Lighter tipper body in Hardox® 500 Tuf drives up mining productivity

• Weight reduction, with a proportional increase in load capacity
• Body withstands greater loads yet exhibits less deformation and wear, requiring less maintenance
• Longer service life
• Improved truck availability
• Reduced transportation costs
  
  

There’s strength in numbers: three companies in partnership – the Brazilian Metallurgy and Mining Company CBMM, Rossetti Equipamentos Rodoviários, a leading transportation equipment manufacturer, and SSAB – and one Hardox^® 500 Tuf. Together, they created stronger yet lighter steel tipper bodies that weigh 35% less, deliver 5% cost savings in transportation and achieve a 10% longer service life.

On top of this, the vehicles produced through the partnership exhibit low tire wear and consume less fuel – factors that traditionally can drive up the costs of mining operations. This is good news for meeting some of the tough challenges that the mining industry faces. 

Mining is a major sector in Brazil, representing about 2.5% of the country’s GDP. The adoption of new technologies has been decisive for addressing the industry’s challenges. Lighter and more resistant truck and tipper bodies are a recurring demand in this market – along with reduced environmental impact, lower maintenance costs, and higher performance from vehicles that need to tirelessly fight abrasion and wear from loading and unloading.

So when CBMM was looking for a lighter product that could allow for an increase in net load when transporting pyrochlore (a mineral used in CBMM’s niobium production), it asked Rossetti in partnership with SSAB to produce a half-round dump body using Hardox^® 500 Tuf. The result? A vehicle weighing 35% less, about 5% lower transportation costs, and better energy efficiency thanks to a more sustainable operation emitting fewer pollutants.

The 20 cubic meter body was developed for installation in an 8x4 vehicle, mainly to haul the pyrochlore. The initial version weighed 7,426 kg (16,372 lbs.) and was made of conventional carbon steels, with a floor thickness of 8 mm (0.31") and 6 mm (0.24") for the sides of the body. A lightweighting initiative had already been underway when the company first specified 6 mm (0.24") thick Hardox^® 450 for the floors and 4 mm (0.16") Hardox^® 400 wear plate for the sides, front and rear doors. 

“We now use Hardox^® 500 Tuf steel and can reduce the body thicknesses even more: The bottom plate has gone from 6 mm (0.24") to 5 mm (0.20"), the sides and doors from 4 mm (0.16") to 3 mm (0.12"), and the vehicle weight down to 4,780 kg (10,538 lbs.). We also replaced medium-strength structural components like the chassis, made in steel with a yield strength of 300–700 MPa, with high-strength Strenx^® 700 steel. This allowed us to eliminate the reinforcements and reduce the thickness of the superstructure,” says Hugo Rosa, maintenance manager at CBMM. The sheet thickness reduction was only possible by specifying Hardox^® 500 Tuf, which has superior mechanical strength and impact properties compared with other steels in the 500 Brinell class previously on the market.

Founded in 1997, Rossetti Equipamentos Rodoviarios is a leading manufacturer of tipper, semitrailer tipper and van bodies and special products based in Brazil. All products are manufactured under strict technical control, resulting in quality, durability and safety for the transport market.