Spectral and Wavelet Analysis in the Assessment of the Impact of Corrosion on the Structural Integrity of Mining Equipment

Corrosion is a major problem in the mining industry, significantly affecting the durability and reliability of mining equipment. In order to better evaluate and understand these effects, in the first part of this study, the analysis by the finite element method of the metallic structure of the rotary arm of an ERc 1400-30/7 bucket excavator type, produced in Romania in 1985, is presented. This paper presents an analysis of the impact of corrosion on the structural integrity of mining equipment. The focus of the research is on the use of advanced spectral analysis methods and the implementation of wavelet analysis. These methods allow an increase in the degree of accuracy of the information and results obtained. The study also focused on the impact of corrosion on the natural frequencies and structural changes in mining equipment, which were evaluated based on advanced methods of structural analysis. The obtained results show that corrosion deeply affects the dynamic behaviour of the metallic structure, leading to significant changes in the dominant frequencies. It was found that the measured dominant frequencies show a tendency to increase with the increase of structural degradation, an observation that is consistent with the physical aspects of the phenomenon.