MechChem Africa November-December 2022

Local manufacturer perfects its cone crusher performance A small engineered plastic bush from igus has proved to be the difference between a good and great machine for Crush Force, a local manufacturer of crushing equipment for mines. ⎪ Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals ⎪ H aving spent a largepart of his time developing the two-foot cone crusher as a superior alternative to traditional machines, Leon

BMG’s range of BTC bearings and compo nents – manufactured exclusively for BMG to stringent quality and safety specifica tions – has been extended to include new bearing block units. “Our robust BTC bearing block units have been developed recently for de pendable use in many rotating equipment applications in general industry and the agricultural sector. The newly designed red components have an improved quality hous ing to ensure a stronger component that will not crack in tough conditions and a higher grade of steel for greater load capacity and speed stability,” explains Carlo Beukes, Business Unit Manager, Bearings Division, BMG. “Other important advancements in Venter, designer and founder of Crush Force, cameupagainst this challengewhenrepetitive failures of a seemingly insignificant bush be gan to occur on a test machine that was being trialled in hardmetal recycling operationnear to the company’s East Rand factory. The failure had been completely unex pected and despite finite element analyses, stress tests and a host of other interven tions taken during the ongoing development of the crusher, no material could stand up to the stresses exerted on the small bush. This was until igus South Africa brought engineered plastics into the equation. “The part in question is a 45 mm bush that serves as a guide for the torque arm. Having tried phosphor bronze and several other materials, these would fail prema turely within a few weeks. In each instance the entire processing line needed to come to a halt for the seemingly insignificant part to be replaced. “Juan-Eric Davidtz, igus’ polymer spe cialist, suggested we make use of one of the company’s specially formulated bushes. Having previously made use of igus materi als for other components, I installed it on the crusher about a year ago and it is still in operation to this day. On inspection it is

Right: The igus bush inside the torque arm eccentric bearing housing.

Left: A two-foot Crush Force cone crusher.

fers exceptional technical and economic advantage over metal bearing bushes. In addition, the bushes are self-lubricating, maintenance-free, chemical resistant , universally applicable and reduce costs by up to 40%. “Our bushes can withstand extreme temperatures, are self-lubricating and are suitable for special machine construction, underwater applications and harsh con ditions such as minerals processing and mining among others. We also have a wide range of standard catalogue options and can customise options where necessary. “This makes upgrading of existing bush ings simpler and, as with Crush Force, our customers can improve their technology and reduce their costs by up to 90%. In ad dition, customers benefit through fast lead times, online service-life calculators and tools for nearly all product lines,” he says. www.igus.co.za

clude an efficient amount of Shell Alvania EP2 grease, eco-friendly biodegradable packaging materials to reduce our carbon footprint and installation and maintenance instructions.” These bearing block units, which are supplied with an Allen Key, are available from BMG’s extended branch network, as well as through the company’s online shopping platform, which adds value to BMG’s service offering and makes shopping for engineering components even more convenient. BMG’s BTC agri-component product of fering includes gearboxes designed specifi cally for packhouses, harrow discs, PTO and yokes, hub bearing units and fertilizing discs clear that the bush is holding up well and shows no visual signs of wear and tear. “One simple part has made all the differ ence and enables the crusher to perform at its design capability. It was frustrating because everything else was designed to outlast and outperform ordinary crushers and the torque arm bush was the last piece of the puzzle to produce South Africa’s own, world-beating cone crusher. “From the beginning we set out to manufacture the world’s most productive crusher for hard rock applications. Every part has been designed and redesigned with endurance and performance in mind in order to take on the tough hard-rock min ing conditions in southern Africa and now that we have ironed out even the smallest of problems we are all set to take on the mining world,” says Venter. Davidtz says the bushing is made with the company’s igl ide material and of -

Improved bearing block units for higher efficiency

BMG’s range of BTC bearings and components has been extended to include newly designed bearing block units. Other components in this range include ball, taper and spherical roller bearings. www.bmgworld.net

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