WEAR

ELSEVIER Wear 250 (200 1) 492-50 1

www.elsevier.comllocate/wear

Effect of carbide fraction and matrix microstructure on the

wear of cast iron balls tested in a laboratory ball mill
E. Albertin a, b,*, A. Sinatora e
a Foundry Laboratory, Technological ResearchInstitute - IPT, Sao Peulo, Brazil

bInstituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas - IPT, Cidade Universiterie, 5508-901 Sao Pauto. Brazil

e Department of Mechanical Engineering. Polytechnic School, University ot Sao Peulo, Sao Psulo. Brazil

Abstr aet
The effect of carbide volume fraction from 13 to 41% on the wear resistance of high chromium cast irons was evaluated by means of
ball mill testing. Martensitic, pearlitic and austenitic matrices were evaluated.
The 50-mm diameter balls were tested simultaneously in a 40 cm diameter ball millo Hematite, phosphate rock and quartz sand were
wet ground. The tests were conducted for 200 h.
Quartz sand caused the highest wear rates, ranging from 6.5 to 8.6 fLm/h for the martensitic balls, while the wear rates observed for the
phosphate rock ranged from lA to 2,9 urn /h.
Increasing the carbide volume fraction resulted in decreased wear rates for the softer abrasives. The almost complete protection of the
matrix by carbides in eutectic microstructures caused the eutectic alloy to present the best performance against hematite or phosphate
rock. The opposite effect was observed for (he quartz sand. The quartz abrasive rapidly wears out the matrix, continuously exposing and
breaking carbide branches. A martensitic steel presented the best performance against the quartz abrasive.
With phosphate rock- the wear rate of 30% carbide cast irons increased from 1046 to 2,84 and to 6.39 fLm/h as the matrix changed,
respectively, from martensitic to austenitic and to pearlitic. Wear profiles of wom balls showed that non-martensitic balls presented deep
" subsurface carbide cracking, due to matrix deformation. Similar behavior was observed in the tests with the other abrasives.
Iri pin-on-disc tests,austenitic samples performed better than the martensitic ones. This result shows that pin tests in the presence of
retained austenite can be misleading. © 2001 EIsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: White cast iron; BaH mili test; Wear mechanisms

1. Introduction differ greatl y from the industrial grinding applications, the

transfer of laboratory results to field service is a difficult
Wear is one of the most important cost factors dur ing min­ task . In practice, few laborato ry tests results can be expected
eral processing [1-6] . In the cement industry grinding opera­ to have w ide acceptance among industrial professionals.
tions, high chromium cast iron be came the standard materi al On the other hand , field studies of grinding media are
for balls, replacing almost completely cast or forged steels, time con suming and expensive . Moreover, they exhibit
since the performance of the se alloyed cast irons in thi s ap­ severe methodological shortcomings sinc e, in production
plication is outstandingly superior [7,8]. On the other hand, conditions, it is almost impossible to keep constant all the
in wet mineral grinding and , generally, in the most severe operating variables involved, which is essential to obtain
wear applications, the differences in wear performance tend valid performance comparisons.
to diminish. Consequently, a detailed technical and econom­ A fair compromise may be attained using laboratory ball
ical analysi s is required to sele ct the proper grinding media mill tests . In these tests, mills w ith diameters up to l m are
material and production processes. used [9- I2], and the operation can be designed to repro­
Many laboratory studies have been performed with high duce, at least partially, the minerallball interactions that oc­
chromium wh ite cast irons in view of their great potential cur in a production mill , avoiding the main shortcomings
as wear resistan t material s in mineral processing and other of both standard laboratory tests and field tests . If the test s
applications. However, since the laboratory wear conditions are properly conducted, information about the nature and
intensity of we ar me chanisms drawn from such tests can ef­
* TeI.: +55-11-3 767-4245 ; fax : + 55-11-3767-403 7. fectively contribute to the development of gri nding med ia
E-mail address:albertin@ipt .br (E. Albertin) . materials.

0043- 1648/0 l/$ - see front matter © 200 1 EIsevier Science B.V. AH rights reserved .

Pll : S 0 0 43 - 164 8 ( O1) 0 0664- 0

- ; /
/
 E. Albertin, A. Sinatora/ Wear 250 (2001) 492-501
Compared with field tests , the advantages of laboratory
ball mili tests are the much shorter time required to perform
the tests and the possibility of introducing and controlling
operation and materials variables. A typical testing program
will vary the type and coarseness of abrasives, evaluating
their effect against a particular group of wear resisting ma­
terial or, else, for a fixed abrasive and operating conditions,
the performance of a range of materials can be measured.
High chromium cast irons constitute a family ofmaterials
that can present a wide range of characteristics depending
on chemical composition and heat treatment. These basic
variables can be manipulated to produce different carbide
volume fractions and compositions as well as radically
dissimilar metallic matrices. Additionally, more subtle vari­
ations can be introduced, using alloying elements and vary­
ing cooling rate during solidification. As mentioned, many
studies using standard laboratory tests , such as pin-on-disc
or rubber-wheeI tests , have been conducted scrutinizing the
effects of most of these possible variations, but data origi­
nated from ball milis are scarce and poor. Most frequently,
published results refer to comparisons between roughly
dissimilar materials, such as "steel versus high chromium
cast iron versus Ni-hard". Though useful for marketing
purposes, these data do not provide information necessary
to the continuous improvement of this important material,
and for the understanding of wear mechanisms.
During the present investigation a laboratory ball mili test
procedure has been developed, that permits, at the same time ,
to perform practical studies, aimed to rank materials for
specific applications, and provide information concerning
the wear mechanisms present during ball mili operation.
The present paper discusses the mechanisms that deter­
mine the wear rates in different systems, during tests in a
laboratory ball milI. A set of wear systems was obtained
varying the carbide content and the type of matrix of the
cast irons, and using two ores and silica sand as abrasives.
2. Experimental procedure
2.1. Test píeces
Cast, balls, 50 mm in diameter, were used as test pieces .
Five chemicaI compositions of high chromium cast irons
were selected to produce microstructures with carbide
Table I
Chemieal eompo sitions , % earbides, hardnes s and densitie s of the alloys
Alloy Chemieal eompo sition
Cr (%) C (%) Si (%)
Steel 8.0 0.80 1.10
A 12.2 1.65 0.37
B 15.6 2.21 0.47
C 18.0 2.96 0.96
D 20 .8 3.34 0.38
E 25.1 3.54 0.46
493
fractions from 13 to 40%, which covers the range of com­
mercially produced alloys . A special composition "matrix
steel" was included to yield a microstructure with 0% car­
bides , with a metallic matrix similar to that of a typical
high chromium cast iron.
The chemical compositions, the carbide fractions and the
densities of the alloys are presented in Table l. The carbide
percentages were determined by means of systematic point
count, using a 25-point grid along 60 fields.
A martensitic matrix was obtained for all compositions
by means of a heat treatment as follows, 700°C for 1h,
air-cooling to room temperature; 950°C for 5 h, forced-air
cooling to room temperature; tempering at 250°C for 1 h;
immersion in liquid nitrogen; tempering at 250°C for 1 h.
This heat treatment guaranteed a tempered martensite matrix
free of retained austenite (X-ray diffraction values lower
than 1%). Table 1 shows the hardness of these materials,
measured on the surface of the balls , after the run-in.
The effect of the type of matrix was studied in the cast
iron with 30% carbide fraction. A pearlitic matrix was ob­
tained treating the as-cast cast iron at 700°C for 1 h. An
austenitic matrix (80% austenite with martensite adjacent to
the carbides) was obtained in the as-cast condition, using Ni
and Mn as alloying elements. The hardness of the pearlitic
cast iron ranged from 44 to 46 HRC. The hardness of the
austenitic cast iron was 47 HRC before the wear test, in­
creas ing to the range from 56 to 59, after the run-in .
2.2. Abrasives
The abrasives used were iron ore, phosphate rack and
quartz sand. The ores were sampled from the production
and supplied by mining companies. The iron ore-referred as
"hematite" in this paper-constitutes the feeding of the sec­
ond stage grinding for the praduction of pellets. Its compo­
sition is essentially hematite, with sorne silica and c1ay as
contaminants (amounting to 2.6%) . The typical hardness of
this mineral ranges from 400 to 600 Hv.
The phosphate rock corresponds to the feeding of the
second stage grinding and has apatite as the main mineral.
The typical hardness of this mineral is around 300 Hv.
The quartz sand was a typical fine foundry sand , classified
as AFS 90/100. Its constitution was essentially quartz , with
< 1% of impurities, presenting a typical hardness around
1000 Hv.
Alloy charaeterization
Mn (%) % Carb ides Density (g/cnr') Hardne ss HRC
1.30 7.64 62-65
1.33 13.1 7.61 57-59
1.22 20.1 7.55 6 1-63
1.50 28.9 7.48 64-66
1.12 38.3 7.50 65
1.20 40.8 7.47 62---63
494 E. Albertin, A. SinatoralWea r 250 (2001) 492-501

0.80 r - - -- --------;:=====;¡ 50.0 .------ - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----,

+Alloy A
• e
'" E
~ 49 .5 rH'i!~~=¡;:r-::::!~==--=- _~~S~
...
::!: 0.60
el
• .:

Sal
E 49.0 Hemat ite
~...
III

.
~
., • '5
'iV
lXI 48 .5
0.40
t:.
Qua r tz

0.20
~
+ i
+ ,

t:.
48 .0 + - - - - , --
O 50
-

100
- , - - - - , - - ---,--'

Grinding time, h
150 200

o 10 20
lime, h
Fig. l. Wear rates evo1ution during run-in .
2.3. Wear tests
The tests were conducted in a Denver laboratory ball mill
having a 40 cm diameter x 40 cm length grinding chamber,
lined with smooth steel plates. At the beginning of the tests
12 balls of each alloy were loaded. Wet milling was per­
formed for up to 200 h, at 53 rpm, which corresponded to
70% of the critical velocity. The balls and slurry occupied
40% ofthe chamber volume. The abrasive was fed at 70 kg/h
(50 kg/h for the phosphate rock), as a 60% solid slurry. A
c1assification system returned the ground product coarser
than 325 mesh (65 mesh for the phosphate rock) to regrind­
ing. The milling was interrupted periodically and the balls
removed to measure weight losses .
A "run-in" period of 30-50 h was conducted before each
test, using coarse silica sand as abrasive . The run-in re­
moved a layer of up to 200 fJvm, which concentrated the
heterogeneities coming from the casting and heat-treating
processes. Fig. I shows the evolution of the wear rates for
sorne of the tested alloys. The wear rates fall steepl y from
the initial relatively high values. After grinding for about
30 40
Fig. 2. Effect of the type of abras ive on the wear rates of 30% carbide
martensitic bal1s.
30 h, the wear rates of the different materials tended to
stabil ize at fairly const ant values.
Pin tests were performed using 6.2 mm diameter pins ex­
tracted from previou sly tested balls. To provoke conditi ons
very apart in term s of test severity the pins were tested ei­
ther against 80 mesh SiC, at a load of 19.65 N or agains t
400 mesh alumina, at a load of 9.85 N .
3. Results
3.1. Ball mill tests
3.1.1. Effect of carbide percentage and abrasive type
For each abrasive, the average accumulated weight losses
for each alloy were measured after grind ing about I day
and then every 2 days. Table 2 presents the comp lete results
relative to the hematite series and the final accumul ated
weight loss for the other abrasives. Figs. 2 and 4 summarize
these results.
3.1.2. Effect of the metallic matrix
The results of ball mill tests comparing the effects of
marten site, austen ite and pearlite against the three abrasives

Tab1e 2
Weight losses of martensitic alloys in bal1 mili test-effect of % carbides and abrasives

Carbides Accumu lated weight loss per ball" (g)

(%)
Hematite Phosphate Quartz

21.2e 65.7e 11 LOe 144.ge 182.4e 170.ge 206.ge

Steel O 2.15 6.61 11.28 14.52 18.8 ± 0.28b 13.3 ± 0.33 39.3 ± 0.32
Al10y A l3.1 2.35 7.08 11.95 15.33 19.6 ± 0.16 14.6 ± 0.19 42.6 ± 0.45
Al10y B 20.1 1.98 6. 10 10.37 13.46 17.3 ± 0.30 10.7 ± 0.26 43.4 ± 0.86
Al10y C 28.9 1.89 5.76 9.60 12.52 16.0 ± 0.41 7.3 ± 0.31 45.6 ± 0.53
Al10y D 38.3 1.62 4.84 8.14 10.62 13.6 ± 0.27 7.2 ± 0.20 42.1 ± 0.59
Al10y E 40.8 2.03 6.25 10.59 13.93 17.9 ± 0.60 10.3 ± 1.07 50.6 ± 1.31

a Average of 10 bal1s.
b Confidence interva1.
e Time (h).
 E. Albertin, A. Sinatora/Wear 250 (2001) 492-501 495

Table 3 The test program was very satisfactory conceming the

Effect of matrix type on the accumulated wear in ball mill test reproducibility of the results . For each group of balls, the
Abrasive (grinding time) Accumulated weight loss per ball" (g) confidence interval ofthe average weight loss was kept under
30% carbides high chromium cast irons 6% (the only exception is discussed below) and the measured
Martensite Austenite Pearlite wear rates for a given material/abrasive pair did not show
Phosphate rock (17 1 h) 7.28 24.29 31.46
important variations along the various testing periods.
Hematite (182 h) 15.97 21.23 34.62 According to many authors, the rate of weight loss of a
Quartz (207 h) 45.60 48.87 64.16 mili ball at a given moment is proportional to its surface area
a Average of 10 ball s. at that moment [5,9,13-16]. This model results in a linear
reduction of the diameter with the milling time, according
50.0.,--- - -- - -- -- - - - - - - ---, to the equation
Grinding of Hematite
c/J = c/Jo - kt (2)
--..
E49 .5
"'~~ Martensite where c/Jo is the initial ball diameter, k the constant (the slope
....E
~~---~
of the straig ht line) and t the grinding time .
11E49.0 Using this equation, the performance of different materi ­
ca als can be expressed by the parameter k, since the slope of
'6
-; the straight line corresponds to the wear rate of the balls. It

pea~
11148.5 should be noted that k is independent of the initial ball di­
ameter, permitting to compare results from different studies.
48.0 +-- -----,- - - r - - - - - , -- - - , -- --j
A low k value corresponds to a good wear resistance of the
O 40 80 120 160 200 tested material.
Grinding time, h The validity of this model holds as long as the wear is
caused solely by surface phenomena, such as abrasion and
Fig. 3. Effect of the type of matrix on the wear rates against hematite.
corrosion. Results relative to industrial mills presented by
Norman and Loeb [9], Vermeulen [3], Nordquist and Moeller
are presented in Table 3. The evolution of the wear of [16], Barros et al. [5], among others , fit to the model. In
pearlitic and martensitic balls during hematite grinding is sorne industrial practices, however, the operating conditions
presented in Fig. 3. impose high kinetic energy to the interactions between balls,
mill lining and abrasives , so that the resulting wear rates are
3.2. Pin tests partially proportional to the ball volume or mass . Sorne of
these conditions are high mill velocity, high mill diameters
The results of pin tests are presented using a dimension­ and low solid percent in the slurry.
less parameter given by w: To present the results in the form ofEq. (2), the measured
weight losses were converted to volume losses and then to
w= ~ (1) equivalent diameter reductions. For this, the densities pre­
pAL
sented in Table 1 were used. Figs. 2 and 3 show examples
where P is weight loss (g), p the specific weight of the of the straight lines obtained. The ? values were very close
material (g/crrr'), A apparent contact area (cm"), L length of to one in all cases .
the wear path (cm). Tables 5 and 6 present the calculated k values corre­
Pin test results conceming the effects of carbide percent­ sponding to the wear observed, in, respectively, carbide
age and of matrix type are presented in Table 4. percentage and matrix variation series . Other calculated pa­
The laboratory ball mili test proved very effective to com­ rameter are also presented in these tables-rwear resistance",
pare the alloys, establishing performance rankings. In addi­ calculated as 1/k, and wear resistance factor (WRF) cal­
tion, the test established the severity ranking ofthe abrasives. culated as the ratio of the wear resistance of a particular

Table 4
Results of pin tests with SiC and Alumina-effect of % carbides and matrix type

Abrasive Wear, W x 10-6

Martensitic allo ys Austenitic 30% carb ide Pearlitic 30% carbide

Steel A B C D E Alloy Alloy

SiC , so­ 9.41 9.43 9.48 9.30 9.25 9.52 S.65 11.45
AlZa) , 400' 3.63 2.27 2.19 1.76 1.54 1.65 1.64 2.19
a Confidence interval.
496 E. Albertin, A. S1natora/Wear 250 (2001) 492-501

Table 5
Wear rates in the ball mill tes t-effecr of abrasives and carb ides percentages

Abras ive All oy Carbides % Wear rate, k (u m/h) Wear resistance (h/u.m) WRF a

Phosphate rock Steel O 2.63 380 55

A 13.1 2.89 346 51
B 20 . 1 2. 13 469 69
C 28.9 1.46 685 100
O 38.3 1.43 699 102
E 40 .8 2.06 485 71

Hematite Steel O 3.44 291 87

A 13.1 3.6 1 277 83
B 20.1 3.2 1 312 93
C 28.9 2.99 334 100
O 38. 3 2.53 395 118
E 40. 8 3.37 297 89

Quartz Steel O 6.52 153 119

A 13.1 7. 12 140 109
B 20. 1 7.44 134 104
e 28 .9 7.77 129 lOO
o 38.3 7.1 5 140 109
E 40 .8 8.62 116 90

a WRF : wear resistance factor, 30% carbide marten sitic alloy as 100% reference.

Table 6
Wear rates in the ball mill test-effe ct of abrasives and matrix type

Abrasive Matrix 30% carbides cast iron Wear rate, k (u rn/h) Wear resi stance, l/k (h/um) WRF a

Phosph ate Rock Marten site 1.46 685 100

Austen ite 2.84 352 51
Pearli te 6.39 152 23

Hematite Martensite 2.99 334 100

Austenite 3.95 253 76
Pearlite 6.58 152 45
Quartz Marten site 7.77 129 100
Aus tenite 8.25 121 94
Pearl ite 11.07 90 70
Mart + 8% Pearlite 9.4 106 83
a Martensitic alloy as 100% refer ence.

9
10Martensite ElAustenite lSPearlile l
100
7 Gl
J:: U
e
E"­ .lll 80
Ul
.¡¡¡
~
.5 ~"­ 60
~ Hemat ite ca
~ ~ 40
3

,.,~
Phospha te

.¡ 20
ll:

0-
o 10
20 30 40 Phosphate rock Hematite Quartz
Carbide volume tractlon, %
Abrasives

Fig. 4. Effect of carbi de percentage in the wear rates. Ba H mili tests Fig . 5. Effect of the rnetallic matrix on the re la tive wear re si stance aga inst
grinding hem atite, phosphate rock or quartz. three abras ives (10 0 attributed to martens itic matrix). BaH mill tests.
 E. A1bertin, A. SinatoralWear 250 (2001) 492-501 497

material and that of a reference-in this case the martensitic

cast iron with 30% carbides.
Fig. 4 presents the wear rates of the martensitic alloys
as a function of the carbide percentage in the tests using
hematite, phosphate rock or quartz sand as abrasive.
The relative performances of cast irons with different ma­
trices are compared in Fig. 5. In the graph, the value lOO
was attributed to the wear resistance of the martensitic alloy
against each of the abrasives.

4. Discussion

4.1. Abrasives versus carbides

Fig. 4 shows that while the increase in the carbide con­

tent enhanced the wear resistance of the cast irons against
hematite and phosphate rock, the opposite effect was ob­
served when the abrasive was quartz.
To explain these results, the wear micromechanisms and
the severity of the test in each case must be considered.
Though the carbides are too hard to be cut by quartz, the in­ Fig. 6. Quartz particle scratch in a polished surface of white cast iron,
teractions between quartz grains and carbides are severe cracking of a carbide branch as it arrests a quartz particle .
enough to promote the breaking of carbide branches in the
prevailing conditions during ball milling. This effect is made
possible by the fact that the quartz grains easily cut away
rock. On the other hand, the use of an abrasive with too se­
the tempered martensite matrix, since the abrasive hardness
vere characteristics can be misleading . It is clear that quartz
is much superior to that of the matrix. Once the matrix is re­
can not be recommended as a standard abrasive for the mod­
moved, carbide branches are exposed and subsequently bro­
eling of industrial systems where it is not the main abrasive.
ken by interactions with grains or any other element of the
Results from Zum-Gahr and Eldis [17], shown in Fig. 8,
system. In single scratch experiments, a quartz grain scratch­
illustrate how the concept of severity can explain the differ­
ing a cast iron polished surface causes deep grooves in the
ent effects caused by an important microstructural variable,
matrix, while practically no effect is seen in the main por­
tion of the carbide particles. However, a detailed observa­
tion shows that microspalling occurs at the points where the
quartz particle impacts the carbides. Fig. 6 shows cracking
of a carbide particle as it arrests a quartz grain.
The results concerning the eutectic alloy (alloy D) present
a deviation from the general trend in the test with quartz,
as shown in Fig. 4. While in this test condition the general
behavior is an increase of the wear rate as the carbide con­
tent increases, it appears that the specific microstructure of
the eutectic alloy-shown in Fig. 7 puts sorne difficulty to
the wear process, by making the cutting of the matrix dif­
ficult. However, the mechanism of carbide breaking and re­
moval persists and the result is a wear rate higher than for
a martensitic steel. This behavior corroborates the proposed
mechanism.
For the softer abrasives hematite and phosphate rock, the
effect ofthe carbides as barriers against wear predominated .
It can be noted, from Fig. 4, that the behavior of the two
systems is very similar.
The aboye results show that valid qualitative evalua­
tions of ball materials wear resistance can be obtained by
means of tests using ores within a certa ín range of abrasive
characteristics, as is the case of hematite and phosphate Fig. 7. Microstructure of eutectic cast iron, with 38% carbides , 1000 x .
498 E. A1bertin, A. Sinatora/Wear 250 (2001) 492-501

700 .---:----------------~
Do martensite
600 ·
• austenite
E
..E 500 o pearlite
oC

8 ai
g 400
7 ~
.¡¡; 300
6
&!
e m200
4 ~
100
~

2 O +------.---.-----.---.----r-~
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Ha/Hm
o O~----;IO~---;;2~O,---::30~---::4'=O--o":!eo

% CARBIDE5 Fig. 9. Effect of the ratio between abrasive and matrix hardness, Ha/Hm ,
on the wear resistance.
Fig. 8. Wear rate vs. % carbides. Pin-test results in different severiry
conditions, from [17l.

was the case for pearlite against any of the abrasives, but
also for martensite against quartz. In terms of mechanisms
as the carbide content. While increasing the carbide content
it can be said that a low wear resistance is obtained when­
reduces the wear caused by flint, a relativel y soft abrasive
ever the abrasive is able to easily cut the metallic matrix.
increasingly higher wear rates are produced by 80 mesh
Comparison ofthe results presented in Fig. 5 shows that the
SiC, as more carbide is added to the microstructure. It is
test using phosphate rock amplifies the performance differ­
cle~r that 80 mesh particles of a very hard abrasive impose
ences among the various matrices. This occurs because the
a highly severe testing condition, which is necessary to es­
low hardness of the abrasive makes it difficult to cut the
tablish the mechanism of carbide microcracking. The result
martensite, but it is enough for cutting the pearlite. The op­
~or 220 mesh SiC shows that when the abrasive grain size
posite effect is caused by quartz. Since quartz can cut all the
IS decreased, the severity is lessened, and then the carbides
tested matrices, the results tend to gather.
can promote an increase in wear resistance.
Contrary to the results in the ball mill , the austenitic matrix
The severity of the test is determined not only by the
gave the best performance in the pin tests, a usual result in
type and by the size of the abrasi ve, but also by the testing
the literature. A more detailed analysis of test ing conditions
system itself. Essentially the same mineral that caused a
sh.ows, however, that this kind ofresult is limited to pin tests
severe condition in the present investigation-quartz, would
with extremely hard abrasives, such as SiC and alumina.
act as a mild abrasive in Zum-Gahr's testing conditions.
Gundlach and Parks [18] showed that using gamet, a less
As a consequence of the aboye discussion, it is proposed
hard abrasive, martensite performed better than austenite.
that the severity of a testing arrangement should be analyzed
In laboratory jaw-crusher tests , martensite again showed the
to establish whether it is appropriate to evaluate the wear of
best wear resistance [19].
material in a particular application. The testing system and
The behavior of these cast irons in different testing con­
the practical application must present the same correlation
ditions can be explained considering two main factors, the
between imposed conditions (such as type , hardness and
presence of brittle microconstituents and the differences in
size of abrasives, as well as kind and intensity of the loads)
the mechanical loading.
and wear behavior, specially conceming the occurrence of
Fig. 10 shows metallographic sections perpendicular to
mechanism changes. The results of the present investigation
wom ball surfaces. In the case of the martensitic cast iron,
do not recommend quartz to be used as abrasive in ball mill
carbides under the ball surface do not crack. Apparently,
tests, if the wear resistant material contains carbides or other
in spite of their fragile behavior in usual conditions, the
hard and brittle particles.
carbides near the surface can be plastically deformed and
bent , with the martensitic matrix acting as an anvil for the
4.2. Abrasives versus matrix carbides to support the imposed loads.
Austenitic and pearlitic matrices are too soft to give sup­
Comparing materials with a fixed amount of carbides port to the carbides. In the case of these materials cracked
(30%) , the determining factor for the results obtained in the carbides are observed under the surface until depths of about
ball mili tests was the ratio Ha / Hm , that is, hardness of the 20 fLm. The wear process continually exposes these carbides
abrasi ve divided by hardness of the matrix. As shown in al the surface, where they are rapidly removed, resulting in
Fig. 9, rapid wear started for Ha/Hm higher than unity. That high wear rates .
 E. Albertin, A. Sinatora /Wear 250 (2001) 492- 501 499

Fig. lO. Transverse section s oftested balls: (a) marten sitic matrix: deformed carbides, without cracking; (b) austenitic matr ix: subsurface carbide cracking.

lt can be concluded that the mechanical efforts acting on

the balls can cause the cracking of carbides that are not sup­
ported by a strong matrix. The same behavior was observed
by Sare and Amold [20], in laboratory jaw-cru sher tests.
Considering the importance of the aboye conclusions,
additional observations were made to check whether the
carbide cracking could have been produced by the sample
preparation . lt was verified that the cracks were present ex­
clusively in wom pearlitic or austenitic balls . Additionally,
examination ofwom balls surfaces polished without cutting
showed high densities of carbide cracking in the case of
pearlitic or austenitic balls , again a feature not shown by
martensitic balls .
The good performance of austenite in some pin test con­
ditions can be attributed to the fact that the interactions in
this case are more restricted to the surface of the test piece. Fig. 11. Morphology of primary carbide in hypereutectic alloy. Evidence
In this condition, the consumption of energy for the plastic of carbide cracking.
deformation and cold working of the austenite makes the
microcutting mechanism less effective, and the deep micro­ abrasives, this mechanism becomes relevant only for the hy­
cracking of carbides is not promoted. pereutectic alloy, leading to a sudden increase in the wear
rate, as seen in Fig. 4.
4.3. Hypereutectic alloy The least severe of all testing conditions was the pin test
with fine alumina. In this system, even the presence of the
The hypereutectic alloy, with 41 % carbides, presented coarse primary carbides does not favor the microcracking
the worse performance against all the abrasives, when com­ as the determining mechan ism for the wear. Therefore, the
pared to the cast irons with carbide contents from 20 to hypereutectic alloy shows a good wear resistance in this
38%. The presence of coarse carbides, typical of the so­ particular testing condition.
lidification of hypereutectic cast irons, makes it easy for In the pin test using coarse SiC, asevere wear condition
the microcracking mechanism to start, leading to high wear was attained , resulting in wear rates much higher than those
rates . Fig. 11 shows the remains of a large carbide , with observed in the test with alumina. In this test, the hyper­
evidences that a portion has been cracked and removed. eutectic alloy presented a much worse performance when
lt was observed that these materials presented the largest compared with those with 20-38% carbides, similarly to the
standard deviations in the weight loss measurements, what observed behavior in the ball mill tests with iron and phos­
is, probably, a consequence of a discontinuous process of phate ores. Again, the reason for this is the promotion of
coarse carbide cracking and removal. the microcracking mechanism due to presence of the coarse
In the maximum severity testing condition, represented carbides.
by the ball mill test with quartz, the wear rate of the hyper­
eutectic alloy follows the general trend, as shown in Fig. 4. 4.4. Precticel applícability
This shows that, except for the eutectic alloy, easy microc­
racking of the carbides is an important step in the prevail­ To analyze the possible practical application ofthe testing
ing wear mechanism in the test with quartz . For the other procedures and results described in this work, the present

- - -- - - - - - - - - - -
 E. Albertin, A. Sinatora lWear 250 (2001) 492- 501
500
E
E of non-controlled amounts of retained austenite .
ci
W
1­
W
~
4: -- ......
o..J
..J ....
~,'~
~
... ..-:- . ----o
~:::-::.
4:
rn
~:"'--....
~-.~
···· :- ··-F ......
40 ...~.~~
H G
1000 2000
GRINDING TIME, h
Fig. 12. Ball wear in a 3 rn-diarneter indu strial mili .
results were compared to those obtained in an industrial ball
milI. The results ofwear tests in a 3 m-diameter mill, carried
out in the mine that provided the phosphate rack for this
testing program, are summarized in Fig. 12 [5].
Comparing the performance of balls supplied by several
manufacturers, a range of wear rates from 2.5 to 7.3 u m/h
was obtained. To compare these results with those obtained
in the laboratory ball mill, a conversion factor-the square
root of the mill diameter-was used, based in the modeling
presented by Hukki [21]. Using this factor, the results of the
present work for martensitic balls would range from 3.8 to
~ .8 ¡.Lm:h. Since the laborato ry and the field results fall prac­
tically m the same range, it can be concluded that the pro­
posed testing procedures can be used for the development of
~aterials f~l g.linding media . Moreover, ~inc e rhe test pro­
vides quantitative results in terms of diameter reduction rate
the in-service life of the grinding media can be estimated. '
On the other hand, the results using quartz as abrasive
show th~ difficulty for establishin g standard testing proce­
dures. Smce the effects of increasing the carbide content of
the alloys were so completel y opposed whcn using quartz
or the ores, it becomes clear that quartz should not be used
as standard abrasive for tests intended to evaluate and de­
velop mat~rials for grinding media . The use of the same
ore of the mtended practical application as the abrasive in
the laborat~ry ball mill test is obviously the best choice. If
only ~ quahtati ve ranking is required , iron ore, an abundant
abrasive, could be.used to evaluate grinding media for many
other ores. ~ttentIOn should be given to the fact the more
severe cond ítíons (for example, a harder or coarser abrasive)
ten? to c.ompress the performance of the different materials
while miId conditions tend to separate the results '
. For ma~ensit!c cast irons, the general trends showed in
~m tests usm~ SIC as abrasive were similar to those obtained
m the ball mJ11. The test using alumina did not show clearly
the advers~ effect of coarse primary carbides.
. The main drawback of pin test is the tendency to h igh­
light only the positive effects of austenitic matrices. This is
contrary to the practical field observation and to the res~lts
of the ball mill tests of the present work. Results concermng
martensitic cast irons can be biased because of the presence
5. Conclusion s
~ l. The effect of the amount of carbides on the wear resis­
tance of high chromium cast irons depends on the test
severity. Severe condition s, as imposed by quartz in the
ball mill test, lead to increasing wear rates as the carbide
percentage increases . This occurs by a mechanism com­
bining rapid removal of the metallic matrix followed by
microcracking of the carbides . In less severe conditions,
as in the case of grinding of hematite or phosphate rock,
the carbides are effective to protect the metallic matrix
against the microcuttin g mechanism, and the wear rates
decrease as the carbide percentage increases, up to the
eutectic composition.
2. Quartz sand is not recommended as standard abrasive in
ball mill wear tests.
3. The ratio ofthe abrasive hardness by the matrix hardness
was a determining factor for the wear rates, for 30%
carbide cast irons with different matrices.
4. Low resistance matrices , such as pearlite and austenite ,
result in subsurface carbide cracking and low wear resis­
tance in the ball mill test. As a consequence, the superior
performance of austenitic cast irons in pin tests does not
reproduce in the ball mill test.
References
[1] T.E. Norman, Wear in or e processing mach ine ry, in: M .B. Pet erson
W.O. Winor (Eds.), Wear Control Handbook, AS ME, 1980:
p p . 109- 15 1.
[2] D.E. Nass, Steel Grinding Media Used in the United States and
Caria da, in: Proceedings of the Sy mpos ium Mate rials for the Mi ning
Indus try, VaJl, CO., E.U .A., pp. 173-83.
[3] L.A. Venneul en, 0 .0. Howat , T heori es of ball wea r and the resul ts
of a marked-ball test in ball milling, J. S. Afr, Inst. Mi ning Metal.
83 (8) (1983) 189-197.
[4] L.~ ' . Verme ulen, D.D. Howat, Abrasive and impacti ve wear of
grin ding balls in rotary mili s, J. S. Afr. Inst. Minin g Meta l. 86 (4)
(1 986) 113-1 24 .
[5] O. Barros Fo, ~t al. Testes de avaliacáo de corpos moedores (Grinding
med ia evaluat ion tests), in: Seminário Sobre Materiais Resistent es
Aü Desgaste , 2, (2nd Wear Resist ant Materials Seminar) Uberlándia
MG, ~ra~iJ 1991, ABM and Un iversidade Federal de Uberlandia'
Uberlánd ía, MG, p. 570. '
[6] R. W. ?u~n an , Progre ss in abras ion resis tant materials for use in
7 COmmInUlIOn pro cesses , Int. J. Miner. Proce s., 1988, pp . 381- 39 9.
[ ] ~' M a r:' tray~ Les font es blanches a haute ten eur en crome resistant a
1 abraslO~ , m: Seminario Sobre Materiais Resistentes Aü Desgaste
2., Uber lándia, MG, 1991. Anais . '
[8J ~ 'w. Durman, Th e Application of AlJoyed White Cast lron s in
lUshmg, Gn ndmg and Materia l Handli ng Processes. The B riti sh
Foundry man, 1972, pp . 381- 399.
 E. Albertin, A. Sinatora/Wear 250 (2001) 492-501
[9] T.E. Nonnan, C.M . Loeb, Wear tests on grinding balls , Trans . AIME
176 (1948) 490-526.
[10] P.H. Carpinetti Costa , Efeito do nióbio em ferros fundidos brancos
ligados ao cromo e molibdénio, (Nb effect in Cr and Mo alloyed
cast irons) Sao Paulo , MSc . Thesis, Escola Politécnica, Universidade
de Sao Paulo , 1985, p.109 .
[1 1] W.L. Guesser, et al. Nióbio em ferros fundidos ligados ao cromo para
aplicac óes em desgaste abrasivo (Nb in Cr cast irons for wear app­
lications). Metalurgia ABM, 45, Vol. 381, agosto 1989, pp.
323-339.
[12] M.A. Moore, Factors affecting wear in tumbling milis: infiuence of
composition and microstructures, Int. J. Miner. Proces o 22 (1983)
313-343.
[13] F. Borik, Using Tests to Define the Infiuence of Metallurgical Varia­
bles on Abrasion , Metals Engineering Quarterly, 1972, pp. 33-39.
[14] A.L. Wesner, et al. Study of grinding-ball wear employing
a radioactive-tracer technique. Trans. ASME, 217 (1960) 429­
434 .
501
[15] H.A. Leiva, S.H. Estay, Evaluacion Experimental de Fundiciones
Blancas de Bajo Cromo Aplicadas em Molienda Secundaria, in:
Simposium De Ingenieria De Minas, 7., Depto. de Ingenieria de
Minas, Univ. de Santiago de Chile, 1990, pp. 39-57.
[16] D.E . Nordquist, l.E. Moeler, Relative wear rates of various diarneter
grinding balls in production milis, Trans . Soc o Miner. Eng. AIME
187 (1950) 712-715.
[17] K.H . Zum Gahr , G.T. Eldis, Abrasive wear of white cast iron, Wear
64 (1980) 175-194.
[18] R.B. Gundlach, lL. Parks, Infiuence of abrasive hardness on the
wear resistance of high chromium irons, Wear 46 (1978) 97-108.
[19] J.D. Watson, I.R. Sare, K. Amold, Abrasive wear ofwhite cast irons,
Metals Forum 3 (1) (1980) 74-88.
[20] I.R. Sare, K. Amold, Gouging abras ion of wear-resistant alloy white
cast irons, Wear 131 (1989) 15-38.
[21] R.T. Hukki , Correlation between principal parameters affecting
mechanical ball wear, Trans . Soc o Miner, Eng. AIME 199 (1954)
642-644.