Dem - Modeling Shapes Of Grinding Media Possible
Yes, different grinding media shapes are possible. We have not made the study as of now. Our ROCKY DEM code can identify such performance behavior.
As you may know, most ball mill grinding media do morph into non-round intricate geometric shapes as they pass to smaller sizes. Has anybody made an analysis of the population of such changes and their impact on ball mill production? Many groups become socketed in the mill charge and eventually, through abrasion and time, take on the shape of a particle locked in the socketed position. ■
Lawrence Nordell Conveyor Dynamics, Inc. website, email & phone contacts: www.conveyor-dynamics.com nordell@conveyor-dynamics.com phone: USA 360-671-2200 fax: USA 360-671-8450
Lick that, DEM'ers.
With the advent of DEM technology is it possible to provide better grinding media?
Pebbling is a recogniseable feature of ball milling with agglomerate ores. Would different shapes of grinding media reduce pebble fomation?
Rods (rods are round bars) are fed into mills with the same name. If hexagonal bars were fed instead there would be better line contact. This might improve the grind. Lifting would also be improved. Media handling would be safer and less storage would be required. Is there a history hereabouts?
Expensive animal feed supplements are moulded to a shape which prevents them rolling down the hillside even after weeks of licking. Previously the pellets eventually rolled down to a perimeter wall where they were washed away in the rain. Can similar agricultural wisdom be applied to grinding media. The pellets in question were devised decades before the relentless onset of discrete particle technology so surely its not too much to ask for improved shape of grinding media particles.
Or is it? ■