Bolted Wear Support Assemblies for Raise Boring Tool Repairs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wear pads on reamer heads of raise boring tools require replacement in workshops, leading to prolonged downtime due to time-consuming welding processes, and lack secure attachment during drilling operations.
Innovation Solution
A wear support assembly with a support plate and bolted wear pads, allowing easy replacement at the rig and secure attachment via radial or perpendicular bolting, featuring multiple bolts and optional steps or keys for enhanced stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wear pads are welded onto the reamer head body, then wear protection and stability are improved, but replacement time and workshop downtime increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The wear pad is separated from the reamer head body into two independent components connected by bolts. This segmentation allows the wear pad to be replaced independently without affecting the reamer head body, enabling quick field replacement without workshop welding operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The wear pad is extracted from the integrated welded design and made into a separate removable component. This extraction allows the wear pad to be easily removed and replaced in the field using simple bolting operations, dramatically reducing replacement time and downtime.
2Ease of operation
If wear pads are made removable for easy replacement, then replacement convenience is improved, but attachment security and resistance to drilling forces deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple bolt holes are pre-drilled and aligned in both the wear pad and support plate before field assembly. This preliminary preparation ensures that when the wear pad is installed in the field, the bolts can be quickly inserted and securely tightened without requiring complex alignment procedures, maintaining both ease of replacement and secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple bolts are used to combine the wear pad and support plate into a single secure assembly. The distribution of multiple bolts across the interface area provides both secure attachment to resist drilling forces and maintains simple replacement procedures, resolving the contradiction between security and convenience.
3Reliability
If multiple bolts are used to secure the wear pad, then attachment security is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bolt holes are designed with universal positioning that aligns automatically when the wear pad is placed on the support plate. This universal design allows multiple bolts to be used for secure attachment while maintaining simple assembly procedures, as the holes self-align and the bolts can be inserted simultaneously or in sequence without complex positioning requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A wear support assembly includes a wear pad arranged on top of a support plate, wherein the support plate has a lower surface for connecting to a raise boring tool and both the wear pad and the support plate have at least one hole for receiving a bolt to connect the wear pad to the support plate. Also, a raise boring tool for raise boring operations includes a reamer head having a body, a plurality of roller cutters connected to the body using a holder, a nose or drive stem connected the body, and at least one wear support assembly, wherein each support plate is connected directly to the raise boring tool and each wear pad is radially or perpendicularly bolted to each support plate.