Brief Introduction of a Roadheader Machine

A roadheader machine, also called a boom-type roadheader, roadheader, or header machine, is an excavating machine. It first appears during the 1970s for mining applications. Roadheader machine has powerful cutting heads, so it is worldwide for coal mining, non-metallic minerals mining, and boring tunnel. Although a roadheader machine is large, it can still perform flexibility during transport tunnels, rehabilitation of existing tunnels, and excavation of underground caverns.

What does it consist of?

A roadheader machine consists of a crawler traveling mechanism, cutting heads, shovel plate, loader gathering arm, and conveyor. 

The traveling mechanism is running to advance with a crawler. Cutting heads included many tungsten carbide buttons that are inserted in a helical way. Tungsten carbide buttons, also known as cemented carbide buttons or tungsten carbide teeth, have the properties of hardness and impact resistance. They have a great effect on the machine’s working. The shovel plate is at the head of the roadheader machine used to shove the fragment after cutting. Then two loader gathering arms, rotating in the opposite direction, gather the fragments and put them into the conveyor. A conveyor is also a crawler-type machine. It can convey the fragments from the head to the rear of the roadheader machine.

How does it work?

For boring a tunnel, the operator should run the machine to advance into the rock face and make the cutting heads rotate and cut rocks. With cutting and advancing, the rock fragments fall. The shovel plate can shove the rock fragment, and the loader gathering arms put them together onto the conveyor to transport to the end of the machine.

Two types of cutting head

There are two types of cutting heads a roadheader can be equipped with. One is the transverse cutting head, which has two symmetrically positioned cutting heads and rotates parallel to the boom axis. The other is the longitudinal cutting head, which only has one single cutting head and rotates perpendicular to the boom axis. So in most cases, the power rating of transverse cutting heads is higher than that of longitudinal cutting heads.

Tungsten carbide buttons on the cutting heads

During rock cutting, the most important part is the tungsten carbide buttons inserted on the cutting heads. Tungsten carbide buttons are a stiff material and have the advantages of high-temperature, high-pressure, and wear resistance. Tungsten carbide buttons combine with body teeth to form a round shank bit. Several round shank bits are welded into the cutting heads at a particular angle.

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