Next Article in Journal
Torque Ripple Reduction and Efficiency Enhancement of Flared-Type Consequent-Pole Motors via Asymmetric Air-Gap and Structural Optimization
Previous Article in Journal
Advancing YOLOv8-Based Wafer Notch-Angle Detection Using Oriented Bounding Boxes, Hyperparameter Tuning, Architecture Refinement, and Transfer Learning
Previous Article in Special Issue
Application of Comprehensive Geophysical Methods in the Exploration of Fire Area No. 1 in the Miaoergou Coal Field, Xinjiang
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Applied Sciences
Volume 15
Issue 21
10.3390/app152111522
applsci-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite question_answer Discuss in SciProfiles
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Optimization of Vane Number for Coal Loading in Shearer Drums (1400 mm and 2240 mm) via Discrete Element Modeling

by
Weipeng Xu
1,2,3,4,
Qiulai Huang
1,3,
Wenhe Zhang
2,4,
Shengru Zhang
2,4,*,
Ziyao Ma
1,3,
Kuidong Gao
2,4 and
Ning Jiang
1,3
1
China Coal Technology & Engineering Group Shanghai Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200030, China
2
College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
3
State Key Laboratory of Digital Intelligent Technology for Unmanned Coal Mining, Shanghai 200030, China
4
Shandong Key Laboratory of Collaborative Mining Technology for Intelligent Mine Equipment, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(21), 11522; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152111522
Submission received: 4 September 2025 / Revised: 23 October 2025 / Accepted: 24 October 2025 / Published: 28 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Trends in Multi-Field Coupling Theory and Technology for Deep Coal Mining and Rock Mechanics)
Versions Notes

Featured Application

Adopting the discrete element method, simulation analyses were carried out on shearer drums with diameters of 1400 mm and 2240 mm (equipped with different vanes), and the vane selection scheme for drums of different diameters was optimized.

Abstract

The loading rate of coal is significantly influenced by the number of vanes on shearer drums. However, in actual production, 1400 mm diameter drums feature two-vane and three-vane designs, while 2240 mm diameter ones have three-vane and four-vane designs, with the vane number corresponding to the optimal coal-loading rate remaining unclear. To reveal the correlation between vane number and coal-loading rate for such drums, parameters were calibrated through multiple physical tests in this study. Supported by field data, simulation analyses were conducted via the discrete element method to investigate the effect of the vane number on the drum coal-loading rate under different moisture contents and traction speeds. The results indicated that particle adhesion initially increases and then decreases with the moisture content, with the peak characteristics influenced by the particle size. Particle movement during drum coal mining is jointly governed by multiple factors. For 1400 mm drums, two or three vanes should be selected depending on moisture fluctuations and coal transportation requirements, whereas for 2240 mm drums, three or four vanes are recommended based on the balance between coal-cutting volume, conveying capacity, and traction speed.
Keywords: number of vanes; shearer drum; parameter calibration; JKR contact model number of vanes; shearer drum; parameter calibration; JKR contact model

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Xu, W.; Huang, Q.; Zhang, W.; Zhang, S.; Ma, Z.; Gao, K.; Jiang, N. Optimization of Vane Number for Coal Loading in Shearer Drums (1400 mm and 2240 mm) via Discrete Element Modeling. Appl. Sci. 2025, 15, 11522. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152111522

AMA Style

Xu W, Huang Q, Zhang W, Zhang S, Ma Z, Gao K, Jiang N. Optimization of Vane Number for Coal Loading in Shearer Drums (1400 mm and 2240 mm) via Discrete Element Modeling. Applied Sciences. 2025; 15(21):11522. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152111522

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xu, Weipeng, Qiulai Huang, Wenhe Zhang, Shengru Zhang, Ziyao Ma, Kuidong Gao, and Ning Jiang. 2025. "Optimization of Vane Number for Coal Loading in Shearer Drums (1400 mm and 2240 mm) via Discrete Element Modeling" Applied Sciences 15, no. 21: 11522. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152111522

APA Style

Xu, W., Huang, Q., Zhang, W., Zhang, S., Ma, Z., Gao, K., & Jiang, N. (2025). Optimization of Vane Number for Coal Loading in Shearer Drums (1400 mm and 2240 mm) via Discrete Element Modeling. Applied Sciences, 15(21), 11522. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152111522

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop