Capital Equipment News

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS

MARCH 2016

DURABLE, LIGHTWEIGHT TRUCK BODIES

help reduce SA mining costs

n unconventional, innovative and

cost-effective truck body, designed

by international truck body manu-

facturer Desarrollos Tecnológicos S.A (DT

HiLoad), is now allowing open cast mining

companies in South Africa to offset sliding

commodity prices by reducing operational

costs significantly. In the Southern African

territory, the bodies are manufactured by

Johannesburg-based industry leaders, Ef-

ficient Engineering, and are already in op-

eration on Anglo American, De Beers and

Swakop uranium mine sites.

These lightweight and highly durable truck

bodies have achieved success in coal-

based, copper, iron ore, platinum, ura-

nium and diamond applications, with al-

most 2000 bodies supplied globally to fit

Komatsu, Caterpillar and Hitachi trucks.

“Historically, not much emphasis has been

placed on the rigid mining truck body,” says

Craig Davidovics, Efficient Engineering’s

Engineering Manager. “In fact, the design

of these bodies has seen very little change

over the past 25 years, with the focus pri-

marily being on extracting maximum lifes-

pan, which, in many cases, does not make

allowance for mine-specific ore densities.”

In contrast, the DT body is a product of the

evolution in smart engineering, taking into

consideration the material density of the

application as well as the particular truck

model in order to ensure optimal fleet per-

formance. Its innovative curved design fully

exploits the allowable elasticity of the high

performance, quench and tempered steel

used in manufacture, allowing it to achieve

structural integrity whilst utilising signifi-

cantly less steel. With only five different

plate thicknesses in use over a single mate-

rial grade throughout the body construction,

both the manufacturing time and produc-

tion costs are reduced.

A recent case study within the South Af-

rican coal mining industry can be used to

illustrate the benefits of the DT body. In the

study, a fleet of 6 rigid haul trucks fitted

with the standard 93 m³(3:1) convention-

al bodies, capable of hauling 155 tonnes

each, achieved an average payload of

102 tonnes - a 34 % loss per load cy-

cle - due to the low density of the coal. In

comparison, when the new DT bodies were

utilised in the same application, they of-

fered a significantly higher load capacity of

150m³(3:1), achieved an average payload

of 155 tonnes. The cost benefit per Body at

a 90% fill factor, were as follows:

• Increased payload of approximately

43.2 tonne.

• Three load cycles per hour relates to

130 additional tonnes per hour

• Indicative cost of thermal coal is $50

per tonne

• Total benefit $ 6 500 per hour over the

fleet.

• Break even of initial capital expense of

Body is 23 production hours.

“Despite the DT body’s lightweight de-

sign, lifespan has not been compromised

– in fact, it has been significantly extend-

ed. Once the bodies reach the typical re-

placement age of 40,000 hours, they show

only minor fatigue cracking and mechani-

cal damage, and floor wear is limited to a

maximum of 3 mm (9 %). Unlike traditional

bodies, the modular design of the DT bod-

ies allows for easy replacement of damaged

parts, and can be repaired for continued

operation at a third of the cost of full re-

placement,” continues Davidovics.

The repair of the DT bodies is also conduct-

ed by Efficient Engineering, who manufac-

tures 100% of Komatsu Southern Africa’s

truck body supply, and has established it-

self as the approved manufacturer for DT

bodies destined for the Southern African

market. Efficient Engineering is the only

company authorised to build DT bodies

outside of DT’s own operation in Santiago,

Chile. This approval was attained from DT

within only 2 weeks due to Efficient’s ex-

ceptional build quality, skill capacity and

systems. Product support is done in close

conjunction with DT, who also provides

training and technical support.

The DT Hi-Load product was acquired by

Komatsu Holding South America in October

2011, and is the only alternative Body ap-

proved for first fit to Komatsu Trucks. To date,

60 % of the Bodies produced have been for

Komatsu based machines. The remaining

40 % being shared almost equally between

Caterpillar and Hitachi based units.

MINING