An analysis of a fracture in a mining excavator arm using quality management techniques

Machinery faults are a problem that incorrectly diagnosed may result in the increase of waste. The fault mentioned in the article was identified at an opencast facility located in Podkarpacie. The purpose of the study was to analyse the defect identified on the excavator arm using quality management techniques. These techniques were the Ishikawa diagram and the 5Why method. In the plant, unit faults on various types of machines were detected. The fracture on the excavator arm was identified, however, the cause of the problem was not known. Potential causes of the fault and the main cause of the problem (material fatigue) were detected using the Ishikawa diagram. The root cause of the material fatigue, the long-term and repetitive operation of the excavator during the excavation of the deposit, was identified by the 5Why method. The proposed processes can be used to identify the root causes of various faults both in the mining industry as well as production and service plants.