Rock Drilling Vehicle Axle

Product Overview

Main technical parameters:

Product Features

Enhanced Gear System with Excellent Fatigue Resistance:

The main reducer of the rigid drive axle adopts equal-height tooth cycloid bevel gears. Compared with conventional spiral bevel gears, it features a larger tooth contact area, smoother meshing, and more uniform load distribution, resulting in significantly improved transmission efficiency and greatly reduced operating noise, providing a more comfortable working environment for operators. In response to the underground operating characteristics of heavy loads and frequent start-stops, we have upgraded the materials and optimized the heat treatment process of key components such as planet gears and side gears. The tooth surface hardness and core toughness are simultaneously improved, extending the fatigue life of the gear system by more than 30% compared with conventional designs, and fundamentally reducing the shutdown risk caused by early gear wear.

Optimized Axle Housing Structure with Upgraded Impact Resistance:

The axle housing is cast from ductile iron with both high strength and good toughness, offering superior vibration absorption and impact resistance. Based on a mature platform, the axle housing of the rock drilling vehicle drive axle has been targeted strengthened: through finite element analysis and optimization of key stress-bearing parts, we have added reinforcing ribs and adjusted the section transition fillets, effectively dispersing stress concentration areas and greatly enhancing the impact resistance of the rigid axle. Even facing frequent bumps in underground roadways and severe impacts from muddy roads, the axle housing remains structurally stable, significantly reducing the risk of equipment breakdown caused by fatigue cracking of the axle housing.

Wheel-End Planetary Reduction with Compact Structure and Strong Load Capacity:

The wheel end of the rock drilling vehicle axle adopts the classic "NGW-type" planetary reduction structure. The sun gear, planet gears, and ring gear are arranged coaxially, featuring a compact structure that achieves large speed ratio torque amplification within the limited wheel space. It perfectly meets the high space utilization requirements of underground equipment and provides greater margin for the flexible steering of rock drilling vehicles in narrow roadways. The planetary gear set adopts a load-sharing design to balance the load of each planet gear. Combined with forced oil bath lubrication, it can maintain stable transmission even under continuous heavy-load operation, reducing maintenance frequency. The wheel end assembly adopts a modular design for easy disassembly and assembly, facilitating on-site maintenance underground.

Closed Multi-Disc Wet Brake with Safety, Reliability and Maintenance-Free Performance:

In response to the humid, muddy, and dusty underground environment, the brake system of the rock drilling vehicle axle adopts closed multi-disc wet brakes. The brakes operate fully immersed in oil, completely isolating external contaminants, ensuring stable and reliable braking performance without attenuation due to mud and water intrusion. The multi-disc structure has a large braking area and strong braking torque, meeting the safety requirements of rock drilling vehicles for frequent braking and parking on sloped roadways and slippery surfaces. The wet brakes are maintenance-free and require no adjustment for a long period, significantly reducing underground maintenance workload and improving equipment availability.

Bench Test Verification

Since this rigid drive axle is mainly oriented to special underground operating environments with extremely high requirements for reliability and safety, we have conducted comprehensive and rigorous bench test verification before launching the product to ensure that each factory-delivered rigid drive axle has excellent performance and durability.

• Gear Fatigue Life Test:

• Simulating underground heavy-load conditions, 2 million cycles of load testing were performed on the main reducer and wheel-end gears. No pitting or abnormal wear was found on the gear surface, verifying that the fatigue life of the enhanced gears meets the design requirements.

• Axle Housing Strength and Stiffness Test:

• A 2.5-times rated load was applied to the axle housing assembly, and the deformation of key sections was measured, with results far exceeding industry standards. Meanwhile, alternating impact loads were applied to the axle housing to simulate underground bumpy roads. After 1 million cumulative cycles, the axle housing showed no cracks or deformation, and the structural strength met the design requirements.

• Transmission Efficiency and Temperature Rise Test:

• Continuous operation for 4 hours under full-load conditions, the transmission efficiency remained stable above 95%, and the temperature rise of each bearing position was controlled within 50°C, indicating good heat dissipation performance.

• Whole Axle Sealing Performance Test:

• The whole axle was placed in a simulated mud environment, and air tightness and water immersion tests were conducted on the sealing parts such as wheel ends, main reducer, and brakes, ensuring no leakage risk in the high-humidity and high-dust underground environment.

Through the above systematic bench test verification, the reliability and durability of our rock drilling vehicle axle under harsh working conditions have been fully proven.

Manufacturing and Quality Assurance

Relying on the company's more than 30 years of experience in construction machinery drive axle manufacturing, the rock drilling vehicle axle is processed and assembled on a dedicated production line. The production site strictly implements 6S management, and all key processes adopt high-precision machining centers and special tooling fixtures to ensure machining accuracy. Purchased materials and components must be inspected in the testing center, which is equipped with precision instruments such as coordinate measuring machines, metallographic microscopes, and ultrasonic flaw detectors to conduct comprehensive monitoring of material structure, heat treatment effect, internal defects, and machining accuracy.

On the basis of the general quality control system, five additional special inspections are added for underground working conditions:

Axle Housing Material Re-inspection: 

Metallographic structure and mechanical performance tests are conducted on each batch of ductile iron axle housings to ensure qualified spheroidization rate and elongation.

Main Reducer Meshing Mark Inspection: 

Each main reducer undergoes meshing mark inspection on a loading test bench, with 100% qualification of contact spot position and area.

Wheel-End Sealing Performance Test: 

Dynamic sealing test is performed on the wheel-end assembly under simulated high-pressure water mist environment to ensure no leakage.

Wet Brake Sealing and Pressure Holding: 

High-pressure air tightness test is conducted on the brake, and it can only be released if there is no leakage after 30 seconds of pressure holding.

Whole Axle Salt Spray Test: 

Salt spray tests are regularly performed on finished products to verify the corrosion resistance of the anti-corrosion coating and sealing system.

Professional Technical Services

The company has a professional foreign trade and technical support team that can provide customers with model selection guidance and technical docking. In response to the special needs of underground operations, we can coordinate technical experts to conduct in-depth exchanges with customers and provide customized configuration suggestions to facilitate rapid on-site maintenance by customers and ensure the continuous and efficient operation of equipment deep in mines. Meanwhile, on-site or online operation and maintenance training can be provided according to customer needs to help customers improve their independent maintenance capabilities and ensure equipment availability.