMW Group’s Product Support team to ensure their effective life in the field is being met. With proven fleet results on one of the Bowen Basin’s biggest mine sites, it is a testament to the product’s strength. SMW Group is a leading one-vendor supplier and contractor in Australia, versatile to work with industry and major projects. In 2016, SMW Group delivered a fleet of nine Caterpillar 793D Ultrahaul trays to a client in the Bowen Basin, following initial testing of the tray design on site.
These trays are manufactured utilising SMW Group’s state-of-the-art robotic welding system and more conventional automated welding processes, providing the client with significant cost and time savings. To date, the underbody rib design is entirely maintenance-free.
Bravus Mining & Resources CEO David Boshoff said Bravus was keen to capitalise on SMW Group’s 20 years of experience servicing central Queensland’s coal fields.
“There’s an extensive mining services knowledge base in our region, and it has always been our intention to use this and work with businesses based in central Queensland wherever possible,” Mr Boshoff said.
SMW Group also won the contract to supply trays to the entirety of Bravus’s Caterpillar heavy haulage fleet – a total of 23 trays. The trays were manufactured in Rockhampton and Mackay before being transported to Carmichael for commissioning.
Two specific types of trays were engineered and manufactured specifically for the client – one for the site’s overburden, and one for coal. Matching the tray to the payload increases productivity and maximum payload haulage per spend. The resulting liner-free Ultrahaul tray is lightweight for minimal maintenance and maximum efficiency.
Keeping contracts local was an essential aspect of this project, as it would create more local jobs and employ the local knowledge of the Queensland coal mining that Bisalloy, RPG and SMW Group all possess. The collaboration saw significant outcomes for the mine site.
RPG is an integrated steel solutions partner based in Wacol, Queensland. Further extending the regional capability for the Ultrahaul order, RPG programmed SMW Group’s drawings of the customised Ultrahaul trays into their fully CAD-compatible steel profiling/processing system to prepare the plate. RPG also used their state-of-the-art break pressing and plate rolling machines to help SMW Group fulfil the order. Also, where applicable, RPG cut weld preps onto the plate, minimising the on-site preparation.
The Ultrahaul trays are an example of how an innovative spirit accompanied by local skills and resources can raise the standard across the mining industry.
Original article can be found on https://resourcesreview.com.au/
