Failures of Front-Wheel Spindles of Large Haulage Trucks at Open-Pit Mines in B.C.
CIM Bulletin, Vol. 70, No. 783, 1977
R. T. Saxon, Supervisor, Materials Engineering, Cominco Ltd., Trail, B.C.
Prior to November 1975, there were several failures of front-wheel spindles on large haulage trucks in B.C., attributed to fatigue cracks. Since that time, a nondestructive test program has succeeded in detecting the cracks before catastrophic failure. However, the author regards the failures as just one example of a general unreliability in large high-strength steel castings and urges the industry to look to forgings for sensitive components of heavy equipment.
Keywords:
Open-pit mining, Equipment, Trucks, Spindles, Maintenance, Testing, Forgings.
