AFC Pan Stability Investigation

This study aims at understanding the cause of Armoured Face Conveyor (AFC) pans "lifting" or "surfing" through the cut coal rather than following the floor of the cut. This has been an ongoing problem for underground coal mining operations, and has crippled the operation of particular mines, reducing productivity by up to 1/3rd. While all of the OEM's have some form of modelling, testing, or analysis; the results of the OEM testing appear incomparable and somewhat arbitrary.

This is the first project in this ACARP investigation that ultimately aims at providing a useful series of comparison tools that can be used to assess the likelihood of AFC pan lifting at the design assessment stage of AFC procurement.  

This study was structured to define the following:

· Define the problem.

· Define prevalence and cost of AFC pan instability to the Australian coal mining industry.

· Investigate mechanics driving instability.

· Investigate opportunities and limitations for computational mechanics.

· Present tools that could be used to compare AFC pan designs.