The particle size effect on abrasive wear of high-chromium white cast iron mill balls

Granite grinding tests, under dry and wet conditions, were performed to assess the influence of abrasive particle size to the wear behavior of martensitic high-chromium white cast iron mill balls. The tests were performed, at first, using raw granite particle sizes between 0.074 and 19.1 mm, and then with coarse and fine granite fractions obtained after screening the raw granite in a 3.36 mm sieve. It is demonstrated that the relative particle/ball size relationship is the determining parameter to ball wear. The highest ball wear rates were observed for fine granite grinding under dry (120 mg/cycle) and wet (129 mg/cycle) conditions. The lowest wear rate (ca. 50 mg/cycle) was observed for coarse granite grinding (dry and wet). These different results were attributed to the different size relationships between grinding body diameter and granite particles size. For wet-grinding of raw granite, the mineral components may influence significantly the wear behavior. Feldspar can act as a bonding agent, gluing fine quartz particles to the coarse granite and to the balls surface and turning the dependence of the relationship between the relative sizes of ball and granite particle less important to the wear process. This explains why wet-grinding of raw granite results in a ball wear two times greater (106 mg/cycle) than dry-grinding (51 mg/cycle).