A roadheader, also called a boom-type roadheader is a piece of excavating equipment consisting of a boom-mounted cutting head, a loading device usually involving a conveyor, and a crawler travelling track to move the entire machine forward into the rock face.
The cutting head can be a general purpose rotating drum mounted in line or perpendicular to the boom, or can be special function heads such as jackhammer-like spikes, compression fracture micro-wheel heads like those on larger tunnel boring machines, a slicer head like a gigantic chain saw for dicing up rock, or simple jaw-like buckets of traditional excavators.
Roadheaders were initially utilized in coal mining applications. The first use of a roadheader in a civil engineering project was the construction of the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop in the 1970s, where the machines enabled around 80% of excavation to be performed mechanically.
Our specialists have developed detailed 3D models of 3 popular roadheaders to study their design and operation principles. Scope: training and 3D presentations.