Method of assessment of hard rock workability using bucket wheel excavators

Abstract

A new hypothesis concerning a process of the mining solid rocks using bucket wheel excavators (BWE). Destroying of the rock mass structure is a result of breaking and not, as so far accepted, of cutting. This approach excludes, for the description of solid rock workability using bucket wheel excavators, used classifications based on individual linear or surface resistances of cutting. The possibility of a replacement mechanism for determining of the workability by bucket wheel excavators using rippers was assumed. On this basis, an innovative method for assessing the workability of solid rocks was developed, which is a combination of an derived empirical energy relationship LSE of breaking by tractor rippers from a compressive strength, a seismic wave velocity, a density of solid rock, and the modified classification of workability by bucket wheel excavators according to Bulukbasi (1991). The proposed method allows for multi-parameter assessment of the workability class based on the parameters that are independent variables in the specified dependencies.