Since the end of the 20th century, an automobile plant in Belarus has been producing huge dump trucks 2.5 stories high. This plant exports a large number of cars to different countries. It produces powerful and large mining dump trucks, such as BelAZ of various modifications. The height of BelAZ is 7.23 meters. The structure of a BelAZ truck is a collection of powerful, technologically advanced mechanical components that interact with each other.
Machine height
How BelAZ works
Current dump trucks have diesel engines, and the engine is supplemented with a special turbocharger. The cab of the BelAZ truck is double, it has a steering column, plus a seat in the driver’s seat with a special mast that allows you to comfortably adjust (raise and lower) the seat. The BelAZ cab is equipped with special safety equipment for the driver.
It is highly resistant to vibration, impenetrable to dust, and also has autonomous air conditioning and excellent, powerful heating.
BelAZ at the factory
The bucket-type dump truck is equipped with a canopy to protect against falling loads. The body reaches a volume of 30 to 38 cubic meters. BelAZ trucks have a powerful brake system. It is equipped with a special separate parking mechanism that will hold the dump truck when the machine is at rest at an angle to the horizontal.
The brakes also have an additional automated hydraulic and steering system. The vehicle's hydraulic system is characterized by increased safety. The power when moving wheeled units varies depending on the quality of the road and is controlled by hydromechanics.
Comparison of BelAZ
Variable traction load is transmitted to gears located in both axes. This system is controlled by electric magnets. They are activated using a remote control and then, under the influence of electricity, the spools move to the gas distribution systems. The dump truck has large dimensions. However, it is very maneuverable, with a turning radius of 45 m.
The truck is also interesting because internal combustion engines are not needed to rotate the gearbox elements. This car simply doesn't have them. The dump truck itself is driven by electric motors. This is a kind of car hybrid.
BelAZ next to the car
Design features
The largest BelAZ in the world is very tall. Both a car and people can easily fit under it. The dump truck has two floors. The second floor is the deck (platform). It is adjacent to the main cabin. Next to it there is an additional compartment for the operator.
Dump truck design
The mining industry is a serious industry and it is not surprising that world-famous manufacturers of the heaviest machines approached the issue of creating trucks with all responsibility.
Frame
Despite the well-established tradition in the world of making “ladder” type dump truck frames, the supporting structure of the BelAZ 75710 has nothing in common with it. And even taking into account that mining dump trucks, in principle, are designed completely differently from ordinary production trucks, the Belarusian giant was manufactured completely differently.
The frame of the gigantic machine contains two powerful articulated units on which huge steerable axles rotate. Each of the hinges contains special bearings created for BelAZ, the diameter of which is 2.75 m! The frame was not made according to “dump” principles; rather, massive shipbuilding technologies were used - a caisson section.
Selecting materials, the developers came to the decision to use Weldox-800 steel. Such durable material is beyond the capabilities of ordinary machines, so blanks for the dump truck were ordered from a specialized factory in Sweden. At the factory, the components were welded together, seats for bearings were bored, and holes for fasteners were cut.
Powerplant and transmission
In order for a giant dump truck not only to move, but also to productively maneuver across quarry spaces, the dump truck’s power plant must be truly powerful. That's right: there are four Siemens electric motors on board. An average three-room apartment could easily fit into the engine compartment of the giant without any problems. The dimensions of the dump truck components are simply amazing, as is their weight and power.
To drive two pairs of electric motors, the truck has two diesel generators. The minimum declared power of each diesel unit is 2.3 thousand horsepower.
The weight of each engine is 60 tons, the volume of the combustion chamber is 65 liters. The engine includes 16 cylinders, each of which is connected to an electric generator. Due to the fact that electricity is supplied to each wheel individually, BelAZ designers managed to significantly reduce fuel consumption.
Chassis and braking system
The running system of the largest dump truck is based on pneumatic-hydraulic components, the shock absorption system of which is completely hydraulic.
Let's consider the steering and maneuvering of the body of a mining truck. Interesting questions arise here that even those who are quite familiar with technology will ask. But the point is this: the front and rear axles of the dump truck are absolutely identical, there are no ball joints or large CV joints. How then does he turn?
The steering rod of a large mechanism is not installed in bridges, but in cylinders that turn huge parts of the body relative to each other. The hydrostatic control is connected to a conventional steering column and ends with the most standard “steering wheel” in the driver’s cabin.
Belarusian engineers are creating a perfect, previously non-existent steering design that will allow the BelAZ of the future to turn at two points - front and rear. This will speed up the turning time and provide flexible turning along trajectories with half the radius.
One of the most interesting innovations is the integrated hydraulic system. The unit has a tank with hydraulic fluid; it supplies literally everything: hydraulic cylinders that tip the body, turning cylinders and brake mechanisms. To avoid problems with the supply of hydraulics to all components of a large machine, a special Bosch pumping station is installed on board.
The hydraulic steering machine is designed according to innovative designs. First, the full turn of the car is carried out by the front axle, then the rear axle is set in motion. For each rotary unit, two pairs of cylinders are used.
With such dimensions and such a non-trivial steering principle, the car is not a clumsy “snail”. The full turning radius is only 45 m, and it can turn in an arc with a radius of 20 m. This is with the length of the entire dump truck being 20.6 m! Amazingly, the truck is not only maneuverable, but also quite dynamic. When performing work in mountainous areas, such qualities are necessary!
Wheels
Engineers approached the design of the new dump truck from the other side - from the wheels. The main task was to create tires that could withstand 800 tons. Each axle has 4 wheels capable of withstanding a load weighing 100 tons. Thus, the machine is equipped with axles supported by eight tires, the strength and reliability of which have been proven by tests in quarries.
The diameter of each such tire is 4 meters, weight is 5 tons, and the price is 5 thousand dollars. However, BelAZ is not a trailer, but a full-fledged truck, so wheels and tires are only a reliable support for what is hidden under a layer of metal. Power units, frame, transmission, fuel system - all these details are made in a special way, the technical characteristics literally excite the imagination.
Unique tires with dimensions 59/80R63 allowed BelAZ to become the most load-lifting dump truck of our time.
Cabin and safety
One can only imagine how much the center of gravity of the installation shifts when unloading and loading the BelAZ. The dynamic properties of the vehicle are serious, does that mean a large dump truck is capable of capsizing?
The car is equipped with an anti-roll bar; no one has introduced such innovations before. This makes the BelAZ-75710 the safest mining truck in the world. The car is also equipped with a 360-degree video view, motion sensors, and radars. If a person approaches the dump truck, and the car at that moment is driving at high speed, the motors will automatically stop.
Electronic scale indicators, climate control, a good audio system and a touch control panel are just the beginning. Engineers and developers say that the quality of attachments will be even higher, and work in the cab will become more comfortable.
Load capacity
The carrying capacity of the world's largest truck, BelAZ-75710, is 450 tons. These cars began rolling off the assembly line in 2013 under a contract with a mining concern from Siberia. The maximum volume of transported cargo in a vehicle grew inexorably. At the end of 2013, the truck entered the Guinness Book of Records, having transported 503,000 kg of oversized cargo on the first attempt.
This is what makes the BelAZ such a popular and indispensable car in various fields of human activity.
Dimensions and characteristics of tires for Belaz vehicles
Tires for the smallest Belaz in the line such as 7540 size 18.00-25 and for the largest 75710 size 59/80-63 will have the following characteristics:
| Characteristic | For BelAZ 7540 | For BelAZ 75710 |
| Tire (wheel) size | 18,00-25 | 59/80-63 |
| Diameter mm. | 1650 | 4000 |
| Width mm. | 505 | 1500 |
| Disk | 3.00/2.5 | 44.00/5.0 and 41.00/5.0 |
| Mass (weight) kg. | 440 | More than 5000 |
| Price, rub. | 80 000 – 100 000 | negotiable |
Cabin
Only a top-class specialist can drive such a car monster, whose health should be taken care of in advance. For driver comfort, an excellent climate control system and a rigid frame are installed in the cabin. If the permissible roll angle is exceeded, the airbag will deploy above and in front of the driver. Vibration no higher than 80 decibels will not cause discomfort to the operator. All declared sanitary and hygienic characteristics comply with international standards and labor protection norms.
Table: technical characteristics of BelAZ-75131
| Engine Cummins KTA 50-C | |
| Rated power at 1,900 rpm | 1,194 kW (1,600 hp) |
| Maximum torque at 1,500 rpm | 6 292 N*m |
| Specific fuel consumption | 208 g/kWh |
| Number of cylinders | 16 |
| Cylinder displacement | 50.3 l |
| Cylinder diameter | 159 mm |
| Piston stroke | 159 mm |
| Maximum speed | 50 km/h |
| Motor-wheel gear ratio | 30,36 |
| Front cylinder piston stroke | 320 mm |
| Rear cylinder piston stroke | 190 mm |
| Hydraulic system | |
| Body lifting time | 20 s |
| Body lowering time | 18 s |
| Maximum pressure in the hydraulic system | 18 MPa |
| Maximum pump performance at 1,900 rpm | 474 dm3/min |
| Filtration degree | 10 µm |
| Braking resistors | UVTR 2x600 |
| Dimensions and weight | |
| Length | 11.5 m |
| Width | 6.4 m |
| Height | 5.9 m |
| Turning radius | 13 m |
| Overall turning diameter | 28 m |
| Steering angle | 42° |
| Wheelbase width | 5.3 m |
| Weight without load | 107.1 t |
| Full mass | 237.1-243.1 t |
| Load capacity | 130-136 t |
| Body volume | |
| Geometric | With a "hat" |
| 40 m3 | 67 m3 |
| 45.5 m3 | 71.2 m3 |
| 50.1 m3 | 75.5 m3 |
| 55 m3 | 80 m3 |
| 59.6 m3 | 84 m3 |
| 103.8 m3 | 134.8 m3 |
| Refill tanks | |
| Fuel tank | 1,900 l |
| Engine cooling system | 320 l |
| Engine lubrication system | 195 l |
| Hydraulic system | 510 l |
| Motor-wheel gearboxes | 92 l (46x2) |
| Front suspension cylinders | 63.2 l (31.6x2) |
| Rear suspension cylinders | 58.2 l (29.1×2) |
EPT tires for BelAZ
At the moment, the following tire sizes have been developed for BelAZ vehicles, which have been tested and have successfully proven themselves in the quarries of Russia and Kazakhstan. EPT tires have a radial and diagonal wheel cord design. Various tread depths from E3 to E4. Sizes from 18.00R25 to the most popular size 24.00R35. When purchasing EPT tires, you receive a manufacturer’s warranty for the entire life of the wheel; there is also the opportunity for a representative to evaluate operating conditions and give recommendations on choosing a tire model.
Device
Since the Belaz 450 tons will be used on roads intended for smaller brethren, its maneuverability must be at the proper level. For this purpose, two articulated support and rotary mechanisms are provided, and a turn becomes possible on an area no larger than 20 meters. And this is with a similar length of the car! Such indicators can be classified as super-maneuverability. The maximum possible speed, in this case, is 64 km/h. The possible elevation angle will be 18 degrees.
To operate the giant bridges, articulated bearings with a diameter of 2.75 m were required. They had to be installed on heavy-duty steel. Only durable Swedish-made steel Weldox 800 could meet all the requirements. The technologies used in this case meet all the requirements of high shipbuilding standards. And the Swedes cut high-strength metal according to Belazov patterns right in their workshops. This design was assembled at the Minsk Machine Tool Plant and transported to Zhodino.
Wheels
Over the course of its entire history, humanity has come up with many ways to transport large and very heavy cargo. It all started with moving on round objects, for example, firewood. At the moment, the latest achievements are special trucks capable of transporting an incredible number of tons of various cargoes.
One of these is a generally recognized record holder - a car from the Belarusian Automobile Plant, which is called BelAZ. It has several modifications that differ in size and load capacity.
The vehicle, which is record-breaking in size, weight and ability to transport cargo, has a record in many respects.
A record-breaking car also requires large tires in order to be able to move confidently under load. For this purpose, six wheels are used, the front axle has single wheels, and the rear axle has double wheels. In terms of design, there is nothing particularly new; ordinary nuts and oversized clamps are used for fastening.
The wheel structure consists of:
- The rim on which the tire is mounted. Its design uses an internal conical surface, which is done to perform the process of centering and fastening;
- Landing ring. Both the rim and the ring are created using special shelves, with the help of which the tire is mounted on the rim;
- Tires. In turn, it consists of a tire, an inner tube, a rim tape and a rubber seal. The valve for inflating the chamber with air for the inner wheels is led inside the vehicle, and for the outer wheels - out.
In them, the seal on the rim is made using a special seal in the form of a ring. To pump air, a special valve is used, which has a different design for the front and rear wheels. For ease of use, the rear valves on the dual wheels have extensions that allow easier access for inflation.
Career anomaly: Oleg Rastegaev and tires for BelAZ (+video bonus)
These tires can crush a person - just if they fall on him! I learned all about the large tires used on mining dump trucks at the bottom of the Stoilensky quarry, from where 130-ton BelAZ trucks transport ore around the clock.
The idea to take a closer look at large tires came after I saw Michelin tires in size 59/80 R63 in person. The diameter of the tire exceeds four meters, and the weight is five tons! They are used on gigantic Caterpillar, Liebherr, and BelAZ mining dump trucks with a lifting capacity of 320–380 tons. You can see these at work in Kuzbass, where these monsters work in coal mines.
Iron ore and ferruginous quartzite are mined here by drilling and blasting loosening the rock, followed by loading with excavators
The vehicles operate around the clock: each is assigned a crew of four people, and an hour of BelAZ downtime costs 87 thousand rubles in losses
All vehicles working in the quarry are equipped with telemetry systems - on the monitor screen the dispatcher sees the location of each dump truck, its speed, fuel reserve and actual load
0 / 0
What if it's closer? Then in the quarries of the Kursk magnetic anomaly, spread over the territory of the Belgorod, Kursk and Oryol regions. The secrets of operating tires on BelAZ vehicles were kindly agreed to be revealed to us at the Stoilensky Mining and Processing Plant (GOK), located near the city of Stary Oskol. Since 1961, the company has been developing iron ore deposits using an open-pit method - the quarry has gone 300 meters deep over the years. When you stand on the edge of this huge (about three kilometers in diameter!) crater, the BelAZ trucks swarming at the bottom seem like ants, but when this “ant” climbs up along the technological roads winding along the slopes to unload, you want to stay away from it. Now I’m an ant for him - he’ll crush me and won’t notice! And this is far from the largest in the BelAZ-75131 family with a carrying capacity of 130 tons. And he is shod in tires of size 33.00 R51 - some three meters in diameter... These are Michelin XDR2 - radial, tubeless. And on the neighboring dump truck there are diagonal Bel-180 tires with dimensions 36/90 -51. Both of them are operated in the fleet of the Stoilensky Mining and Processing Plant, numbering more than 30 BelAZs, in parallel, but according to statistics, Michelin tires run about 100 thousand kilometers, and the products of Belarusian tire manufacturers - 50-60 thousand.
This is what a tow truck looks like on a BelAZ chassis
— We recently managed to increase the average speed from 19 to 22 km/h, and the bias tires can no longer stand it! — mechanics share their experience. “It turns out that at this speed, the tires of a loaded BelAZ heat up to 90 degrees and can be destroyed from the inside. There were cases when pockets of rubber smoldering even appeared in the internal structure!
Everything can be learned by comparison: the height of the not largest BelAZ model 75131 reaches six meters. And the power of a 12-cylinder turbodiesel with a displacement of 45 liters is 1623 hp!
Radial tires are more durable, but they are also more expensive. In our market, such tires, in addition to the Belarusian association Belshina, are offered by Michelin, Bridgestone, Goodyear, and recently also by Chinese manufacturers. But if we talk about Michelin XDR2 tires of size 33.00 R51, then the price range in Russia is from 1 to 1.3 million rubles. That is, changing a set of tires (6 pieces) on such a BelAZ is the same as buying a brand new Porsche Cayenne. And they have to change it once a year: after all, dump trucks work in four shifts and even at such a low average speed they cover 100 thousand km a year. By the way, speaking of prices, the BelAZ-75131 itself also costs a million, but not in rubles but in US dollars!
Large tires can be worn down to the second or even the third layer of steel cord
It is clear that there is an extremely sensitive attitude towards such expensive tires. All cars are equipped with pressure sensors, and all kilometers are strictly recorded. Instructions for drivers in case of a puncture: stop immediately. After all, if the damage is minor, then the tire can be repaired - the workshop is equipped in one of the boxes next to the repair area of the trucks themselves. Everything here is the same as in a regular tire service: a vulcanizer, rubber patches for repairing tubeless tires. Only gigantic sizes.
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Engine characteristics
Only a powerful system of four Siemens electric motors can power such a giant. They, in turn, are driven by two diesel generators. The power of each of them is 2330 horsepower. Each engine has 16 cylinders. They are directly connected to electric generators, which allows significant fuel savings by individually supplying electricity to each wheel. Fuel consumption is 1300 liters per 100 kilometers. The weight of each motor is about 60,000 kg. The size of the engine compartment is comparable to the area of a three-room apartment.
