The quicker, safer and more smoothly processes flow on a mine, the better it is for production efficiencies and profits, says ASX-listed company Austin Engineering, which has leveraged its 50 years of proven engineering experience to produce the “finest shaped dump truck bodies in the world”, able to provide the “smoothest flow of product”.

Austin’s latest innovative design, the Flow Control Body, was developed over the last decade in Casper, Wyoming, in the US, in response to a customer’s needs for its coal hauling application. The Flow Control Body is built to suit all truck brands and models in coal, overburden or combination designs.

“By developing an in-house engineering solution to redesign the floor at different angles, we were able to ensure the centre of gravity remains in front of the rear axle during material discharge,” says Austin Engineering sales and business development manager Brad Higgins.

The patented award-winning floor design prevents material surge which generates a high level of dust. This unique design increases the stability of the truck by eliminating lift of the front axles, resulting in safer operation. The outcome is a smooth, nonstopping offload to let the material dump in a uniform fashion, thereby reducing excessive dust while increasing the longevity of the body.

The outcome has exceeded customer requirements and presented additional benefits of improved operator safety, crusher efficiency, lift cylinder life, body life and effective dust control. It also significantly minimises carry-back, thereby improving efficiency and managing costs.

“The Flow Control Body design comes with years of experience, trials and tests. The design work and ingenuity that has gone into the new Austin Ultima Flow Control Body is phenomenal and we are seeing excellent results,” says Higgins.

Engineered and built to suit customers’ unique application requirements across a range of commodities and materials, Austin’s WESTECH, JEC and ULTIMA truck bodies deliver in terms of capacity, life-span and ease of maintenance. Customising the body to increase payload while adhering to original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications is the engineering team’s speciality. Using advanced software technology, including EDEM and ANSYS, Austin’s engineering team develops products to match the theory of its design models.

The WESTECH branded range of truck bodies offers reduced operating costs, owing to their longevity. The replaceable linings, while still using the original body structure, offer great lifetime value.

In addition, the design team has also factored in modular manufactured builds that offer ease of transport to site, lower cost and final assembly on the customer site.

The JEC boasts a lighter weight, modular design and skeletal frame to complement the replaceable floor.

The Ultima Dump Truck Body is lighter and stronger than OEM bodies and translates to a proven 10% to 15% weight saving without sacrificing payload.