A comparison of laboratory abrasion and field wear results

In the ongoing battle on wear, laboratory tests have been one tool used to evaluate and model the process of wear. A second, less commonly used tool is field wear testing. Field wear testing, while being more time-consuming, has the advantage that the materials are exposed to the actual environmental conditions and abrasives responsible for the wear loss. This paper examines four different abrasive wear tests (pin-on-drum, dry-sand rubber-wheel, jaw crusher, and impeller-in-drum), and compares the results obtained from these tests with field wear tests using the Albany Research Center's Planar Array Field wear test. A variety of ferrous-based alloys commonly used to resist abrasion in the mineral processing industry were tested, including carbon steels, low alloy steels, austenitic steels, and white cast iron.