Evaluation of factors affecting in tricone rotary bits wear of drilling machines in Open Pit Mines - A Case Study

Extraction and exploitation is one of the important parts in the field of mines and mining industries. Blast hole drilling is the first stage of the production cycle in open pit mines. Which account for a large part of the exploitation costs. In operational processes, bits are one of the most sensitive and important parts of drilling, due to the type of application and high costs. Wear of these tools are an important parameter for estimating the efficiency of drilling equipment in mining projects. Wear of drilling bits is a function of various factors, some of which are related to machinery, operational parameters and management parameters, and some are dependent on the conditions and rock properties and rock mass and the surrounding environment. Examining the parameters affecting the tricone rotary bits wear can prevent wasting time and additional costs of the drilling process. Therefore, in this study, the evaluation of the factors affecting the tricone rotary bits wear in Sarcheshmeh copper mine has been investigated. For this purpose, the tricone rotary bits wear has been calculated through weight loss and by determining the effective parameters, the relationship between these factors and the tricone rotary bits wear has been determined through statistical methods. Then, using sensitivity analysis, the effect of input parameters on the target is determined. The results of these analyzes show that all the parameters of the study except the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), porosity and Equivalent Quartz Content on the desired output (the tricone rotary bits wear).