An investigation on the influence of depth of cut and blasting on shovel digging performance

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the results of performance monitoring of electrical shovels in terms of depth of cut and blast performance on diggability. A field research programme has been undertaken at four different rock units of surface coal mines, namely Yata?an fresh and weathered marl, Tinaz marl and conglomerate. A performance monitoring system has been developed and utilized for different type and size of power shovels. Three different depth of classes (< 0·4, 04–0·6, 0·6–0·8 meters for unblasted cases) are established and indicated on dipper of the shovel before excavation. Those depth of classes were tried with and/or without blasting. The digging difficulty of rock units in terms of power consumption has been determined before and after blasting. As it is expected, the power consumption and specific digging energy increase, as the rock unit becoming harder and stronger and depth of cut increases.