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Atlas Copco’s new COP 4038 drill is most powerful on market

Atlas Copco has launched the most powerful rock drill currently on the market. The COP 4038 is a 40kW machine operating at a frequency of 140Hz compared with the 117Hz of the COP 3038. Designed for tunnelling and drifting in the hole at 43–64mm, the COP 4038 is an extremely advanced unit. High frequency technology is said by Atlas Copco to be utilised so that instead of simply striking the drill steel harder, the piston strikes at a higher frequency, resulting in faster penetration without increased stress
November 29, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Atlas Copco has launched the most powerful rock drill currently on the market. The COP 4038 is a 40kW machine operating at a frequency of 140Hz compared with the 117Hz of the COP 3038.

Designed for tunnelling and drifting in the hole at 43–64mm, the COP 4038 is an extremely advanced unit. High frequency technology is said by 161 Atlas Copco to be utilised so that instead of simply striking the drill steel harder, the piston strikes at a higher frequency, resulting in faster penetration without increased stress on the drill steel.

The COP 4038 also has a minimum of lightweight parts and features a double sealed flushing chamber which allows for a water pressure up to 40bar with a minimum risk of water intrusion.

Additionally, the unit’s hydraulic dual-dampening system absorbs and dissipates the shockwaves from the rock, ensuring the best possible contact between the drill bit and the rock surface. This is said to result in the transmission of maximum power to crush the rock without loosening the threads in the drill string.

Morgan Kanflod, product portfolio manager, points out that the COP 4038 was developed with top speed as the primary objective. “Looking at a COP 4038 while drilling, you not only see the high penetration rate, you also hear and sense the top performance. It offers improved drilling performance leading to an overall reduced tunnelling cost – and as everyone in tunnelling knows, time is money.”

In theory, Atlas Copco claims, the new rock drill means that a three boom Boomer equipped with COP 4038 rock drills can provide more or less the same drilling capacity as a four boom Boomer equipped with COP 3038 rock drills. This leads to fewer rock drills, booms, feeds and power packs to take care of and maintain. Nicole Schoch, product manager, upgrades and kits, states that the COP 4038 will only be offered in conjunction with a COP CARE service agreement to ensure sustainable operations.

“As the COP 4038 was designed for applications where extremely high rates of penetration are required, it is essential to have optimised machine availability in addition to performance. With COP CARE, the COP 4038 is assured to have superior performance and maintenance reliability.”

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