Multinational mining and smelting firmBolidenhas begun working with engineering group桑德维克to assess the potential of adopting 3D printing within its drilling operations.
具体而言，作为即将进行的审判的一部分，Sandvik的采矿和岩石解决方案在Boliden的瑞典和爱尔兰地点进行测试之前，部门将开发一组重新设计的钻机组件。在项目期间，人们认为这些修订后的零件可以胜过前辈，并且在现场打印而不是在那里打印，还提供了供应链可持续性福利。
“Additive manufacturing shows a lot of potential, both in reducing carbon footprint within the supply chain, through reduced or eliminated need for transport and storage of parts and also shorter delivery times,” explains Ronne Hamerslag, head of supply management at Boliden. “This trial will give us a deeper understanding on how we can move forward and develop our business in a competitive way.”
Sandik’s own mining portfolio
As you’d expect from a global engineering company with around 44,000 employees that operates in 150 countries, Sandvik’s business interests are wide-ranging. Not only does the firm produce tooling systems for advanced metal cutting, but it continues to expand into digital manufacturing, including the development of related software solutions.
When it comes to 3D printing, Sandvik does offer consultancy and serial production services, but much of its contribution to the sector takes the form of material R&D. The firm continues to make significant advances in this area, particularly with itsOsprey metal powders, a range that now includes everything from copper and aluminum to Ni-based superalloys.
在过去的几年中，桑德维克（Sandvik）试图确定其合金的新应用，并同意提供GE Additive’sBinder Jet Beta Partner Programin late-2020. Prior to this, the company also chose to reinforce its 3D printing offering by获得Beamit的股份。Since finalizing the deal, Sandvik has worked with the Italian firm on several projects, and may well do so again to facilitate Bolide’s trials.
Given that Sandvik runs its own Mining and Rock Solutions business as well, which provides services and technical solutions to mining and construction clients, the evaluation could also prove to be a lucrative crossover in its business, in addition to being a demonstration of 3D printing’s potential to produce parts on-demand.
“We have many different SKUs (stock-keeping units), and from an inventory point of view we can’t tie up the capital that keeping all these parts in stock would entail,” says Erik Lundén, parts and services president of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions. “The 3D printing of parts locally, offers us the prospect of not only getting parts to the customer much faster, but doing so far more sustainably.”
Boliden加法制雷电竞充值造的试验
Named after the Swedish locality in which it was founded, Boliden is a specialist in mining and smelting metals such as zinc, copper, lead, nickel, silver and gold. At its facilities in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Ireland, the firm claims to combine “experience, innovation and modern technology” to make this possible, and gather the materials needed to create modern products like EVs and smartphones.
In keeping with its commitment to adopting advanced technologies, Boliden is now set to work closely with Sandvik to test the potential of 3D printing within its mining workflow. For Sandvik, the project will see it help design drill parts specifically for deployment in mining applications, then 3D print them at one of the facilities it manages in Italy.
Once ready, it’s been agreed that the performance of these parts will be tested by fitting them to Boliden’s drill rigs where they’ll be monitored, first in Sweden, then in Ireland. While the efficacy of the trial’s first prototypes are still being evaluated, it’s thought the technology could eventually prove beneficial as a way of creating spare bushes and brackets, parts that need changing every 3,000-4,000 hours.
As part of the project, Boliden is also expected to work with Sandvik to pick through the logistical side of adopting 3D printing, such as who looks after production and costing, as well as the legal, IP and warranty implications of doing so. That being said, the company is already excited about the technology’s potential in the mining industry, where equipment can require support over a full 25-year lifecycle.
“If you ask me, it’s the most exciting thing that’s happening in the supply chain,” added Hameslag. “Its efficiency, speed and climate friendliness mean that we have to investigate additive manufacturing closely. We are only at the proof-of-concept stage with Sandvik right now, but it’s already clear that it could become a game-changer for the spare parts business in mining – for both miners and equipment manufacturers.”
Digging into AM’s mining opportunity
Although not commonly-used in the mining industry, 3D printing has been tested there many times before, in trials that have demonstrated its efficacy in producing spares on-demand. Back in June 2019, for instance, mining gear manufacturerEpirocrevealed that it was working on amining part 3D printing project旨在使公司快速“当场生产备件”。
More recently,滴虫penned an agreement withflsmidth, in which it committed to help use 3D printing toreduce the downtime of mining equipment。At the time, it was said that breakdowns in the industry came at a cost of up to $3,000 per hour to related firms, hence it was believed that滴虫Kinetic Fusion(TKF) metal additive manufactured spares could save them a huge amount of cash.
At the悉尼技术大学(UTS), researchers have also previously worked withMineral Technologiesto develop abespoke mining equipment 3D printer。该系统是专门建立的，目的是创建自定义的矿物分离螺旋模型，其中通常用于将有价值的矿物与跨采矿，农业和回收运营中的采矿材料分开。
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特色图像显示了一群Sandvik工程师穿过地下采矿设施。通过Sandvik采矿和岩石解决方案进行照片。
