Effects of Particle Impingement and Coarse Particle Abrasion on Wear Performance of White Cast Irons in Sliding Bed Applications

Particle impingement angle variations during interactions between abrasive particles and wear plates affect the wear rate and cause uneven abrasion of liners in sliding bed applications-a typical condition in ore transfer chutes. Inner circumference abrasion tests (ICAT) were performed on specimens placed at various angles to abrasive bed flow direction to analyze these effects in laboratory environments. The ICAT results indicated that wear performance diminishes for increasing impingement angles within the range studied. In all impingement angles, carbide volume fraction (CVF) showed significant direct influence on the alloy performance in contrast to Cr/C ratio of the alloy showing only minor effects. Abrasion performance versus CVF trends for white cast iron and abrasive combinations were observed to show performance reversals in the ICAT due to preferential abrasion of matrix. Abrasive type (hardness) was shown to be a factor for performance reversal in that study, with abrasive particle size being suggested to be another factor. To determine this, the current study scrutinizes coarse particle abrasion in addition to fine particle tests. Dissimilar to fine basalt, coarse particle ICAT results show monotonic wear life increase versus CVF, with no performance reversal.