Abrasive wear and optimal installation angle of concrete double-horizontal shaft mixer stirring blades

Abstract

The quality of a building desponds directly on the quality of concrete, and mixing is the key process of concrete production. However, a mixing blade is severely worn and has a relatively short life during the mixing process because of severe friction between the concrete material and the double-horizontal shaft mixer stirring blades. This study uses the abrasion mechanism of a mixer and the abrasive wear formula as bases to analyze the theoretical maximum line wear rate $$\eta$$ of an experimental prototype at five blade installation angles, and obtain the optimal installation interval and optimal installation angle. Results indicate that the wear rate of different blade installation angles changes significantly. The wear rate at 45° is the largest, and the corresponding theoretical life is only 125 days. By contrast, the wear rate at 35° is the smallest, and the corresponding theoretical life is 192 days. The change rule of the maximum line wear rate $$\eta$$ of the blade is obtained through the wear line chart, and the performance curve and evaluation function are fitted using MATLAB. The three aspects of stirring quality, energy consumption, and wear loss are quantitatively analyzed. The best installation angle and interval are 31.8° and 30°–34°. This study can provide a reference for the design choice of the installation angle of the mixing blade of concrete mixers.