When The Load Is Too Much For Anything Less Than AUSTLON®
THE ISSUE
BHP were experiencing issues with the load bearing ability of a shaft as it had only 3 bushes which could not carry the load allowed. This created issues as it resulted in excessive wear of both the pin and the bushes, which made all 3 bushes wear unevenly.
THE PROCESS
The solution devised was to weld a steel tube in place of the bushes. This would become the housing for the AustLon® bushes. The bushes would now run the length of the shaft and support the shaft much better.
Each of the AustLon® bushes were manufactured at a longer length which spread the load more evenly. Has the same size bush been manufactured from steel this would add to the weight. Additional benefits of the AustLon® bushes is that they are easy to replace and reduce the downtime.
THE OUTCOME
After 22 months of operation, the wear rates were as follows: an average wear of 0.001inch wear per 1,000,000 BCM on the bush with no noticeable wear on the pin.
It was also anticipated that with regular perm lube greasing there is no reason to replace the bush other than when there is work to be performed on the steel housing of the equaliser.