https://www.miningweekly.com

Dump truck makes it into Guinness Book of Records

4th July 2014

  

Font size: - +

Belarus-based multinational engineering company Belarusian Autoworks’ (BelAZ’s) BelAZ-75710, the world’s largest mining two-axle all-wheel-drive dump truck – with a weight-carrying capacity of 450 t – has proved worthy of an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.

The new vehicle, which rolled out of the BelAZ plant late last year, is currently being field-tested as the biggest machine of its class, with a record-breaking capacity.

To suit the needs of the gigantic haul truck, Germany-based multinational engineering company Siemens developed a unique alternating current (ac) traction drive system, the MMT500.

The system comprises four 1 200 kW electric motors, two traction generators, three blowers, a brake resistor unit and a control cabinet with two Elfa inverters.

As opposed to its predecessors, the new dumper features eight wheels, each designed for about 100 t of load. Therefore, Siemens traction division experts chose to develop a reliable and powerful all-wheel drive train with four electrical machines.

The dump truck’s all-wheel gear has also opened up new possibilities in terms of distributing tractive effort to both axles.

Further, in the event of failure occurring on one of the driving gears, an emergency mode can be activated, enabling the dumper to get to the service station without having to be towed.

The traction motors for the electric gear were manufactured at Siemens’ facilities in Nuremberg. The project was completed in a comparatively short term – the development process, from ordering to commissioning, took less than two years.

Siemens, which has been developing drive systems for mining dumpers for many years, currently supplies BelAZ with ac traction electric drives for 240 t and 360 t dump trucks.

The BelAZ-75710 is the first vehicle in its class of super-high-load trucks, with a weight-carrying capacity of 450 t. It is over 20 m long, nearly 10 m wide and 8 m high.

With a turning diameter of about 20 m, the new dump truck has embodied the latest technological solutions, ensuring its high efficiency, reliability, manoeuvrability and smooth running, as well as the driver’s comfort and safety.

The vehicle’s maximum speed is 64 km/h. The BelAZ-75710 is in high demand in Russia’s Kuznetsk basin (Kuzbass), in south-western Siberia – one of the largest coal mining areas in the world – as well as in certain coal-strip mines in Chile and North America. The first BelAZ-75710 dump truck is due to be delivered to an opencast mine in the Kuzbass region.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION