The Volumetric Wear Assessment of a Mining Conical Pick Using the Photogrammetric Approach

The rapid wear of conical picks used in rock cutting heads in the mining industry has a significant economic impact in cost effectiveness for a given mineral extraction business. Any mining facility could benefit from decreasing the cost along with a substantial durability increase of a conical pick; thus, the hardfacing method of production and regeneration should be taken into account. In order to automatize the regeneration, the wear rate assessment is necessary. This paper presents a methodology used to create a 3D photogrammetric model of most of the commercially available tangential-rotary cutters in their before and after abrasive exploitation state. An experiment of three factors on two levels is carried out to indicate the proper setup of the scanning rig to obtain plausible results. Those factors are: light level, presence of polarizing filter and the distance from the scanned object. The 3D scan of the worn out specimen is compared to the master model via algorithm developed by the authors. This approach provides more detailed information about the wear mechanism and can help either in roadheader cutting head diagnostics or to develop a strategy and optimize the toolpath for the numerically controlled hardfacing machine

The photogrammetric approach in conical picks wear rate evaluation

The cutting tools in mining industry are especially prone to rapid wear, since most of the rocks exhibit aggressive abrasion attributes. A typical representative of fast wearing mining end-tools is a conical pick (also known as tangential-rotary cutter). In order to decrease the premature deterioration, the manufacturers and users tend to enhance the lifespan of the tool by wide range of approaches, namely heat treatment, chemical treatment, burnishing, hardfacing etc. In order to estimate the wear rate of a given pick one has to select appropriate procedure and method of evaluation. By this time, most commonly applied method is to estimate the wear rate basing on mass loss measurements of the tools being exploited with constant cutting parameters and fixed conditions. The Authors proposed also a new method of volumetric wear assessment, basing of three-dimensional photogrammetric scanning and compared the results with the outcome of traditional mass wear evaluation of the same sets of tools. Additionally, this paper contains recommendations regarding both approaches (volumetric and mass), especially focusing on the possibilities of the new method concerning measurements of the manufactured tool

Mass and Volumetric Abrasive Wear Measurements of the Mining Conical Picks

The wearing of cutting tools is a bottleneck of many branches in the industry. However, the tools used in the mining sector are extraordinarily prone to rapid deterioration since many rocks exhibit aggressive abrasive properties. A typical example of a fast wearing cutting tool is a conical pick. It is used in the mining industry and other businesses requiring rock cutting, such as in roadworks and tunnelling. Both manufacturers and users attempt to find a way to enhance the lifespan of the working surface of conical picks via different approaches, namely heat treatment, chemical treatment, work hardening, and hardfacing, etc. To correctly estimate the resistance to abrasive wear for a particular conical pick, one must select appropriate procedures and methods. By this time, the most common estimation method is to measure the mass loss before and after cutting, preserving the specified and constant conditions. This method was developed for users (mines) and manufacturers of cutting tools, especially conical picks. Alternative methods of assessing the picks’ wear are also sought. In this paper, the authors perform additional volumetric loss measurements via a photogrammetric approach, which results in a 3D scan of brand-new and exploited conical pick. Three different sets of four picks were measured both in the domain of mass loss and volume loss, and the results were compared. Slight differences in parameters C2 and C3 were found. Additionally, the authors enclose recommendations regarding the proper use of the methods mentioned above, mainly focusing on the ability to perform linear and angular measurements of the tool performed on the 3D scan