Customer Case | Shanxi Coal Mine Encounters an F10-Level Hard Rock Fault: Cutting Picks Frequently Fail—How Can We Tackle This Ultra-Hard Working Condition?
2026-01-27
Customer Case | Shanxi Coal Mine Encounters an F10-Level Hard Rock Fault: Cutting Picks Frequently Fail—How Can We Tackle This Ultra-Hard Working Condition?
For a coal mining fully-mechanized team, "crossing a fault" often means facing a tough battle.
When the coal seam suddenly breaks off, The lithology has changed to sandstone or limestone with a hardness of F=8-10. Moreover, when subjected to high-frequency impacts and grinding, ordinary coal mining cutter picks often struggle to withstand the wear and tear.
Recently, at a fully mechanized mining face in a coal mine in Datong, Shanxi Province, a typical case was encountered. Fault Condition The rock hardness has sharply increased to around F10, causing sparks to fly when the drum cutter is used; consequently, the wear rate of the original cutting picks remains stubbornly high.
On-site pain points: Hardness surges, and wear becomes uncontrollable.
PAIN POINT
Project Location A coal mine in Datong, Shanxi Province
Operating condition characteristics : Crossing the fault, rock hardness F≈10 Highly impactful and highly abrasive.
The core issue ：
According to feedback from the mining company, when operating in this fault zone, the cutting picks on the coal shearer’s drum experience astonishingly rapid wear due to the maximum stress they endure.
After completing a small-class assignment (8 hours), approximately 15 cutting teeth need to be scrapped due to blade wear. The primary failure mode is: Alloy head fracture, severe tooth wear, and broken handle. 。
Technical Diagnosis ：
This high level of wear is no accident. Hard rock of F10 grade poses a dual challenge to cutting picks:
1. Impact test
The rock has high hardness, and the cutting teeth experience enormous impact loads the instant they enter the material; ordinary alloys are extremely prone to chipping.
2. Wear resistance test
The intense abrasiveness causes the tooth body to rapidly thin, losing its supporting function for the alloy tip.
Solution: Match “toughness” with “hard rock.”
SOLUTION
For this type of fault condition, simply pursuing hardness often backfires (being too brittle makes it prone to chipping). The Xinda technical team quickly came up with a tailored tooth-gear design solution: U95-35C Impact-Resistant Cutting Pick 。
Core technical points:
1. High-strength alloy grade
Specifically designed for faults. Coarse-grained cemented carbide While maintaining high wear resistance, it significantly enhances impact toughness, ensuring that it won't crack or shatter upon impact with hard rock.
2. High-strength gear body
The tooth body adopts Cold-forged forming of high-quality alloy steel And, after undergoing special heat treatment, its overall flexural strength and wear resistance have been enhanced, preventing handle breakage and erosion.
Measured results: Losses dropped by 80% directly.
RESULT
After the replacement plan was implemented, we installed 20 U95-35C units around the section of the roller experiencing the greatest stress and conducted continuous operation tests.
Data Comparison:
Original plan consumption: approximately 15 units per small class
Xinda Solution Loss: 3 units/small class
Results analysis:
17 intact: The vast majority of cutting picks withstood the impact and abrasion of F10-grade hard rock, with only minor issues occurring. Normal wear and tear , can continue to be used.
3 partially worn: Only three showed abnormal failures. Upon inspection, it was found that this was due to the corresponding positions... The gear seat is severely deformed. ， Causes the cutting teeth to become jammed and fail to rotate freely, resulting in uneven wear. , which is a non-cutting-tooth quality factor.
Conclusion
CONCLUSION
The measured case study from Datong, Shanxi Province, proves: Facing hard rock along an F10-level fault, it’s not insurmountable. 。
The key lies in choosing the right one. Impact-resistant, high toughness specialized cutting teeth. Through scientifically optimized operational condition matching, we have successfully reduced the wear rate. Reduced by 80% , not only Significantly reduced consumable costs and minimized downtime for tooth changes, ensuring continuous operation through the fracture zone. 。
If you encounter a fault and sparks fly, don't rush to say it's too difficult.
If you’re also facing similar hard-rock challenges, feel free to contact Xinda Machinery—we’ll provide you with a professional cutting-bit configuration solution tailored to your needs.
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