Fuzzy Logic Application in Improving Maintenance in a Mining Company (PMC)

Abstract

At a platinum mining company, the research was based on the root cause analysis technique. The objective was to determine the major causes of failure of the pebble crusher, to estimate between the major crusher failures and provide suitable solutions that included the optimization of the crushing circuit. Major failures were investigated including the breaking of the main shaft, bearing failure, and also entry of tramp iron in the crushing chamber. In solving these problems, analysis of stresses was done using solid works 2015, and condition monitoring techniques were applied using MATLAB 2015 to investigate the development of the crack in the shaft. The results showed that EN 19 has better physical properties than EN 9 and EN 26. EN 19 was recommended for the construction of the main shaft. Crack detection prediction by using MATLAB can be complemented and validated by the use of non-destructive testing.