Case study
Digging deep with Wassara
Customer: Challenge: Solution:
Wassara Reduce cost and increase Using additive manufacturing
reliability of the production of to reduce the number of
Industry: the sliding case component component parts in maraging
Heavy industry of a down-the-hole (DTH) steel which is more resistant
hammer. to pitting corrosion.
The mining business needs new drilling solutions to tackle no oil is used for lubrication, meaning no
the mounting productivity demands placed upon the industry. contamination of air or water. The water is
These solutions need to be relatively environmentally friendly effectively suppressing dust as well. The
as well as cost competitive compared to current drilling incompressibility of water is a key factor in
solutions. Many existing underground mines are reaching the function of the Wassara hammer system.
extreme depths that current mining methods find difficult to It also gives a major energy cost saving
manage cost-effectively. New ore deposits are deeper with compared to the more traditional air DTH
leaner yields. These factors demand larger scale mining and technology, and reduces the energy demand to power the
resource planning with new, more efficient and precise drilling. hammer. Water is the chosen medium since it allows for a
high frequency and high energy impact per blow. In addition,
Background when the water leaves the hammer it has a sufficient velocity
Wassara is a Swedish based mining company with a number to also bring the cuttings and debris to the surface and clean
of innovative products capable of extracting minerals with the hole. This technology offers superior benefits, such as high
minimum environmental impact. Wassara’s technology uses productivity, borehole quality and minimum collateral impact
high pressure water to power the Down-The-Hole (DTH) on the formation that is being drilled. The water-powered DTH
hammer. Wassara’s water-powered DTH hammer is the hammer technology gives mining companies the ability to
most environmentally friendly percussion drilling method choose mining methods most suitable for the ore bodies, and
existing today. The DTH hammer is powered by water, and is viewed as a big step towards optimised mining.
Filter Sliding case Chuck
High pressure water
(up to 180 bar) Valve Piston Drill bit
Backhead Valve house Hammer case
Schematic diagram of the down the hole (DTH) hammer technology
The valve is opened and the piston moves back The piston gets in position, ready to strike.
from its striking position.
The valve closes and the high-pressure water forces The piston strikes the bit. The valve opens to
the piston to strike. release the water through the bit. A new cycle starts.
Challenge this part is 527M20, a structural alloy steel that would not
normally be considered for metal AM due to the medium
There are many complex parts that make up each DTH carbon content. A more suitable choice of steel alloy for
tool. At the heart of the tool is the sliding case that provides additive manufacturing is 316L stainless, however even
the bi-directional flow of water for the piston assembly. The though corrosion resistance is high for this alloy, it would not
sliding case requires several internal fluid channels to allow be expected to have sufficient wear resistance and withstand
the flow of water, and due to its complexity, it cannot be the erosion during usage. An alternative Renishaw suggested
fabricated from one single part. This complexity in the design was using a maraging steel alloy to produce the test part.
makes these parts relatively expensive. Adding to the costs Maraging steel is a class of age hardenable tool steel, it is
are frequent rejects in production as a result of the joining extremely versatile, and is heat treatable to the extent of being
process, as well as failure due to wear or pitting corrosion able to tailor the properties required for certain applications.
increasing the maintenance requirements. This was the first time that this steel had been tested in this
kind of industrial mining application, and therefore the parts
Solution were heat treated post-build for maximum hardness.
In an attempt to reduce the cost, and increase reliability of
the sliding case component, Wassara approached Renishaw
to investigate whether additive manufacturing (AM) could be
a suitable alternative manufacturing method. One of the well-
known benefits of metal AM is the ability to combine two or
more complex machined parts into a single 3D geometry, or to
simplify complex fabrication steps such as drilling cross-holes
that require one end to be blind plugged or welded. When
the resulting part can be made without any further design
modifications this provides an ideal basis for testing the
validity of using metal AM parts within the same application.
Hence, it is possible to compare like for like parts under
standard test conditions, and any significant differences in the
results can be directly attributed to the change in production
technique. Wassara’s sliding case geometry was redesigned
to incorporate some of the benefits of AM design freedom.
The next hurdle to overcome for the adoption of metal AM
was the availability of the correct metal alloy for the specific
Representation of the re-designed for AM sliding case component
application. In this case the standard steel alloy used for
Results
To test the performance of the part, it was assembled into
a full tool and used under standard mining conditions,
creating typical long bore channels in a candidate rock
face. The drill tool then underwent routine visual inspection
and maintenance. The additively manufactured sliding case
showed no signs of pitting and only minimal wear, compared
to a standard part. The tool was re-assembled and further Above: Sliding case component built in maraging steel using additive
drilling tests were undertaken before re-inspection. manufacturing
Following a second test the AM built sliding case did show
some signs of wear but despite this there was no evidence
of surface pitting which is the second most common failure
mode. A further test followed, extending way beyond the
expected drilling period to try and establish if the onset of
pitting could be found but in actual fact there was no evidence
of this. This has led to the initial conclusion that the AM
maraging steel part has potentially superior pitting resistance
to the conventionally chosen steel for the sliding case.
Above: Sliding case after testing
For more information visit, www.renishaw.com/wassara
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