Abstract
Impact and abrasion properties of various commercial US grinding balls were evaluated and compared by the Bureau of Mines, US Department of the Interior. Laboratory tests were conducted on balls obtained from eight major US manufacturers. The balls included forged steel, cast steel, and alloyed white cast iron and were subjected to repeated impacts until they broke or until 300,000 impacts were exceeded. Pin abrasion tests also were conducted. The results showed wide differences in impact lives, ranging from a few thousand to over 500,000 impacts. The life of inferior commercial balls was increased five to six times by a laboratory tempering heat treatment. For balls that did not break, the major impact wear mode was spalling and ranged from an average rate of 0.28 to 4.46 mg per impact. The softest balls (steel) had excellent impact resistance but low abrasion resistance. The abrasion resistance of the steel balls generally increased with hardness. The alloyed white cast irons had about twice the abrasion resistance of the steel balls. Users should become aware of the wide variations among commercial balls, and ball manufacturers should be aware that their product can be improved.
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M&MP paper 88–653. Discussion of this paper must be submitted, in duplicate, prior to Jul. 31, 1989.
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Blickensderfer, R., Tylczak, J.H. Evaluation of commercial US grinding balls by laboratory impact and abrasion tests. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 6, 60–66 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03402527
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03402527