Performance evaluation of bolter miner cutting head by using multicriteria decision-making approaches

A bolter miner is a new type of mining machinery with cutting and anchoring functions. Owing to its structural diversity, the cutting head performance of a bolter miner varies. However, there is still no effective method to evaluate the cutting head performance. Based on multi-aspect factors influencing the cutting head performance, the main factors such as the load fluctuation coefficient, mean torque, and specific energy were taken into account. Combined with the characteristics of multi-criteria decision-making approaches and the superiority of game theory in calculating the weight of the cutting performance indexes, an evaluation method based on the game-theory-extenics model is proposed. In addition, by combining the geological conditions of a particular coalmine, three pick layout schemes for the cutting head are compared, the final one of which was chosen through a performance evaluation. The results were successfully applied to the first shield bolter miner in China, and good results were obtained for engineering application.