Master’s dissertation (Dissertations and theses)
Discrete Element Method Modeling of Ball Mills - Liner Wear Evolution
Boemer, Dominik
2015
 

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Keywords :
Ball mill; Discrete element method; Liner wear
Abstract :
[en] Ball mills, i.e. rotating cylindrical drums filled with a feed material and metal balls, also known as the charge, are a major category of grinding devices in mineral processing and cement production. Since the grinding process is excessively energy-intensive and aggressive in terms of wear, a profiled and wear-resistant liner is installed in the mill to transfer energy to the grinding charge more efficiently and to protect the mill shell. Because of the harsh environment inside of the mill and the relatively long lifespan of its liner, the optimization of the liner by the classical way, i.e. experimental testing, is a difficult and slow process. In this thesis, a procedure for predicting the charge motion and the power draw of a ball mill based on the discrete element method (DEM) is calibrated and validated by means of photographs of the charge, and power draw measurements of a 1:5-scale laboratory mill, which were kindly provided by the company Magotteaux International S.A. . This computational method essentially renders future experimental testing unnecessary with respect to these characteristics. Based on this first method, a generic process for predicting the wear distribution and the progressive shape evolution of liner surfaces is developed and validated by the wear profiles of the shell liner in the first chamber of a 5.8 m diameter cement mill monitored during a decade by Magotteaux International S.A. . The energy dissipated by tangential damping defined by the linear spring-slider-damper DEM contact law was found to be the best fitting wear model with respect to the real wear data. The progressive update of the liner geometry by a multi-step procedure delivers relatively accurate results for liners without axial height variation while further investigations are still required for almost fully variable geometries. Nevertheless, detailed phenomena, like the creation of grooves in the liner, were for the first time numerically modeled in this thesis.
Disciplines :
Mechanical engineering
Author, co-author :
Boemer, Dominik ;  Université de Liège > Département d'aérospatiale et mécanique > LTAS-Mécanique numérique non linéaire
Language :
English
Title :
Discrete Element Method Modeling of Ball Mills - Liner Wear Evolution
Defense date :
23 June 2015
Number of pages :
215
Institution :
ULiège - Université de Liège
Degree :
Master of Mechanical Engineering
Promotor :
Ponthot, Jean-Philippe  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Aérospatiale et Mécanique (A&M)
Boman, Romain  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Aérospatiale et Mécanique (A&M)
Pirard, Eric  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Urban and Environmental Engineering
President :
Duysinx, Pierre  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Aérospatiale et Mécanique (A&M)
Jury member :
Rycerski, Serge
Arnst, Maarten ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Aérospatiale et Mécanique (A&M)
Commentary :
Video of the presentation: https://youtu.be/AuJxtpfnAVM
Available on ORBi :
since 17 November 2015

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