Reliability Analysis of Loader Equipment: A Case Study of a Galcheshmeh Travertine Quarry in Iran

Abstract

Unplanned equipment failures and their consequences have significant influence on the total operating cost of a mining system. Loader is one of the main machinery in quarry mines. From an economic point of view, more than 50 % of production costs in quarry mines are allocated to hauling and loading costs, so it is important to keep equipment in good condition. Reliability is a useful tool for evaluating the performance of this machine. In this research, the reliability analysis of loading equipment in Galcheshmeh travertine quarrying which consists of two loaders has been analyzed. In this study, two approaches were considered for analyze maintenance data, namely a basic maintenance approach and a reliability based approach. Trend and serial correlation test were applied to validate the assumption of independent and identically distribution (IID). For finding the best-fit distribution, different types of statistical distributions were tested by the Easyfit software. The developed model based on these data showed that the reliability of the loader No. 1 and Bo. 2 decreases to a zero value after approximately 477 hours and 309 hours of operation, respectively. To achieving the high reliability a review on maintenance program must be performed.