Process and Instrument for Visual Inspection of Mechanical Components for Imperfections Evaluation in Land Removal Equipment

The lack of a process and an instrument to serve as a tool to control the technical condition and maintenance of land removal equipment in material handling is an acute social and industrial problem. Hence, the definition of these tools is an essential factor of safe operation in the mining, oil, and construction industry, as major sources for the development of a country. Therefore, the results of this investigation are presented based on the objectives pursued by the design, validation, and analysis of the reliability of a process and instrument for visual inspection of mechanical components for land removal equipment, which constitutes an adequate and efficient tool for inspectors, operators, and maintenance team in need to evaluate tolerable imperfections and defects. To validate the results obtained, the Delphi method was applied and the agreement between experts was assessed using Kendall’s coefficient. Moreover, the factorial analysis for principal components was carried out to assess construct validity. Thus, it is concluded that the tool represents a source of technical information that supports the decision-making considering operation and maintenance parameters evidenced in the inspection critical routes.