Increased excavator tip life

Within the mining industry there is equipment (excavators) that is responsible for removing material from the ground using customised buckets that have SPFs (Soil Penetration Tools) at their ends the first contact with the ground. These wear heavily due to the abrasiveness of the soil which is sometimes very friable and sometimes very compact. Another preponderant factor is the impact that these FPS's are subjected to due to the need to remove large rocks from the slopes. In other words the SPFs are subjected to two of the main factors that reduce their useful life - IMPACT and ABRASION. Several studies have been carried out to increase the useful life of these components reduce production costs and increase machine productivity since the longer the useful life of the tip the greater the physical availability of the equipment.