Tribology in mining: Highlights in iron ore abrasiveness

Abstract

This article aims to present results on research, recently developed, and related to wear of equipment to meet the challenges of the mining industry. Emphasis is done to iron ore mining in Brazil due to the relevance of the sector for its economy and the relevance of tribology for assets and productivity. Results and considerations cover wear of equipment (conveyor belts, ore pipelines) and development of high chromium cast iron (HCCI) microstructures to face the wear. Under wet erosive wear caused by pumped slurries with different compositions of solid particles the wear of samples tested follows a trend in which those with higher silica contents provided greater mass losses of high chromium cast iron (HCCI) samples. On the other hand, when surface protection against wear of components is the objective, the presence of niobium in a hardfacing coating contributed to increase resistance to abrasion, due to the presence of niobium carbides (NbC). It was also demonstrated that there is a positive correlation between the degree of metamorphism of iron ore throughout its genesis and evolution in relation to the abrasiveness.