Theories of ball wear and the results of a marked-ball test in ball milling

L.A. Vermeulen, D.D. Howat, Christopher Gough

Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy · 1983 · 17 citations · 0 references

Concepts

Abstract

Formulae expressing the dependence of the mass of a grinding ball on the amount of material milled by a ball mill are derived. It is shown that, with the aid of these formulae, it is relativel rsimple for the results of a marked-ball test to be analysed and for the relative performance and cost-effectiveness 0 the various types of ball under test to be evaluated. Predictions based on theory and the results obtained in a marked-ball test in a ball mill are compared in detail and shown to be in close agreement. The difficulties associated with marked-ball tests are considered, and an explanation for the decrease in the calculated consumption of the balls, which follows naturally from the theory, is presented. The marked-ball anomaly !S explained, and it is demonstrated that the ball consumption in a ball mill can be predicted with fair accuracy from the results of a marked-ball test.