Wear in operation

Introduction
Mineral processing activities unavoidably result in wear. And wear costs money.
Often lots of money. This is related to the structure of rock, ore or minerals, being
crystals normally both hard and abrasive.

Why wear at all?

Wear is caused by the normal rock stress forces
• Compression (1)
• Impaction (2)
• Shearing (3)
• Attrition (4)
in combination with mineral hardness and energy!

1 2

3 4

operation
Wear in

Wear in operation
caused by
COMPRESSION IMPACTION IMPACTION SLIDING
HIGH VELOCITY >7m/s LOW VELOCITY <7m/s

METALS Polymers
Manganese Rubber
Steel
Ni hard protected by Polyurethane
Ni-Cr white iron
High Crome
Cr white iron CERAMICS

BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING Product Handbook 9:1

 Wear in operation
Wear by Compression

COMPRESSION IMPACTION IMPACTION SLIDING

HIGH VELOCITY >7m/s LOW VELOCITY <7m/s

Metals and compression

Metals
Manganese steel: The first option for compression
Manganese wear is manganese steel. This alloy has a very special
Steel property, being self hardening and self healing when
exposed to large amounts of compression and impact
Ni hard energy.
Ni-Cr white iron Normal standard is a 14% Mn alloy which is first
option in most crushing applications.
High Crome 18 % Mn alloy is a harder but also a more brittle alloy
used in applications where the rock is softer (limited
Cr white iron
self hardening) but very abrasive.
Restrictions:
Applications: When installed in applications without work hardening

Crushers
} Gyratory
Cone
service life will be poor!
The alloys of cast ”white iron” type (High-chrome and
Jaw
Ni- hard) shall be avoided in crushers submitted to
heavy compression.

Wear by Impaction (high)

COMPRESSION IMPACTION IMPACTION SLIDING

HIGH VELOCITY >7m/s LOW VELOCITY <7m/s
operation
Wear in

Metals and impaction

Metals
The metals can be classified as:
Manganese
Steel Manganese: Needs high impaction for self
hardening. If impaction is getting lower and
Ni hard sliding is increasing Manganese is not suitable.
High Chrome: Opposite to manganese, can
Ni-Cr white iron
take heavy sliding but is more fragile and
High Crome therefore limited against impaction.
Ni-hard: Somewhere between the two materials
Cr white iron above.
Cr-Mo: Used in grinding when High Crome is too
brittle
Applications:

Impactors
} HSI Note! The use of chrome steel (less brittle than
chrome iron) is increasing for liners, curtains
VSI
and hammers.
Grinding Mills
Slurry Pumps

9:2 Product Handbook BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING

 Wear in operation
Wear by Impaction (low)

COMPRESSION IMPACTION IMPACTION SLIDING

HIGH VELOCITY >7m/s LOW VELOCITY <7m/s

Rubber and impaction Metals

For low velocity impaction (material speed
less than 7 m/s) SBR, styrene butadiene Rubber
rubber (60 ShA) is always the first choice
and will give the best cost effectiveness.
The material is also very tolerant to Polyurethane
material size and is excellent for use in
grinding mills, dump trucks and primary
hoppers.
CERAMICS
Restrictions:
Look out for aromatic and fuel oils.
Impact angles have to be considered, see Applications:
9:4. Dump Trucks, Feeder hoppers,
Transfer points, Grinding Mills
Slurry pumps
Wear by Sliding

IMPACTION IMPACTION
COMPRESSION LOW VELOCITY <7m/s
SLIDING
HIGH VELOCITY >7m/s

Rubber and sliding

Polymers
Natural rubber is an outstanding option for the
sliding abrasion of small, hard and sharp
Rubber
particles. Also for wet conditions.
Restrictions:
If sliding speed is exceeding 7 m/s (dry appli- Polyurethane operation
Wear in

cations) temperature can start to rise and

cause damage. Besides temperature oil is
always a threat.
CERAMICS
Polyurethane and sliding
Best option for tough sliding applications when
particle size is lower than 50 mm. Excellent in Applications:
wet applications. Tolerant to chemicals and oil. Chutes, Spouts
Restrictions:
Large sizes and high velocity might cause problems.
Ceramics and sliding
The natural choice when mission is too hard for the options above. Hardness,
resistance to temperature and corrosion plus low weight gives a masterpiece for
sliding.
Al203 (Aluminium oxide) is the most cost-effective material.
Restrictions:
Impaction is dangerous for ceramics (cracking) and must be avoided. Combination
ceramics + rubber is an option. Composition and quality can vary from supplier to
supplier.

BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING Product Handbook 9:3

 Wear in operation
Wear Protection – Wear Products

Modules
Sheets, elements and profiles
Polyurethane Ceramic
Rubber module module module

Customized lining systems

Wear products – applications

operation
Wear in

HEAVY IMPACT
Elements – Rubber
IMPACT & SLIDING
Square Modules
– Rubber
– Polyurethane
– Ceramic SLIDING & IMPACT
Sheeting
– Rubber
– Polyurethane
SLIDING
/ BUILD UP
Low Friction

100 micron

>1000 >500 >100 >80 64 32 22 16 11 8 4 0 Size mm

9:4 Product Handbook BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING

 Wear in operation
Heavy Impact – Selection
Size / Weight

&
Drop Height

Truck Box

=
Thickness
Primary Feeder
Hopper Rubber 60 Sh

Steel Backing

100 micron

>1000 >500 >100 >80 64 32 22 16 11 8 4 0 Size mm

Impact and Sliding – Selection (modules)

Size / Weight

&
Drop Height

&
Impact angle operation
Wear in

&
Capacity
Ceram

Pu
Ru

100 micron

>1000 >500 >100 >80 64 32 22 16 11 8 4 0 Size mm

BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING Product Handbook 9:5

 Wear in operation
Impact and sliding – Selection (sheeting)
Size / Weight

&
Drop Height

&
Impact angle

&
Capacity

= Thickness

100 micron

>1000 >500 >100 >80 64 32 22 16 11 8 4 0 Size mm

Sliding and build up – selection

Low Friction Elements – UHMWPE*
*Ultra high Molecule Weight Poly Ethylene

MATERIAL THICKNESS
mm mm
<20 3 - 10
<35 10 - 25
operation
Wear in

<70 25 - 40

100 micron

>1000 >500 >100 >80 64 32 22 16 11 8 4 0 Size mm

9:6 Product Handbook BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING

 Wear in operation
Wear Protection – Wear Parts

Wear parts – Screening

Self supporting Rubber & polyurethane Rubber & polyurethane
rubber panels tension mats bolt down panels

Antiblinding Rubber / polyurethane

rubber mats modular systems

Wear parts – Grinding

Rubber linings Poly-MetTM linings OrebedTM linings

operation
Wear in

Steel linings Discharge systems Trommel screens

BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING Product Handbook 9:7

 Wear in operation
Tumbling mill – lining components

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Lining life time – Standard Linings

“ball park figures”

Type of mill Months

AG 12 – 24
SAG 3 – 12
Rod 6 – 24
Ball 6 – 36
Pebble 12 – 48

Lifter bars – rubber and compound

Rubber Poly-Met Poly-Met Poly-Met

HiCr HB 700 HiCr HB 700 Martensitic steel
Regrind and Pebble Mills

HB 500
Owerflow Ball and Rod Mills
operation
Wear in

lower
Secondary Ball Mills

speeds
Semi Autogenous Mills
Autogenous Mills
Primary Ball Mills
Autogenous and Semi-autogenous Mills

Rod Mills

    
lower higher higher
speeds speeds speeds

 = mill rotation

9:8 Product Handbook BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING

 Wear in operation
Tumbling mill liners– material

AG and SAG mills Rod mills

Dry: Metal (white iron Dry: Metal (Cr-Mo Dry: Metal (white iron 700 Br)
700 Br) 350 Br) Wet: Metal (white iron 700 Br)
Wet: Metal (white iron Wet: Metal (Cr-Mo Rubber and Poly Met,
700 Br) 350 Br) (Poly Met at mill ends)
or Poly Met (700 Br) or Poly Met
(500 Br)
Ball and Pebble mills SRR mills

Dry: Metal (or rubber if temperature Dry-rod: Metal

not critical)
Dry-ball: Metal (or rubber if
Wet: Rubber (Secondary and re- temperature not critical)
grind) Poly Met (700 Br)
Wet-rod: Metal
Wet-ball: Rubber
operation
Wear in

VERTIMILL® – Liners

Screw – metal with Nihard liners

Chamber – Orebed magnetic liner

BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING Product Handbook 9:9

 Wear in operation
Wear parts – Slurry Pumps
Although the size of solids in a slurry is smaller than the feed size to a crusher or
a grinding mill, wear represents a high operation cost for slurry pumping. This is
naturally related to the high dynamic energy input in the form of high tip speed of
the pump impeller causing both sliding and impaction wear.

Wear material vs size

LIMIT FOR HYDRAULIC TRANSPORT

HIGH CHROME
LIMIT FOR RUBBER IMPELLERS

MANGANESE
LIMIT FOR RUBBER LINERS

STEEL
LIMIT FOR HARD IRONS
operation
Wear in

Size 1m 1 dm 1 cm 1 mm 100 micron 10 micron 1 micron

Wear parts pumps –metal

High chrome iron (600Br) can be used at Ph down to 2.5. Standard wear material
for most pump ranges.
Ni –hard with hardness exceeding 600 Bn used mainly as casing material for
pumps in grinding circuits or dredging.
High density frozen Ni-hard with hardness up to 900 Bn used as casing material
in primary grinding circuits.
Manganese steel with hardness up to 350 Bn used for dredging applications.

9:10 Product Handbook BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING

 Wear in operation
Wear parts pumps – elastomers

Material Physical Chemical Thermal

properties properties properties
Max. Wear Hot water, Strong and Oils, Highest service
Impeller Tip resistance diluted acids oxidising hydro temp.( oC)
Speed acids carbons Contin. Occasion.
(m/s)
Elasta family 27 Very good Excellent Fair Bad (-50) to 65 100
(Natural rubber)
MeroPrene 452 27 Good Excellent Fair Good 90 120
(Chloroprene type)
MeroLen 016 30 Good Excellent Good Bad 100 130
(EPDM type)
MeroTyle 30 Fair Excellent Good Bad 100 130
(Butyl type)
MeroThane 30 Very good Fair Bad Good 45-50 65
Polyurethane

Something About Ceramic Liners

Although ceramics have high resistance against wear, temperature and most
chemicals, they have never really been accepted as day-to-day standards in
Slurry Pumping.
Being both brittle and expensive to manufacture.
Development work on ceramics continue in an attempt to improve the possible
acceptance.

operation
Wear in

BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING Product Handbook 9:11

 Wear in operation
Wear in Slurry Pipelines
It is not easy to compare wear rates for different materials in a slurry pipeline
depending on variations in duty. As a guide the figures below can be used (British
Steel Corporation test report).
Average wear rates given as loss of material in mm³ per hour at a given speed
and slurry composition.
Material Average Relative wear rate
wear rate (months)
Polyurethane 0,024 19,0
Rubber 0,033 13,8
Stainless steel 0,056 8,1
Alumina (97.5%Al2O3) 0,070 6,5
Cast iron
(2.8% C, 2.0%Cr, 3.8%Ni) 0,287 1,6
Polyethylene 0,353 1,3
API steel 0,396 1,2
Mild steel 0,456 1,0
PVC 0,880 0,5
operation
Wear in

9:12 Product Handbook BASICS IN MINERAL PROCESSING