Failure analysis of the high-speed shaft of a winch speed reducer

The power transmission system of a skip used in ore transportation presented a catastrophic failure during the mineral extraction process in a subterranean mine. The failure was caused by the fracture of the high-speed shaft of the winch speed reducer. The root cause of failure was determined through the fractography and materials and operating conditions analyses, and recommendations were made in order to avoid future failures.

The root cause analysis of the system failure allowed our customer to obtain the following benefits:

• Knowledge about the operating conditions of the system and those events that could promote failures
• Mitigation actions that help avoiding future failures in the high-speed shaft of the winch speed reducer
• Technical support during the complaint process to the supplier
• The implementation of the recommendations reduced the catastrophic failures in this component up to zero.