Truths and misconceptions in the ore comminution

Abstract

Inventions and now widely applied machines for ore comminution dated back to the second half of the 19th century. For the past 150 years, much theoretical knowledge was accumulated in the field of physics the solid bodies, physics of fracture, the theory of shock, etc., but they did not significantly affect the development of machines and technologies of comminution. Their development had a high­lighted the empirical flow in the direction of increasing the unit sizes and capacities, while the main deformation mechanisms and technological principles remained unchanged. Development on practical experiences and insufficient physical justified hypothesis of the solid state physics inevitably had to result in some misconceptions that, despite recent theoretical knowledge and proven facts, continue to exist in practice. This paper just wants to point out some of these misconceptions.