PERFORMANCE PREDICTION OF ROADHEADERS IN FULLY MECHANIZED TABAS COAL MINE PROJECT OF IRAN

摘要

Road headers are extensively used in underground mining especially coal mining, mine development and tunneling due to their unique capability for the excavation of soft to medium strength rock formations. Road headers have also remarkable advantages including high productivity, reliability, mobility, flexibility, safety, selective excavation, less strata disturbances, fewer personnel and lower capital and operating costs. A crucial issue in successful road header application is the ability to evaluate the machine performance. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the cutting performance of road headers in coal measure rocks by paying special attention to the establishment of a comprehensive database of field performance from Tabas Coal Mine. Tabas Coal Mine is the largest and fully mechanized mine in Iran and considered as the biggest producer of coal in all over the country.