Downtime and maintenance are extremely costly. But some of these costs are avoidable using a proven technology that is a newcomer to mining. UIT significantly improves weld repairs, greatly extending the mean time between failures. Strenuous operating environments and tensile stresses that are an inherent part of welding contribute to failures. Millions are spent every year to evaluate and repair the damage caused by these unavoidable factors. Industry leading companies to include Rio Tinto and Xstrata have already employed UIT.

Applied Ultrasonics can in many cases achieve 3-5 times the life of crack repairs on draglines, electric shovels, trucks and other assets.

UIT uses a portable handheld ergonomic tool, shown right, that uses ultrasonic energy to enhance the grain structure of metal and extend its utility. The tool delivers this ultrasonic energy into the material, imparting compressive stress and relieving tensile stresses created during the welding process. The process plastically deforms the material’s surface and effectively realigns the grain structure of the material resulting in exceptional life extension. Benefits include a fast treatment for fatigue life improvement and an increase in hardness without increasing brittleness.

The effects of UIT translate into tremendous maintenance cost savings on repairs, as well as peace of mind that uptime will be maximized.

Crack repairs are commonplace in the mining industry and result in extensive downtime. The picture shown below shows a typical crack repair of a dragline bucket. The crack has been gouged out and will be re-welded to make it operational again until the next repair. The time between repairs can be as little as two weeks. By using UIT during the welding process, the time between new repairs is increased dramatically – saving time and money. This holds true for other high stress areas such as draglines, electric shovels, trucks, etc.

UIT has been repeatedly proven to increase fatigue life resulting in less downtime and money saved. Applied Ultrasonics provides service onsite to maximize cost effectiveness for the customer. Let us go to work for you.