Mining Science and Technology, 12 (1991) 317-323 317

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., A m s t e r d a m

Wear mechanisms associated with rock excavation

using attack picks

Stephen Rogers and Brian Roberts

Department of Mining Engineering, Universityof Nottingham, Nottingham NG72RD, UK
(Received June 1, 1990; accepted September 3, 1990)

ABSTRACT

Rogers, S. and Roberts, B., 1991. Wear mechanisms associated with rock excavation using attack picks. Min. Sci. Technol., 12:
317-323.

The performance of Roadheading machines in face gate roads, cross-measures drifts and major access roadways is of
importance to the profitability and productivity of modern mechanised longwall mines. Slow advance rates due to arduous
cutting conditions results in cost increases and delays. An understanding of the mechanisms contributing to cutter pick
deterioration is vital.
Over the past decade much emphasis has been placed on wear problems associated with the excavation of rock and this
had led to a concentration of the study of abrasive wear of cutting tools. However much of this initial work was applied to
surface mining problems and it is felt that it is not directly applicable to the conditions encountered when cutting rock with
boom-type roadheaders where the cutting and transient forces are higher. Indications suggest that a composite mechanism for
tool wear occurs, with abrasion, impact loading and frictional heating all playing an interlinked part in the wear and ultimate
destruction of cutting tools.

Introduction tunnelling machine. Because of the major dif-

The wear of mine excavation equipment
has long been known to be a significant fac-
tor in the economics of any rock working
process. Much emphasis has been placed upon
the destruction of the r o c k / m a c h i n e interface
(whether tool, tooth or bit) by abrasive wear;
that is, wear associated with the removal of
solid material from a surface by the unidirec-
tional sliding of discrete particles of another
material [1]. However, up to now, much of the
study of abrasive wear in mining has been
directed towards surface mining applications,
namely: hydraulic excavators, shovels, drag
lines, scrapers and bucket wheel excavators.
These rock handling methods are char-
acterised generally by relatively low cutting
and transient forces when compared to those
experienced by a cutter pick on a roadheader
ferences between roadheaders and other
methods of excavation, the simple model used
for other methods can not be transferred to
the roadheader. It is the objective of this
paper to show that the deteriation of picks on
roadheaders is due to a more complex mecha-
nism.
Existing wear models
Kenny and Johnson [2] state that the wear
of cutting tools occurs by the abrasive re-
moval of a small prism of material from the
cutting edge (Fig. 1). As a consequence of this
wear flat, a negative clearance is achieved
leading to a build up of crushed material,
increasing the tool force. Problems arise how-
ever, from the fact that this does not fully

0167-9031/91/$03.50 © 1991 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

318 S. ROGERS AND B. ROBERTS

Volumeofinsertrcmoved TABLE 1
ClearanceFace
Rock -- Some average cutting parameters of various peaks
~ inser~-----~tRake
Face Tungsten
ca/ Tungstenc a r b i d ~
Insert UCS CERCHAR Specificenergy
(MPa) (0.1mm) (MJ/m 3)
\ Sandstone 80.0 4.00 17.5
Siltstone 100.0 3.00 20.0
N~alF~ee
Mudstone 50.0 1.50 12.0
TCom~n2n~
;~2:;....
of Evaporite 30.0
Limestones 125.0
1.25
3.00
28.0
25.0
CuttingForce

Fig. 1. Development of wear on a wedge shaped tool.

represent the cutting mechanism involved.
Whenever performance and optimisation
studies of various cutting tools in rock have
been made, a single pick cutting a continuous
groove on a rotating rock specimen has been
used (Whittaker [3], Hurt and Evans [4], etc.).
Whilst this provides highly useful information
on the long-term cutting performance of a
tool, in no way does it simulate the rapid
loading and unloading conditions associated
with the passage of a pick into and out of a
rock mass as the cutting head rotates.
Clearly there must be additional aspects of
the cutting process that have not been given
sufficient consideration. Speight and Fowell
[5] state that the wear of tools employed in
the cutting of rock is a complex mechanism
consisting largely of four processes, namely:
abrasive wear, microchipping, gross failure
and thermal cracking. The complex nature of
tool wear is illustrated by considering a num-
ber of seemingly contradictory conditions.
Atkinson and Cassapi [6] describe serious
wear conditions that were encountered during
bucket wheel operations at Nevyeli lignite
mine in Eastern India. Here an extremely
weak sandstone (approximately2.0 MPa) with
a moderately low abrasiveness ( C E R C H A R
1.4) caused an excessive amount of wear on
the bucket wheel teeth. Clearly it is not the
strength or the apparent abrasiveness of the
rock that caused the serious wear problems,
rather in this case it was the high proportion
of silica. Operations of roadheaders within
weak evaporitic deposits can often prove to
be difficult. Gollick (pers. commun., 1990)
reports that in a trial drivage within a salt
mine with a salt strength of approximately 30
M P a and negligible abrasivity, serious pick
consumption problems were encountered.
Additionally, in roadheader trials a t Middle-
ton mine, a pick consumption rate of around
0.7 picks per tonne was achieved through
strong but nonabrasive limestone [7].
The c o m m o n unifying theme of these three
cases is that, whilst the rock conditions varied
significantly, a high degree of wear w a s e x p e -
rienced in each case. Certainly the notion that
a single simple mechanism such as abrasive
wear is at work must be treated with a degree
of scepticism given the above three cases,
which are representative of a broad spectrum
of rock conditions, from weak to strong and
,-/
0.8
Hardness of Material
Hardness of Abrasive
Fig. 2. Relationship between wear rate and the ratio of
hardness of material to hardness of abrasive (after [14]).
WEAR MECHANISMS USING ATTACK PICKS
abrasive to nonabrasive. This is emphasised
in Table 1.
Supporting the idea that abrasive wear is
not so significant is the simple relationship
seen in Fig. 2. When the ratio of the hardness
of a to01 to the hardness of an abrasive is
greater than around 0.85, serious wear should
not occur. Since the ratio of the hardness of
tungsten carbide to the hardness of quartz is
around 1.5, these conditions are found to the
right of the graph and so minimal wear should
occur.
Forces and friction
Examination of the reaction experienced
by the cutting tool as it passes through a
section of rock, helps cast light upon other
processes at work. Given a roadheader with a
cutting head motor of 120 kW and a pick
speed of 1.5 m / s , the reaction forces experi-
enced by a pick are in the region of 80 kN (8
tonnes force). Examination of Evans' theory
of rock cutting with point attack picks, shows
that the cutting force, Fc is related to the
square of the tensile strength. Thus a rela-
tively small increase in the ratio of
tensile/compressive strength (the brittleness
index) results in a significant increases in the
cutting force experienced:
167r
cos t0t
Where:
Fc = cutting force;
0 = the cone angle;
t = tensile strength;
u = compressive strength;
d = the depth of cut.
It is worth noting that this is one of the
primary reasons behind the cutting difficul-
ties encountered when excavating evaporites:
the high tensile strength experienced as a
result of the high degree of bonding leads to
319
extremely high reaction forces and a high
specific energy.
Given that an energy transfer ratio of be-
tween 1-2% exists for roadheader tunnelling
machines [8], a large portion of the 120 kW
must be dissipated in ways other than effec-
tive rock cutting. Hughes [9] lists three prin-
cipal ways, namely: raising the air tempera-
ture, evaporation of moisture and heating of
excavated debris. In addition to these
processes, there must be a high degree of heat
generation in the picks themselves as the ther-
mal conductivity of pick material is orders of
magnitude greater than that of rock. Evidence
points to the thermal effects associated with
the generation of heat at the tool/rock inter-
face as being a major rate-controlling factor
in the wear and destruction of cutting picks.
As a cutting tool passes along a rock
surface, a direct relationship exists between
the cutting force and the normal force as
expressed in Amonton's law. That is:
=
Where ~ is the coefficient of static friction
(Table 2 shows some common values for the
coefficient of static friction of rocks). It should
be stressed that friction and abrasion are not
necessarily synonymous. The friction mecha-
nism considered most applicable to rocks is
one of surface asperity interlocking with sub-
sequent shearing. Some surface ploughing may
occur but since the conditions given in Fig. 2
are satisfied (i.e., a material: abrasive hard-
TABLE 2
Coefficient of static friction (/~) and thermal conductiv-
ity ( k ) for some rocks
Coefficient Thermal
of static conductivity k
friction (b0 ( W m - 1~C - 1)
Limestone 0.70-1.20 1.60
Sandstone 0.50-0.70 1.40
Mudstone 0.27-0.58 0.8-1.25
320 S. R O G E R S A N D B. R O B E R T S

ness ratio greater than 0.85), this should be frepre~nts the fr~tinn of Worn Drag Bit
the total rate at which energy
minimal. is used in rock cutting. A
5000 typical value is in the range of 0.5
Thus the cutting process involves frictional
sliding between the tool and the rock surface,
4000
leading to frictional heating. The higher the
G
force normal to the rock surface, the greater
the amount of friction. This may be why 3000

problems are associated with the excavation

of limestone: a high coefficient of friction
ensures a high normal force leading to greater
frictional heating. Hood [10] found that the 1000 _

temperature at the joint between a tungsten

carbide insert and the pick is in the region of
400°C. Assuming an insert of 15 x 20 mm
and a steady heat flux of 5 kW, this implies a
temperature in excess of 2000°C at the
rock/tool interface [11]. Given that the
sintered cobalt within tungsten carbide melts
at 1495 o C, plastic deformation of the inserts
can be expected. This is assuming that the
heat is all dissipated by conduction through
the tool and rock body. It is not hard to
imagine the high temperatures experienced in
the insert given the difference between the
thermal conductivities of tungsten carbide and
rock. These are in the order of 160 W / m ° C
for carbide and around 5 W / m ° C for rock.
Gollick (pers. commun., 1990) describes the
phenomenon of plastic deformation when ex-
cavating salt where the carbide inserts were
seen to be bent because of melting.
I I I I II
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Cutting Speed (m/s)
Fig. 3. Temperature as a function of cutting speed for
sharp and worn drag bits, cooling by conduction only
(after [111).
Whilst the magnitude of abrasive wear is
largely independent of velocity [12], the
amount of heat generated by frictional heat-
ing is directly proportional to the velocity of
the pick through the rock. Operators know
that by minimising pick speed, pick consump-
tion is also reduced, although this is achieved
at the expense of lower productivity. Cook
[11] derives a relationship between the tem-

TABLE 3
Some reported cases of high pressure water usage in the U.K.
Location Machine Rock and Strength Comments
(MPa)
Middleton Mine Dosco M K II A Limestone Significantly
100 MPa reduced pick
consumption
Sutton Manor A / S RH 22 Coal Measures Pick consumption
[16] 90-150 MPa minimal
Kellingley A / S RH 22 Mudstone Pick consumption
[15] 60 MPa reduced by 58%
WEAR MECHANISMSUSINGATTACKPICKS 321

perature of the carbide insert and the velocity
of the pick (Fig. 3) such that:
Pick temperature
= f (Pick velocity, thermal conductivity,
density and specific heat of rock)
The use of high pressure water significantly
reduces the pick consumption rate (see Table
3). This was thought to be because the water
removed much of the debris from the cutting
track, thus reducing the cutting force and
minimising pick grinding. However extension
of Cook's model shows that trapping a thin
film of water between the rock and the insert
provides an additional heat sink, helping dis-
sipate some of the heat. A layer of trapped
water in the order of 3.6 × 10 . 4 m, would be
sufficient to keep the temperature of a sharp
sintered tungsten carbide insert below 1000 ° C
and thus below the melting point of the
sintered Cobalt. Additionally, the water acts
as a lubricate between the tool and rock,

Pickstrikesrockduringcutting ~'::~!!~
U
!

~:~ ~.~ ~ "~ ~ s~

HigherfaPilCtef°o'
;;Sr;ad!; brittie ~

of pi;kP~; structiOn ~ -

Fig. 4. Possible wear paths for carbide inserts.

322
reducing the coefficient of friction. However,
as the contact area between the tool and the
rock increases as the tool blunts, so the tem-
perature rises rapidly.
Verification of some of the above theoreti-
cal observations is provided by an examina-
tion of the state of picks during their oper-
ational life. This reveals that there are three
principal responses of the carbide insert to
the extreme conditions encountered during
cutting: firstly, the progressive development
of a wear flat on the cutting edge as described
by Kenny and Johnson [2]; secondly, the
plastic deformation of the entire tungsten
Carbide tip. Gollick (pers. commun., 1990)
reports that during the excavation of salt, the
temperatures generated by the pick were suf-
ficient to melt, and in some extreme cases,
cause the entire insert to break free from the
pick body. Of course this problem is exag-
gerated because of the need to cut salt dry,
without any pick flushing. The consequences
of no pick cooling or lubrication seems to
confirm the significance of thermal effects in
tool wear. Operationally this was remedied by
changing the picks from standard point at-
tack picks, to ones with a much longer insert
resulting in a greater bond area and a reduc-
tion in the temperature experienced at the
brazed joint. The third response of the carbide
insert is destruction due to brittle failure.
Atkinson et al. [13] described the systematic
destruction of radial picks employed in un-
dersea trenching operations through flint-
bearing sandstone. The impact forces experi-
enced as a result of striking the flint nodules,
led to the progressive chipping of the carbide
insert, eventually resulting in the complete
removal of the insert. Total destruction of the
shank head soon followed. Examination of
picks on shearer drums shows that, as well as
wear flat development, total insert loss can
occur. Again in this example we see that the
wearing of cutting picks is not necessarily
associated with an abrasive mechanism.
It would seem that the most likely route to
S. R O G E R S A N D B. R O B E R T S
pick failure is the initial partial blunting of
the insert, either by an abrasive or frictional
mechanism. This results in either a significant
rise in the magnitude of the cutting force
leading to a serious rise in temperature and
the destruction of the carbide insert; or, alter-
natively, the increase in cutting force will
result in the catastrophic failure of the insert
by a brittle fracture process. These paths are
summarised in Fig. 4.
Conclusions
The wear associated with the excavation of
rock using attack picks on roadheader tun-
nelling machines is complex and almost cer-
tainly a composite mechanism. The previous
extension of abrasive wear theory into an
environment that is not entirely suitable had
led to a rather narrow view of the processes
behind pick consumption. Certainly the role
of frictional heating and the production of
abnormally high pick forces is significant
within the overall picture of pick destruction.
The importance of some form of water spray-
ing coupled with a need to maintain relatively
low cutting speeds and a moderate cutting
depth cannot be overstated in order to
minimise heating and loading problems.
However in all rock excavation processes,
there is an economic b o t t o m line which will
always heavily influence operational prac-
tices. Consequently, the cutting process is an
operation where productivity (namely cutting
speed and depth), tool wear and product size
all need to be optimised.
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WEAR MECHANISMS USING ATI'ACK PICKS
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