Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719

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Wear
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

Wear mechanism of abrasion resistant wear parts in raw material

vertical roller mills
Lucas R.D. Jensen a,∗ , Erling Fundal b , Per Møller c , Mads Jespersen a
a
FLSmidth A/S, Vigerslev Allé 77, 2500 Valby, Denmark
b
Fundal Consult, Østergade 4, 4140 Borup, Denmark
c
Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet, Bygning 204, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The raw materials industry is faced with severe challenges due to ever changing heterogeneous mix-
Received 2 November 2009 tures and thus each industrial comminution system needs to be analyzed one by one. This study is aimed
Received in revised form 14 March 2011 at identifying the most common degradation mechanisms occurring in closed circuit high stress com-
Accepted 25 March 2011
minution equipment such as vertical roller mills. Both a macroscopic and a microscopic analysis of the
Available online 27 April 2011
wear parts has been conducted. A laboratory scale vertical roller mill with a transparent roller/table has
been developed to further understand the material movements during grinding. The development of
Keywords:
a simple wear test apparatus has verified the type of wear mechanism dominating the process. Optical
Vertical roller mills
Quartz
microscopy revealed that strain incompatibility resulted in fracture and decohesion of the carbides below
Wear mechanisms the worn surface. The emphasis of this work are wear related issues and thus detailed rock mechanical
considerations have been omitted and are not within the scope of this study.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
One of the most well known abrasion resistant high chromium
alloys is Ni-Hard 4, which has been studied closely as a wear part
material in the mining industry [1]. However, for this study an abra-
sion resistant heat treated high chromium white cast iron similar to
21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 was investigated [2]. The chemical com-
positions of such abrasion resistant wear parts are given in Table 1.
These high chromium alloys are used in closed circuit dry grinding
vertical roller mills (VRM) as wear liner on both table and rollers
(Fig. 1). The heat treatment (hardening and tempering) results in a
macro hardness of approx. 750 HV [2].
1.1. Vertical roller mills
The VRM is a commonly known grinding unit in the cement
industry. The VRM sizes range from approx. 2 to 6 m in table
diameter, and depending on the VRM size, the feed material will
vary between pebble sized rocks in small VRMs and Ø150 mm
fragments in large VRMs. The final product will typically be clas-
sified/separated at 12% + 90 ␮m. Contrary to clinker VRMs the
mineralogy of raw materials varies significantly making the pro-
cess difficult to predict and control. The grinding process is highly
heterogeneous as the raw mix on average is made up of 3 very dif-
ferent minerals (for instance limestone, clay, quartz) with different
cohesion, particle size distributions (PSD) and hardness properties:
Due to the mineralogical differences the power consumption will
range between approx. 3 and 11 kWh/t.
Due to the advantageous centrifugal forces, the VRMs are nor-
mally operated at 20–40 rpm depending on the VRM size and this
will yield a maximum tangential speed of approx. 7 m/s in large
VRMs. The table is driven by an electrical motor and the rollers
rotate due to the frictional force established in the grinding bed.
The grinding force is made up of the net weight of the rollers and
an additional hydraulic force (Fig. 1). In the VRM, several separation
processes controlled by the air flows will change the mineralogical
composition of the grinding bed.
VRMs are mainly used in the cement and coal industry as a
3-in-1 machine (grinding, separation and drying). However, if labo-
ratory measurements indicate wear rates significantly above 10 g/t,
a ball mill (tube mill) will be chosen as the most economical solu-
tion: Experience shows that wear rates exceeding 10 g/t will result
in unsatisfying production rates and the maintenance costs will
become excessively large. It has been reported that raw material
VRM wear parts need servicing at intervals between 4 months and
10 years [4].
2. Roller kinetics

∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +45 36182647. The stresses acting on a towed or driven wheel in loose sand/soil
E-mail address: lje@flsmidth.com (L.R.D. Jensen). has been studied intensively [5–8]. These setups are characterized

0043-1648/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wear.2011.03.018
2708 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719

Table 1
Chemical compositions of abrasion resistant wear part materials. A material similar to 21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 is commonly used in VRMs. G-X 300 CrNiSi 9 5 2 (Ni-Hard
4) is less abrasion resistant than the former [3].

Alloy C Mn Si Cr Mo Ni Cu

21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 1.8–3.6 0.5–1.5 <1.0 18.0–23.0 <3.0 <2.0 <1.2

G-X 300 CrNiSi 9 5 2 2.5–3.0 0.3–0.7 1.5–2.2 8-10 <0.5 4.5–6.5 –

2.1. Wear mechanisms

A series of experiments have been conducted to determine and

Fig. 1. The core components of a typical VRM. The horizontal circular table is driven
by an electrical motor. Raw materials are added on the table, and the same is drawn
underneath the rollers during operation. The frictional force between table-bed-
roller ensures that the rollers will rotate without any external power on the roller
axles.
by slippage in all situations due to the counter-rolling of particles
in the wheel/sand interface.
For a towed wheel in loose sand the tangential stresses will be in
both directions whereas the driven wheel experiences tangential
stresses in one direction alone (Fig. 2).
A research group has studied the grinding bed behaviors in a
roller press and shown that the tangential stresses existing in the
entire grinding zone are too weak to cause any slip in the compres-
sion zone [9]. Only close to the gap outlet the tangential stresses
result in slip. The VRM shows similarities to the roller press except
that one of the rollers can be regarded as having an infinite diam-
eter. Extending the comparison, the VRM is operated in a mode
where the table is driven and the rollers are towed.
It is beyond the scope of this study to record the exact tangen-
tial and radial stresses acting on the particle bed, however general
trends will be discussed.
verify the wear mechanisms occurring in VRMs. So far, all known
wear test machines aimed at provoking 2-body abrasion, are apply-
ing small pressures (approx. 0–1 MPa), however the pin-on-disc
apparatus (ASTM G99) can be operated at elevated pressures but is
only designed to utilize grit paper [10]. The pressure across the wear
parts in a VRM varies noticeably and initial pressure tests using
bolt-in strain gauges show pressure peaks of more than 200 MPa
[4]. The pressures are so intense, that plastic deformation and micro
cutting is readily obtained. Due to the high pressures, the amount
of abrasive particles in direct contact with the wear parts is pro-
portional to the wear rate [11,12].
To the knowledge of the authors, nobody has been able to visu-
ally record the process inside a VRM during operation. Standard
visual inspection is impossible due to hot air gasses (approx. 200 ◦ C)
and a sand storm of particles moving upwards at speeds close to
60 m/s [4]. With the design of a slow rotating experimental VRM
the particle bed movements have been analyzed. Other researchers
have investigated the bed properties using similar small scale lab-
oratory equipment [13,14]. To obtain basic knowledge on grinding
bed mechanisms (e.g. particle movements), an experimental VRM
with a transparent roller and a transparent table has been devel-
oped and manufactured to determine the shear, high pressure
zones and rolling points within a grinding bed.
3. Experimental
3.1. Shear analysis
A major type of shear is present horizontally in the grinding bed
of a VRM. This shear is a result of the relationship between the inter-
nal and interfacial friction properties. To verify this assumption a
simple test apparatus has been developed to investigate the shear
properties.
A sample of granular limestone material resembling the mate-
rial found on a grinding table (−2 mm) is placed between two steel
plates and compressed with a hydraulic press. Subsequently, the
upper steel plate is moved relatively to the lower steel plate and
the bed behavior is observed. For increased visibility a thin steel
strip (thickness approx. 0.5 mm) is placed in the bed (Fig. 6).

3.2. Experimental VRM

The experimental VRM has the exact same dimensions as the

standard laboratory VRM and thus represents an exact down-
scaling of a large industrial VRM. The VRM has a table diameter of
350 mm and a total height of approx. 1.5 m (Fig. 3). The VRM has no
mill housing, no separator and is equipped with only one roller for
Tangential
more clearance and ease of testing (Fig. 4). Both the roller and the
Normal table are fitted with several spokes to ensure adequate mechanical
strength during testing. The VRM is equipped with a 1.1 kW asyn-
chronous motor, a 1:30 transmission and a frequency converter
Towed Driven
(0–100 Hz) to control the speed. The height of the dam ring and the
Fig. 2. Radial and tangential stresses acting on both a towed and a driven rigid wheel tow-in angle can be adjusted. The roller is mounted on a yoke to
[7,8]. imitate the FLSmidth Atox VRM setup where a free moving yoke
 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719
Fig. 3. Experimental VRM with a single transparent roller designed for investigating
the particle bed movement during operation.
supports the three rollers. The height of the yoke can be adjusted
in order to change the camber angle of the roller.
The VRM is operated at sub-nominal speeds (0–70% of nominal
speed) in order to avoid dusty conditions. At approx. 70% of nomi-
nal speed, the material will just stay within the dam ring without
leaving the table as a result of centrifugal forces. Pressure was var-
ied between 0 and 50% of nominal pressure (to avoid excessive
mechanical strain on the transparent polymers).
The bed material is a pre-crushed crystalline limestone (PSD
−2 mm, moisture 0.2%). The bed is conditioned using a straight
ruler after each test sequence. The height of the dam ring will deter-
mine the slope of the bed and will thus imitate a bed experiencing
centrifugal forces.
Consumer aluminum foil was attached to the roller by means
of adhesive tape in order to trace the bed movement. As an alter-
native, the aluminum foil was replaced by a wide strip of adhesive
tape which automatically adhered to the roller surface. Finally a
Fig. 4. Close up view of experimental VRM with a transparent roller and a transpar-
ent table (yellow). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend,
the reader is referred to the web version of the article.)
2709
Piston
Particle bed
Wear plate
Support
Fig. 5. The main components of the wear test apparatus is a polished wear plate
specimen, a small grinding bed and a piston. First, a force is applied to the bed
by means of a spring and the shown piston. Next, the sample holder is displaced
horizontally for a distance of approx. 20 mm. During this operation the abrasive
particles abrade the surface.
digital video camera was used for recording the bed movements.
Each experiment consists of 1 table revolution: The compaction of
the bed will change the bed properties and further roller passings
will not reflect the correct conditions.
3.3. Wear apparatus
From basic visual inspection it is suspected that 2-body abrasion
is the dominant wear mode (Section 6). To verify this hypothesis
a simple wear apparatus has been developed and manufactured
to carry out a simple experiment. A similar but more advanced
apparatus has previously been developed [15].
The wear apparatus consists of a spring loaded assembly to
imitate the pressures experienced in industrial VRMs. Using the
spring characteristics, a precise force can be applied to the system
and in this experiment the spring is preloaded to exert a pressure
of 50 MPa (estimate of average VRM grinding pressure). The wear
apparatus consists of a sample holder and a sample specimen. The
sample specimen is a polished sample of 21988/JN/HBW555XCr21
having a dimension of 25 mm × 15 mm × 5 mm (grit P1000). To
accelerate the wear rate a 100% quartz sample has been chosen
as the abrasive (PSD −2 + 1 mm, 1200 HV).
The abrasive sample is pressed against the metallic specimen by
means of the spring thus imitating a compacted grinding bed. As a
result of the large compressive force, the quartz particles are locked
in the bed approximating a sand paper situation (Fig. 5). The wear
test apparatus ensures that the small grinding bed is fully com-
pacted thereby constraining the hard abrasive particles. However,
at the edges, the compaction fails and a slight material flow away
from the center is observed. Finally, the sample support is displaced
by using a hydraulic press. As soon as the displacement is initiated
the pressure decreases. There has been no compensation for this
design flaw.
After each displacement a pressed cake having a flat elliptic
shape has been formed. Since 21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 is very hard
(750 HV) compared to common construction steel (150 HV), sev-
eral displacements with new quartz particles (1200 HV) need to be
conducted in order to visually see a change.
3.4. Macroscopic analysis
Two heavily worn roller segments from two different industrial
cement plants were examined. For easier handling (each segment
weighs approx. 1200 kg), the segments were cut into smaller pieces
using water jet cutting. Water jet cutting ensured that the micro
structure would stay unaffected. Stereo micrographs were carried
out on a Leica MZ 125 with a DFC 320 CCD camera.
2710 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719

Fv
A
Top plate

Metal strip
Bed
Base plate

Fv
B

Fh

h1

C Fv

Fh

h2

Fig. 6. Shear analysis. (A) Shear test assembly. A bed of particles is compressed
between two steel plates and a thin steel strip is used as an indicator to show the
degree of shear. (B) Low pressure situation: The angled strip indicates that internal
shear occurs (interface > bed ). (C) High pressure situation: The particles interlock
and shear occurs in the bed/metal interface (interface < bed ).

3.5. Microscopic analysis

Prior to the standard microstructural analysis, the specimens
were sampled from a large cast segment by means of water jet
cutting (Section 3.4). Subsequently the specimens were prepared
by a traditional preparation method (Struers Discotom, Struers
Prontopress-2 and Struers TegraSystem with the final step of 1 ␮m
diamond). For optical analysis the specimen was etched 1 sec-
Fig. 7. Theoretical illustration of grinding bed behavior during operation where the
table is driven while the roller is towed resulting in a slip of constant magnitude
[9]. (A) Resultant shear on roller surface where the horizontal ␮-line indicates the
interfacial roller/bed friction factor. (B) Diagram showing approx. pressure and shear
profile on roller surface. (C) Diagram showing approx. pressure and shear profile
on table surface. (D) Resultant shear on table surface where the horizontal ␮-line
indicates the interfacial table/bed friction factor.

ond with Kallings reagent #1 (33 ml concentrated hydrochloric

acid, 33 ml ethyl alcohol, 1.5 g cupric acid, 33 ml water). For topo-
graphical analysis, the specimen was polished with cerium oxide
(CeO2 ).
The microstructural phases were determined using four analysis
methods:
1. Qualitative SEM EDAX analysis of phases using a Jeol JSM-5900.
2. Qualitative analysis of phases using a Jena Zeiss Neophot optical
microscope.
3. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of alloying elements using
a Spectrolab S optical emission spectrometry (OES) apparatus.
4. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of phases using Thermo-
Calc TCW4 thermodynamic software with the TCFE6 program.
The results from this analysis are based on equilibrium systems
and kinetics are disregarded.
3.6. Micro hardness
The hardness of the wear part material was tested from a sam-
ple in the high stress region of the roller segment. The sample was
prepared by a traditional preparation method (Struers Discotom,
Struers Prontopress-2 and Struers TegraSystem with the final step
of 1 ␮m diamond). The hardness tests were performed on a Future
Tech FM-700 micro hardness tester with a working load of 25 g
using the Vickers indentor. Decreasing the load would result in
indentations too small for accurate measurements. Increasing the
load would conflict with neighboring phases. The average standard
deviation is 15.26 HV0.025 and the coefficient of variation is 0.021.
4. Shear analysis
In general, the shear analysis shows that the internal shear is
pressure sensitive (Fig. 6) and furthermore it is known that this
 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719
A B
Bed thickness [%]
100
50
0
100
Nominal speed [%]
Fig. 8. Relative grinding bed speeds. (A) In the compression zone, the bed is transported slipless on the table but with slip on the roller. (B) In the last part of the relaxation
zone, the bed is extruded out of the gap resulting in slip on both the table and the roller. On the roller the two slips are superimposed. (C) Using smooth wear parts, the
friction is larger within the grinding bed resulting in shearless grinding.
property is highly dependent on PSD, moisture and cohesion. If the
vertical force, F␯ , is at a relatively low setting, the bed height will
be h1. When a horizontal force, Fh , is applied to the upper steel
plate, the steel strip will angle itself and indicate internal shear.
If F␯ is increased, the two steel plates approach further indicating
increased compression (h2). A horizontal force, Fh , is applied, but
compared to the low pressure experiment, this force needs to be of
greater intensity. In this high pressure situation only the top plate
will move horizontally and the metal strip will stay vertical. The
increased vertical forces will compress the bed to a solid and fully
interlock all particles and objects in the bed. Thus the bed internal
friction coefficient is highly pressure dependent. In the high pres-
sure experiment the internal friction has surpassed the metal/bed
interfacial friction.
5. Experimental VRM analysis
5.1. General
The analysis of the experimental VRM grinding bed movements
are in close accordance with the results presented in an earlier
study [9]. It has been shown that the VRM experiences two types
of slip (Fig. 7):
1. Slip at the gap outlet based on classical flat rolling theory and
verified in roller presses [9].
2. Constant slip because the table is driven and the roller is towed
in a grinding bed. This slip acts on the entire bed/roller surface.
The slip originating from the compression of the grinding bed
needs to be treated without the superimposed constant slip (simi-
lar to a situation where both the table and roller is driven): The slip
in the inlet zone (where particles are rearranged and air is squeezed
out) is evident but has no effect due to negligible radial (normal)
pressures. As soon as the particles reach the nip angle, the radial
pressure will rapidly increase to a maximum value. In this compres-
sive zone the tangential stresses on the roller counteract the rolling
direction (Fig. 7B). If sufficient force has been applied to the roller, a
relaxation zone emerges and the grinding bed acts elastically with
a hysteresis loss. After the smallest gap space, the radial pressure
rapidly decreases and at the same time the tangential stress shifts
and acts in the rotational direction.
Slip will only occur if the tangential stress exceeds the bed/roller
interfacial friction. Thus the tangential/radial stress ratio has to
exceed the interfacial friction coefficient:
 center of the VRM. Mostly, the rolling point is positioned right at
=
 the edge of the high pressure grinding zone (Fig. 11). This conflicts
where  is the tangential stress (shear stress),  is the radial stress
(normal stress) and  is the friction factor. The interfacial friction
2711
C
100
Nominal speed [%] Friction factor [−]
factor is highly dependent on PSD, surface roughness, moisture, etc.
but as an average estimate it can be set to approx. 0.5.
If the interfacial friction is assumed to be constant, the tangen-
tial/radial pressure ratio plotted in a diagram will show where slip
occurs (Fig. 7A and D): Slip will not occur in the entire compressive
zone and the first part of the relaxation zone. However, slip will
occur in the last part of the relaxation zone just before leaving the
gap (Fig. 8). The slip occurring in the last part of the relaxation zone
can be regarded as extrusion. In the last part of the relaxation zone
(where slip is present) the radial pressure has decreased substan-
tially and it is believed that the extrusion effect will not contribute
much to the wear.
As mentioned above, the VRM experiences a second type of
slip which originates from the fact that only the table is driven
and the roller is towed in a grinding bed [5–8]. This slip is con-
stant and acts in one direction only on the entire bed/roller surface
(Fig. 8A). It is believed that this slip will contribute substantially to
the wear.
It can thus be concluded that all tangential stresses are trans-
mitted in the bed/roller and the bed/table interface. Consequently
no internal shear occurs within the grinding bed between the nip
angle and the outlet gap space: The internal friction in the grinding
bed is higher than the friction in the interface resulting in excessive
wear (Section 4).
5.2. Rolling point
The rolling point is a point where the table tangential speed
vector and the roller tangential speed vector have the same magni-
tude (Fig. 9). In an ideal system the rolling point will always settle in
the center of gravity of the high pressure zone. Experimentally, the
rolling point is determined by simultaneously counting the revolu-
tions of both the roller and the table for a predetermined amount
of time or radians. The following equation is used:
N1 r1 = N2 r2
where N1 is the number of revolutions of the table, r1 is the radius
to the common velocity vector (unknown), N2 is the number of
revolutions of the roller and r2 is the total radius of the roller.
In a VRM the high pressure zone forms towards the outer periph-
ery of the table due to the sloped grinding bed (Figs. 10 and 11).
As discussed in Section 5.1 a constant slip occurs when operating
VRMs. This statement has been verified to be correct, and as a result
the roller rotates slower positioning the rolling point closer to the
with the classical belief on rolling point positions on a VRM grinding
table (Fig. 9).
2712 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719
OD ID
Fig. 9. Classical interpretation of rolling point. The cylindrical roller involves a set
of relative velocity vectors which will govern shear under certain conditions. In this
particular case the rolling point is shown as being in the middle of the roller. In most
cases however, the rolling point will settle towards the outer diameter (OD) of the
roller due to the geometric bed configuration.
5.2.1. Rolling point variations
To investigate the influence of tangential stresses and slip, it was
decided to operate the experimental VRM at different settings. The
following observations are a result of the variations in radial and
tangential stresses acting on the roller (Section 5.1).
The following discussions are on a general basis, because the bed
properties and bed movements are highly dependent on moisture,
PSD, cohesivity and mineralogy. Thus, no exact figures are supplied,
however the major trends in the grinding bed are in focus.
At very low pressures (in this experiment just the net weight
of the roller, 50 N), the rolling point is positioned close to the mid-
dle of the roller: By internal shear, the bed itself compensates for
all relative tangential stresses (Section 3.1). If the grinding pres-
A is positioned closer to OD (Fig. 13).
CL
Roller
Pressure profile
Material flow
Grinding bed
Table
B 50
Roller
Pressure profile
Grinding bed
Table
Fig. 10. (A) Due to the centrifugal forces the grinding bed will try to form a parabola.
If the roller was non-existing, the combined full and dotted line show this behavior.
As the roller is lowered onto the grinding bed an uneven pressure profile forms. (B)
As a result of choke feeding a bead forms in front of the roller and a non-uniform
pressure profile builds up.
Fig. 11. Location of high pressure grinding zone with rolling point indicated as a
red line. It is observed that the rolling point is positioned off center very close to the
edge of the high pressure zone. (For interpretation of the references to color in this
figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of the article.)
sure is increased, the internal shear behaviors change. The sloped
grinding bed will start to dominate and only allow compression
towards the outer diameter, OD (Fig. 10). If the grinding pressure
is further increased, the increased compression and thus reduc-
tion in bed height will allow more material to flow towards the
inner diameter, ID. That way, the grinding zone is widened, and the
rolling point moves towards ID. The function becomes asymptotic
with increased pressure as the formed press cake reaches a point
where it cannot be further reduced in thickness and becomes a solid
(Figs. 11 and 12).
At low speeds the bed has time to rearrange its particles and
results in a flow of particles towards ID: The compressed zone
becomes wide and thus the rolling point is positioned far from
OD. At increased table speeds, the centrifugal forces keep the bed
in its initial shape and particles have less time for any rearrange-
ment: The compressed zone becomes narrow and the rolling point
90
Rolling point [% roller width OD−>ID]
80
70
60
40
30
20
10
20 40 60 80
Nominal pressure [%]
Fig. 12. Rolling point as function of grinding pressure. The table speed and grinding
bed thickness is kept constant.
 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719 2713

wider grinding zone. Furthermore the rolling point moves towards

ID and is positioned close to the inner dam ring.
90
If Figs. 12 and 14 are compared, it is observed that unfavorable
conditions emerge once the wear changes the geometric shape of
80
Rolling point [% roller width OD−>ID]

the rollers and the table. The wear will inevitable result in a thicker
grinding bed and consequently the grinding pressure will decrease
70
if the force stays the same. For optimum performance the grinding
force needs to be increased as long as the mechanical components
60
can withstand the extra stress.

50
5.3. PSD vs bed thickness
40
From the investigations it is concluded that the bed thickness
and thus the production rate is dependent on the PSD. This has
30
been verified by testing monodisperse and polydisperse mixtures
on the experimental VRM. A monodisperse mixture results in a thin
20
grinding bed as the material is ploughed in front of the roller and
cannot be gripped: The particles roll and interlocking is suppressed.
10
A polydisperse mixture results in a bed which is easily packed and
the result is a thick grinding bed. From a comminution point of view
20 40 60 80 a monodisperse mixture governs the best conditions for an effective
Nominal velocity [%] grinding process (large compaction ratio, single particle breakage)
whereas a polydisperse mixture is unfavorable (small compaction
Fig. 13. Rolling point as function of table speed. Pressure and bed height is kept ratio).
constant.

5.4. Reduced grinding pressure

If the bed is very thin, but still with an inclined shape, the rolling
point will be close to OD. There is simply not enough particles to
generate an inward movement towards ID. As the bed thickness
is increased towards infinity, the geometrical bed configuration
becomes more and more insignificant. An optimum particle rear-
rangement condition exists, and the rolling point moves towards
ID (Fig. 14).
To verify the results shown in Fig. 14, assuming that the inward
movement of particles will determine both the grinding pressure
and the rolling point, a simple experiment with an inner dam ring
has been conducted to verify this assumption (Fig. 15). The experi-
ment shows, that even with a very low inner dam ring, the material
flow is blocked and piles up underneath the roller resulting a much
It is believed that the removal of wear part material and thus
the change of surface geometry will increase the accumulation of
quartz on the grinding table: As the grinding zone becomes wider,
the grinding pressure is decreased (at constant grinding force).
Remembering that soft and hard components in a mixture usu-
ally do not have the same grindabilities, the soft component is
size reduced almost as effectively as with new wear parts but the
hard component stays unreduced for an extended time because the
A

CL
Roller
Pressure profile
90 Material flow
Grinding bed
Table
Rolling point [% roller width OD−>ID]

80

70

60

50
B

40
CL
30

20
Inner dam ring
10

20 40 60 80
Nominal bed tickness [%] Fig. 15. Two principal/illustrative figures showing the bed behavior at constant
speed, pressure and bed height. (A) A normal setup where the pressure profile is
Fig. 14. Rolling point as function of bed thickness. Grinding pressure and table speed close to OD. (B) A special setup where an inner dam ring constraints the inward
is kept constant. material flow.
2714 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719

A
B
C

Fig. 17. (A) Rock fragments in the new feed are often three times larger than the
grinding bed thickness. (B) For a fraction of time, the rock fragment is wedged
between the roller and the table. (C) The rock fragment is crushed resulting in a
vertical movement of the roller.

Fig. 16. Roller shown horizontally with waves in aluminum foil indicating slip. The
slip acts in the rotational direction. The red arrow indicates the calculated rolling the grinding bed thickness (Fig. 17). Just before the compressive
point which is 20 mm from the outer edge (top side of photograph), the roller having
crushing takes place, the rock fragment might be wedged between
a total width of 70 mm. The lower part of the photograph shows that radial pres-
sures are non-existing from the rolling point towards ID. (For interpretation of the the roller and the table and the result is visible gouging (Section 6.1).
references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of Mostly the rock fragments are limestones with very low abrasive
the article.) contents not resulting in any gouging, however it is assumed that
loose abrasives can be squeezed between the rock and the roller as
necessary grinding pressure is decreasing. However, this effect is it is wedged.
counteracted because the abrading effect is reduced as the grinding
bed becomes thicker and more quartz particles are hidden within
the bed.

5.5. Bed movements

When investigating the material flows in the high pressure

grinding zone, it is observed that wear marks are generated in two
directions:

1. Rotational direction: Small particles and press cakes primarily

act in the rotational direction. These wear marks are difficult to
identify (Section 6).
2. Counter rotational direction: Large rock fragments primarily act
in the counter rotational direction resulting in gouging (Section
6). The interaction between the roller and the grinding bed is
primarily governed by the small particles and not the rock frag-
ments. The dominant bed movement has been experimentally
analyzed to verify the theories discussed in Section 5.

5.5.1. Particle movements

The slip has been verified using the experimental VRM and cov-
ering the surface of the roller with an aluminum foil. Due to the
slip in the bed, the aluminum foil fixed to the roller yields result-
ing in waves (Fig. 16). This slip is observed to emerge in the gap
where the roller leaves contact with the grinding bed. At random
distances the aluminum foil ruptures to compensate for the yield-
ing. When inspecting the deformed aluminum foil, the foil remains
almost unaffected from the rolling point towards ID (Fig. 16). The
deformation zone of the aluminum foil will always indicate the
high pressure grinding zone, and the shift to the low pressure zone
is observed to be discrete (Fig. 11).

5.5.2. Fragment movements
The large fragments have a secondary function in the grinding
bed behavior and cannot be explained by the discussions outlined in
Section 5.1. The large fragment movements have also been analyzed
using adhesive tape and aluminum foil as an indicator. By analyzing
the material flows in the grinding bed, it is observed that a bead
forms in front of the roller (Fig. 10). Furthermore, the new feed in
a VRM consists of rock fragments having a size up to three times
Fig. 18. Wear part macroscopical analysis (roller segment): (a) top view of surface
from the high stress abrasion zone. The wear mechanism is characterized as gouging.
(b) The wear part has a width of approx. 700 mm. The yellow ruler indicates the
original wear part cross section. The maximum wear depth is approx. 100 mm. Note
that the lefthand edge of the roller has been severely abraded resulting in a large
gap.
(a) Stereo photograph of roller surface.
(b) Cross sectional view of worn roller wear part (width 700 mm). (For interpretation
of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web
version of the article.)
 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719 2715

A Constrained movement

of rotactitioon
n
Dire
Unconstained movement

B Unworn profile
Worn profile

Abrasive vectors

C
Direction
of rotation

Area of
reduced wear

Fig. 19. Visual characterization of wear regions (roller segment). (A) The pressure
profile will intensify the material removal in the segment towards the periphery of
the roller. (B) Cross sectional view shows how a worn segment compares to a new
segment. (C) A detailed top view of a wear segment shows three regions of interest.
6. Macroscopic wear analysis
The observed grinding bed movements (Section 5) have been
verified by examining industrial roller wear parts. The surface of
the worn roller wear parts show two distinct properties:
• A rough surface with deep scratches resembling gouging
(Fig. 18a).
• A pronounced change of surface geometry (Figs. 18b and 19).
Because the VRM is performing a continuous crushing of parti-
cles, the rocks (and granular material) will flow in the directions
of least resistance. When analyzing the macroscopic wear profile,
three different regions can be identified:
• A high stress abrasion (gouging) region with large wear marks
tangential to the rolling direction showing a distinct anisotropic
wear mode (constrained movement). This region is formed
towards the outer periphery due to the sloped grinding bed and
the subsequent high stress region (Figs. 10 and 11).
• A high stress abrasion (gouging) region with anisotropic wear
marks radially to the rolling direction (unconstrained move-
ment). This region is formed at the outermost edge of the
roller. The grinding pressure quickly decreases at the edge and
as a result the rocks/particles extrude radially towards the
dam ring.
• A low stress abrasion region with reduced wear with tiny wear
marks showing an isotropic wear mode (unconstrained move-
ment). This region is located towards the center of the VRM and
stays almost unaffected because no radial pressures are acting in
this region.
Fig. 20. SEM micrographs showing wear part surfaces of 21988/JN/HBW555XCr21.
(a) A gouging scratch cuts almost horizontally through the material disobeying the
hardness differences between matrix and chromium carbides. The white spots are
remaining limestone particles. (b) Surface appearance after 10 repeated high stress
displacements in the wear test apparatus.
(a) Industrial VRM wear part surface (from high stress zone).
(b) Experimental VRM wear part surface.
6.1. Gouging
As a counter intuitive fact, it has been observed that the wear
scratches mainly cut in the opposite direction of rotation (Fig. 19).
This phenomena can be verified by studying the wear scratches,
their starting points and end points. The main reason for this obser-
vation is due to the large rock fragments which are scattered evenly
throughout the grinding bed (Section 5.5.2, Fig. 17). Gouging is the
result of the wedged rock fragments, however it is believed that this
phenomena will not contribute substantially to the pronounced
geometrical change of the wear part surfaces. It is believed that
the gouging wear increases the interfacial friction enabling a larger
nip angle.
6.2. Abrasion
Besides the counter rotational wear scratches, 2-body abrasive
wear based primarily on slip and extrusion acts in the direction of
rotation (Section 5.1). As a result of the sloped grinding bed which
forms during operation, a high stress region appears towards the
outer periphery of the table resulting in accelerated abrasion in the
same region (Figs. 10 and 19). It is believed that this slip rotational
wear is the primary source for the geometrical changes observed on
the roller surfaces. The abrasive wear scratches based on rotational
slip cannot readily be identified as they are camouflaged by the
counter rotational wear scratches (gouging).
2716 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719
Fig. 21. SEM micrographs of 21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 as a cross sectional view in
the vicinity of the surface experiencing abrasive wear. Sample is etched with Nital.
(a) Micro cracks more than 200 ␮m below the surface.
(b) Heavy plastic deformation at the surface going from left to right. Furthermore,
horizontal cracks in the chromium carbide. The matrix stays unaffected.
7. Wear apparatus
During operation, the grinding bed is drawn underneath the
roller and compressed to a very hard and dense press cake (high
pressure zone). Since the particles are fully interlocked in this com-
pressed bed, not being able to rotate, a 2-body anisotropic abrasion
wear mechanism is expected. The system can be thought of as lime-
stone particles acting as glue and thereby keeping the abrasive
particles fixed (grit paper system).
The SEM micrographs of both the industrial worn parts and the
worn sample specimen, show coinciding results (Fig. 20a and b).
The wear test apparatus developed for this study seems to imitate
the abrasive wear mechanism observed in industrial VRMs. Conse-
quently, this result has revealed that the major material removal
process is governed by 2-body abrasion.
8. Microscopic wear analysis
Along with the macroscopical analysis, the SEM was used
to investigate the subsurface microstructure. The worn surface
texture and the subsurface microstructure show similarities to
observations made in a previous study where jaw crushers were
investigated [16]. The wear part material consists mainly of a
matrix and elongated chromium carbides with sizes of approx.
10–200 ␮m. When examining the microstructure it becomes evi-
dent that the distance between the hard chromium carbides and
soft matrix is unfavorable when the surface is in contact with quartz
Fig. 22. SEM micrographs of 21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 as a cross sectional view
in the vicinity of the surface experiencing abrasive wear. Sample is polished with
cerium oxide.
(a) Micro crack formation below surface in chromium carbides. Note the delamina-
tion at the proximity to the surface. The matrix stays unaffected.
(b) Finely dispersed secondary chromium carbide (Cr3 C2 ) in the matrix. The areas
close to the coarse primary carbides (Cr7 C3 ) are depleted from Cr3 C2 .
particles at approx. 90 ␮m (Section 1.1). With this microstructure
there is a strong possibility that quartz particles will wash out the
chromium carbides.
The VRM can be regarded as a bearing system with the grind-
ing bed acting as a cushioning media between the table and the
roller. The forces are transmitted through the bed which will act as
a pressed solid in the high stress zone. The geometrical setup of the
VRM requires the table to turn faster in the high stress region and
the result is slip on the roller surface (Section 5.1). The slip (similar
to heavy squeezing) combined with the rolling action will result in
a strain gradient perpendicular to the worn surface.
In the proximity to the surface a shattering and even a delam-
ination of carbides from the surrounding matrix is present. This
is mainly due to the direct contact with hard particles and frag-
ments to be ground. The strain gradient combined with the soft
and hard phases in the microstructure result in a strain incompati-
bility in the subsurface region. The strain results in micro cracks in
the chromium carbides alone and reach depths of 200 ␮m below
surface (Fig. 21a). Also, a visual decohesion of the carbides from the
surrounding matrix is present in many regions. The cracks are only
present approx. parallel to the surface in the elongated chromium
carbides and thus explains that the matrix easily transmits shear
stresses well below the surface (Fig. 21b). When closely analyzing
the SEM micrographs it also becomes evident that some carbide
fragments are displaced from their mother fragments (strong deco-
hesion) indicating that heavy plastic deformation is present in
 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719
Fig. 23. Thermodynamic diagram showing the possible microstructural phases
present in the wear part material.
the subsurface region. It has been discussed if fatigue could be
the governing secondary degrading mechanism (instead of strain
incompatibility): When considering the rapid wear part material
removal due to abrasion, it seems unlikely that fatigue can be estab-
lished as a degrading mechanism.
8.1. Microstructural phases
The OES analysis (Table 2) of 21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 were
used in the Thermo-Calc software to give a general quantitative
and qualitative phase analysis at equilibrium (Fig. 23). The results
were supported and verified by optical microscopy (Fig. 24) and
SEM-EDAX (Figs. 21 and 22).
At room temperature the results from the Thermo-Calc analysis
shows a microstructure with the following fractions (at equilib-
rium):
1. BCC (76%)
2. Cr7 C3 (2%)
3. Cr3 C2 (18%)
4. Minor phases (4%)
However, when analyzing the micrographs (Figs. 21, 22 and 24),
it becomes evident that kinetics plays a major role in the formation
of the microstructural phases. The heat treatment (hardening and
subsequent tempering) has significantly changed the phases: Upon
cooling from liquidus, primary carbides (Cr7 C3 ) and FCC (austenite)
is formed. Below liquidus, Cr7 C3 is thermodynamically stable and
the high affinity of carbon to chromium will remove as much carbon
as possible. As the temperature reaches A3, too much carbon and
chromium is still dissolved in the FCC structure and the transfor-
mation to BCC is not possible. Below A3, kinetics is so slow that the
FCC structure becomes metastable at room temperature. The cast-
ing is hardened above A3 and a solid phase transformation takes
place where the residual chromium and carbon will precipitate
as small Cr3 C2 phases within the FCC structure. The formation of
2717
Fig. 24. Standard optical light micrographs of wear part material etched with
Kallings reagent #1 to differentiate between carbides and martensite.
(a) General microstructure of wear part material. The bright phases (Cr7 C3 ) are
embedded in a tempered martensitic matrix. The Cr7 C3 phases are 10–200 ␮m in
size.
(b) Close up micrograph of tempered martensite. Secondary carbides (Cr3 C2 ) are
embedded in the martensite. The Cr3 C2 phases are approx. 0.2–1 ␮m in size.
Cr3 C2 is energy intensive and needs nucleation points: The primary
carbides will act as nucleation points for the secondary carbides,
thus the vicinity is depleted from secondary carbides. As an over-
all result, the FCC structure is depleted from carbon and chromium
and upon cooling below A3 the transformation to BCC martensite
is now possible. The casting receives a subsequent heat treatment
below A3 and the brittle martensite will form tempered marten-
site (Fig. 24b). From a wear point of view, a martensitic matrix will
yield increased wear resistances when compared to an austenitic
matrix [17].
If the heat treatment has been successful, no residual austenite
should be present. This was supported by the Thermo-Calc analysis,
which did not show any presence of residual austenite.
The presence of primary carbides (Cr7 C3 ) and secondary car-
bides (Cr3 C2 ) were verified by polishing the specimen with cerium
oxide (CeO2 ). CeO2 has a hardness of 950 HV and will thus abrade
the martensite but not affect the carbides (Fig. 22). The primary
carbides are coarse and irregular in their structure showing sizes
from 10 to 200 ␮m. The secondary carbides are finely dispersed and
compact in their structure showing sizes from 0.2 to 1 ␮m.
9. Micro hardness
The results from the micro hardness testing of primary car-
bides (Cr7 C3 ) showed cracks extending from the indentation mark.
Varying the load did not solve the problem of accuracy. For
2718 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719

Table 2
Result from OES analysis of wear part material [%].

Alloy Fe C Si Mn Cr Mo Ni Cu W Minor comp.

21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 75 2.7 0.62 1.98 16.1 0.12 1.3 0.63 1.13 0.42

this reason a micro hardness value of 1200–1600 HV has been
adopted [18]. The results from the micro hardness measure-
ments of the tempered martensitic matrix showed variations in
the hardness as function of depth below surface (Fig. 25). The
micro hardness values show a strain hardening behavior close
to the surface, but micro hardness results are generally very dif-
ficult to measure and should be interpreted with great caution
[19,20].
a by shear is insignificant and applies to low pressure areas
800
750
HV0.025
10. Conclusion
This study is based on dry grinding bed investigations on VRM
wear part geometries. The wear part material is a heat treated
21988/JN/HBW555XCr21 with Cr7 C3 and Cr3 C2 phases embed-
ded in a tempered martensitic matrix. No residual austenite is
present.
Depending on PSDs, particle shapes, moisture, etc., a grind-
ing bed will only show internal shear if pressures are low.
At high pressures the bed interlocks and becomes like a
solid: As a result the size reduction in VRMs is domi-
nated by the mechanism of compression alone. Size reduction
alone. Size reduction by abrasion/attrition is also insignifi-
cant.
Rock fragments govern visible counter rotational wear scratches
(gouging) and small particles govern rotational wear scratches
(high stress abrasion). The main wear removal process is con-
trolled by 2-body abrasion in the high stress compaction
zone.

The location of the rolling point is dependent on bed thick-

700
ness, table speed, grinding pressure, PSD, moisture and wear part
geometries. The removal of wear part material will change the
surface geometry and thus the rolling point. Removal of wear
650
part material will result in a wider grinding bed with decreased
grinding pressures. A decreased grinding pressure will result in
increased quartz up concentrations and thus increased wear rates.
However, this mechanism is counteracted by the increased bed
600 thickness.
The wear part removal process is controlled by high stress
abrasion and gouging superimposed by a shattering/delamination
1 2 3 4 5 6 of carbides due to strain incompatibility. The strain gradient
Depth from surface [mm] results in heavy plastic deformation of the martensitic phase
in the subsurface region. Contrary, the carbides are not able
to yield to the same degree: The carbides delaminate from
b
800 the martensitic phase and a fraction of the same respond by
cracking. However, while the carbide has been cracked/shattered
it can still yield resistance against abrasive wear but eventu-
ally the carbide is disintegrated from the wear part. From the
750 investigations it is believed that the action of washing out the
carbides by abrading the soft matrix is of secondary impor-
tance.
HV0.025

The VRM experiences substantial slips on both the roller and

700 the table. The slip originates from the movements in the tangential
plane and not the radial plane as commonly assumed. The slip posi-
tions the rolling point off the center of gravity in the high pressure
zone resulting in excessive wear.
650
From this study it becomes evident that standard micro hard-
ness testing of multi-phase metallic materials containing hard
phases should be avoided. The procedure is difficult and the results
600 do not match values obtained from the literature.

400 800 1200

Depth from surface [µm] Acknowledgements

Fig. 25. Micro hardness measurement of tempered martensite (21988/ The authors would like to thank associated professor Knud Aage
JN/HBW555XCr21).
Thorsen and senior metallographer Steffen Sonne Munch for their
(a) General micro hardness measurements.
(b) Close up view of (a). support.
 L.R.D. Jensen et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 2707–2719 2719

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