CAT® TRUCK BODIES: CRITICAL DESIGN FACTORS

There are a lot of variables to consider when designing Cat® large mining truck bodies — from how they work as part of a truck system to the applications in which they’ll be operating. One of the most critical things to consider is the material they will be hauling and the impact it will have on body life and performance. 

Fragmentation

Blasting has a significant impact on the life of a truck body. The larger the material the more severe its impact. The target zone is the front two-thirds loading area of the body. Central zones will often be thicker than later zones to optimize liner life with less weight impact. Special impact packages include reinforced structure between ribs and/or thicker base plates, which offer increased impact absorption.

Abrasion 

Abrasion rates can be determined by the typical wear liner life and / or by bucket tip life. Severe abrasion can also influence liner decisions in the middle zone, although wear rates will be highest at the rear of the body. Options include:

• Smooth plate for cohesive materials

• Rock box for dry and non-cohesive materials

• Tumbler bars for larger rocks

• Chromium Carbide for severe abrasion

Cohesion

Material cohesion is a concern when material is sticky and doesn’t release from the truck body. The material left inside the body is referred to as carryback. In addition to being extremely inefficient, carryback makes it difficult to manage equipment and results in inadvertent abuse of the machine. Accuracy of the Vehicle Information Management System (VIMS) can be erroneous due to the additional weight. Depending on where you in are in the calibration process, the truck is either recording the carryback on every load — resulting in inflated production numbers — or worse yet ignoring the information and causing the truck to be overloaded. Carryback can also increase fuel burn and drive downtime for cleaning.

Options to address cohesion include exhaust body heat, liner design (smooth plate), and body geometry changes such as stop sign plates and curved transition plates.