A two-year study of the maintenance log of jaw crushers used in a cement plant to crush raw material (limestone, clay, etc) showed that wear-related failures, such as jaw plate wear and bearing failures, accounted for more than 60 per cent of breakdowns, while lubrication problems contributed to 25 per cent of failures. According to the researchers of this study, published earlier this year in Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis, this underscores the use of predictive maintenance and premium spares to reduce downtime and operating expenses.

“Most breakdowns of 3-stage stone (basalt and weathered rock) crushing units are due to damaged bearings,” affirms Chetan Prakash Verma, General Manager - P&M, Ahluwalia Contracts (I).