Elements Resistant Artefacts and Manufacturing Method

Abstract

A manufacturing process for manufacturing elements resistant artefacts comprising a plurality of parts, the manufacturing process comprises manufacturing at least one of the parts from a material that is highly resistant to the elements, assembling the artefact using fabrication processes for joining materials, and applying treatment processes only where required in order to ensure that the manufactured artefact is resistant to the elements. Figure 1 elements. 20 25 28 36 30 19 D ec 2 02 5 2 0 2 5 2 8 3 6 3 0 1 9 D e c 2 0 2 5 e l e m e n t s . 1 / 1 Fig 1 10 14 12 20 25 28 36 30 19 D ec 2 02 5 2 0 2 5 2 8 3 6 3 0 1 9 D e c 2 0 2 5

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to materials resistant to the environmental elements (referred to as the elements).

[0002] The invention has been devised particularly, although not necessarily solely, in relation to artefacts resistant to the elements, in particular to corrosion resistant artefacts being subjected during their use to the elements. BACKGROUND ART

[0003] The following discussion of the background art is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention only. The discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to is or was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of the application.

[0004] In order to avoid or at least mitigate the effect of corrosive elements when entering in contact with materials made out of metals, the metals are pre-galvanised applying protective layers of, for example, zinc and / or continuously hot dipping the materials in melted zinc.

[0005] Galvanised materials have proven to have a relatively high-resistant to being corroded when subject to corrosive elements. However, once a material has been galvanised, the galvanised material cannot be further processed (for example by welding or other fabrication processes) for creating products composed of galvanised material and other materials.

[0006] For example, friction bolts (used for securing wall and roof structures in for example underground mines) comprises a bolt and ring for attachment to the bolt. Bolts are currently manufactured of metals prone to be corroded in relatively short time frames. Thus, conventional bolts need to be treated, for example via galvanisation, to make them corrosion resistant.

[0007] Subsequently, to finish manufacture of the friction bolt, the ring needs to be attached to the galvanised bolt. This is done via welding. However, the welding process for attaching the ring, due to involving heat, will create one or more corrosion points 2025283630   19 Dec 2025 which need to be treated to avoid corrosion at the location where the friction bolt and the ring joins together. Avoiding that the corrosion points will have a negative impact on the performance and durability of the friction bolts is a cumbersome process and increases substantially the costs of the manufacturing process.

[0008] Currently, one of the preferred options to reduce the negative effect of corrosion points in frictions bolts is for the friction bolts to be galvanised again. This increases costs and also hot dipping galvanisation processes are not environmentally friendly.

[0009] It is against this background that the present invention has been developed. SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0010] According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a manufacturing process for manufacturing elements resistant artefacts comprising a plurality of parts, the manufacturing process comprises manufacturing at least one of the parts from a material that is highly resistant to the elements, assembling the artefact using fabrication processes for joining materials, and applying treatment processes only where required in order to ensure that the manufactured artefact is resistant to the elements.

[0011] Preferably, the manufacturing process comprises manufacturing friction bolts having a bolt rod and a ring, the manufacturing process comprises the step of: manufacturing the bolt rod out of a highly resistant material; assembling the friction bolt by traversing the ring with the bolt rod until all the inner surface of the ring abut the outer surface of the bolt rod; defining a joint at the ring and the bolt rod together via a fabrication process; and treating the ring at the joint of the ring and the bolt rod.

[0012] Preferably, the fabrication process comprises welding the inner surface of the ring to the outer surface of the bolt rod defining a welded area.

[0013] Preferably, the manufacturing process further comprises the steps of: 2025283630   19 Dec 2025 allowing the welded area to cool to a temperature to allow selectively treating the welded area; and apply a corrosion-protective repair coating to the treated welded area.

[0014] Preferably, the ring is treated at the corrosion point where the ring is welded to the friction bolt by coating using paint, or dipping.

[0015] Preferably, the highly resistant material comprises a base metal covered with a metallic coating onto which a highly anticorrosion passivation treatment is applied to.

[0016] Preferably, the highly resistant base metal coatings comprise a blend of zinc, aluminium and magnesium.

[0017] Preferably, the highly resistant materials are PhuizerFan (Hot-dip 5%Al-Zn) PhuizerMax (5%Al-Mg-Zn) metallic coated steel.

[0018] Optionally, a top primer and subsequently a high anti-weathering paint is applied to the highly resistant material.

[0019] Optionally, the highly resistant materials comprises GALFAN® coated metals.

[0020] Preferably, the highly resistant materials are coated with eutectic composition of 95% Zn and 5% Al.

[0021] According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a manufacturing process elements resistant artefact manufactured using the manufacturing process as defined in the first aspect of the invention.

[0022] Preferably, the elements resistant artefact comprises a friction bolt. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Further features of the present invention are more fully described in the following description of several non-limiting embodiments thereof. This description is included solely for the purposes of exemplifying the present invention. It should not be understood as a restriction on the broad summary, disclosure or description of the invention as set out above. The description will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 2025283630   19 Dec 2025 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rock bolt in accordance with a particular embodiment of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S)

[0024] In accordance with the present invention there is provided method for manufacturing metal artefacts resistant to the elements, in particular, corrosion resistant artefacts comprising a plurality of parts made out of metal, which are attached to each other.

[0025] The method in accordance with a particular embodiment of the invention comprises manufacturing at least one of the parts from a material that is relatively highly resistant to the elements, assembling the artefact using fabrication processes for joining materials, and applying treatment processes only where required in order to ensure that the manufactured artefact is resistant to the elements.

[0026] The relatively highly resistant material may comprise a base metal covered with a metallic coating onto which a highly anticorrosion passivation treatment is applied to. To increase the resistance to the elements, a top primer and subsequently a high anti-weathering paint may be applied to the material. An example of highly resistant materials are PhuizerFan (Hot-dip 5%Al-Zn) PhuizerMax (5%Al-Mg-Zn) metallic coated steel (SolarKing®).

[0027] Another type of highly resistant materials may be GALFAN® coated metals. These materials are coated with eutectic composition of 95% Zn and 5% Al which improves the coating adhesion and enables a lamellar coating structure in micro-scale, which makes it a ductile and well-suited coating for deep drawing.

[0028] Moreover, other highly resistant base metal coatings are a blend of zinc, aluminium and magnesium.

[0029] In a particular arrangement, the elements resistant artefact comprises a friction bolt 10 as shown in Figure 1. The friction bolt comprises a bolt rod 12 and a ring 14.

[0030] The process for manufacturing the friction bolt 10 in accordance with the present embodiment of the invention comprises manufacturing the bolt rod 12 out of a highly resistant material such as the ones referred to above, sliding the ring onto the 2025283630   19 Dec 2025 bolt rod and joining the ring 14 and the bolt rod 12 together via a fabrication process such as welding. In particular, the ring and the bolt rod are welded together.

[0031] Subsequently, the corrosion point where the ring 14 is welded to the friction bolt 10 is treated by dipping or coating the ring 14 (attached to the bolt 12) with, for example, paint.

[0032] During joining of the ring 14 to the bolt rod 12, the heat input of the fabrication process (e.g., welding) locally disrupts the corrosion-resistant surface of the bolt rod 12. This disruption includes: (i) burning-off or volatilisation of the protective metallic coating and / or passivation layers; (ii) formation of a heat-affected zone adjacent the weld bead where microstructural changes and coating degradation reduce corrosion resistance; and (iii) deposition of weld spatter and residues that, unless removed, act as initiation sites for corrosion. The net effect is a “corrosion point” (or localised damage zone) at and adjacent to the weld.

[0033] To address this localised damage while avoiding full re-galvanising of the friction bolt 10, the joint region is selectively treated only where required. An exemplary treatment sequence is as follows: a. allow the weld area to cool to a temperature, as the person skilled in the art would know, to allow selectively treating the welded area b. apply a corrosion-protective repair coating to the treated welded area.

[0034] Suitable repair coatings include at least one of: i. a zinc-rich “cold galvanising” compound (e.g., zinc-rich epoxy or zinc-rich alkyd) applied by brush or spray to achieve a continuous film over the weld bead and surrounding heat-affected zone; ii. a dip treatment of the ring-and-weld area in a corrosion-protective paint, with masking as required to confine the treatment to the joint. The repair coating is applied to overlap onto the intact surrounding coating so that the treated area becomes continuous with the original corrosion-resistant surface.

[0035] By manufacturing the bolt rod 12 from a highly corrosion-resistant material as described herein and by locally repairing only the weld-affected region, the resulting 2025283630   19 Dec 2025 friction bolt 10 exhibits high corrosion resistance without the cost and environmental burden of hot-dip re-galvanising the entire assembly.

[0036] This manufacturing process provides a highly corrosion resistant friction bolt 10 with an improved corrosion resistant when compared against conventional hot-tipped galvanised friction bolts.

[0037] One of the advantages of the process for manufacturing the friction bolt 10 in accordance with the present embodiment of the invention is that does not require the conventional hot dipped galvanising process, which is relatively costly and not environmentally friendly.

[0038] Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.

[0039] Further, it should be appreciated that the scope of the invention is not limited to the scope of the embodiments disclosed. These embodiments are intended for the purpose of exemplification only. Functionally equivalent products, formulations and methods are clearly within the scope of the invention as described herein.

[0040] Reference to positional descriptions, such as lower and upper, or inner and outer, are to be taken in context of the embodiments depicted in the figures, and are not to be taken as limiting the invention to the literal interpretation of the term but rather as would be understood by the skilled addressee.

[0041] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprise”, “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” or variations thereof are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0042] Although terms such as first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and / or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and / or sections should not be limited by these terms. 2025283630   19 Dec 2025 These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.

[0043] Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature’s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

[0044] Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Claims

1. A manufacturing process for manufacturing elements resistant artefacts comprising a plurality of parts, the manufacturing process comprises manufacturing at least one of the parts from a material that is highly resistant to the elements, assembling the artefact using fabrication processes for joining materials, and applying treatment processes only where required in order to ensure that the manufactured artefact is resistant to the elements.

2. A manufacturing process according to claim 1 wherein the manufacturing process comprises manufacturing friction bolts having a bolt rod and a ring, the manufacturing process comprises the step of:manufacturing the bolt rod out of a highly resistant material;assembling the friction bolt by traversing the ring with the bolt rod until all the inner surface of the ring abut the outer surface of the bolt rod;defining a joint at the ring and the bolt rod together via a fabrication process; andtreating the ring at the joint of the ring and the bolt rod.

3. A manufacturing process according to claim 1 wherein the fabrication process comprises welding the ring to the bolt rod defining a welded area.

4. A manufacturing process according to claim 3 wherein the manufacturing process further comprises the steps of:allowing the welded area to cool to a temperature to allow selectively treating the welded area; andapply a corrosion-protective repair coating to the treated welded area5. A manufacturing process according to claim 3 wherein the ring is treated at the corrosion point where the ring is welded to the friction bolt by coating using paint, or dipping.2025283630   19 Dec 20256. A manufacturing process according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the highly resistant material comprises a base metal covered with a metallic coating onto which a highly anticorrosion passivation treatment is applied to.

7. A manufacturing process according to claim 6 wherein the highly resistantbase metal coatings comprise a blend of zinc, aluminium and magnesium.

8. A manufacturing process according to any one of the preceding claimswherein, the highly resistant materials are PhuizerFan (Hot-dip 5%Al-Zn) PhuizerMax (5%Al-Mg-Zn) metallic coated steel.

9. A manufacturing process according to claims 7 or 8 wherein a top primer and subsequently a high anti-weathering paint is applied to the highly resistant material.

10. A manufacturing process according to any one claims 1 to 5 wherein, the highly resistant materials comprises GALFAN® coated metals.

11. A manufacturing process according to claim 10 wherein the highly resistant materials are coated with eutectic composition of 95% Zn and 5% Al.

12. An elements resistant artefact manufactured using the manufacturing process as defined in any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. The elements resistant artefact comprises a friction bolt.

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