I fully agree with yoir advantages for rubber liners in the right applications. I also maintain that steel is better for heavy duty impact resistance, otherwise crushers would be lined with rubber. A rock box is better yet, but that's not possible in mills.
Rubbef liners are also far easier to remove and install than metal mill liners.
There is a lot of impact between the rock, media, and liners in grinding mills, especially with large balls and rock.
The examples I gave were for extremely tough service in extremely abrasive rock (taconite). To extend it further rubber pump liners work best below 10 mesh (1650 microns) and metal ones work best in coarser slurries in our rock.
Urethane with a similar durometer reading generally works equally well compared to vulcanized rubber.
Bruce Kettunen
Retired Metallurgist
Mt. Iron, MN
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Bruce Kettunen
Mountain Iron MN United States
(218)966-2233
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-19-2020 09:10 PM
From: Marcello Cusma
Subject: Rubber lining. Yes or no?
Bruce,
Thank you for your response, but why impact is favorable with steel liner? I personally don't think linings have really an important effect on this. The media distribution and size is what really crush and grind the material + the qty of water ( in the event of wet grinding ), for instance. I would add to this also the mill diameter and the shape of lifters and of the speed.
Regardless of our experiences, on the long run rubber may have more pros than cons. it is lighter ( less energy and less stress on the mechanical parts, such as bearings ). It absorbs a good amount of noise. It's easy to install and less dangerous. It's easy to keep in stock.
Other opinions?
Thank you for your insights, though.
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Marcello Cusma
Original Message:
Sent: 08-19-2020 12:53 PM
From: Bruce Kettunen
Subject: Rubber lining. Yes or no?
Rubber is great for sliding wear but not so good for impact wear.
The answer depends on the material being ground.
Large primary crushed -10 inch (250 mm) very hard rock with 5" (125 mm) balls in a SAG mill, definitely steel.
-3/8 inch (9 mm ) feed being ground with 1 1/4 inch (37 mm) balls in a ball mill, definitely rubber. The tipping point is somewhere between.
The same taconite -3/4 inch (19 mm) with 3 inch balls (75mm) in a ball mill, rubber was very marginal.
Hope this real world experience helps put some bookends on your question.
Bruce Kettunen
Retired Metallurgist
Original Message:
Sent: 8/18/2020 4:07:00 PM
From: Marcello Cusma
Subject: Rubber lining. Yes or no?
Hello everyone.
I have personally been dealing with rubber lining for SAG and ball mills for a long time. I personally believe the future for this equipment is to have rubber instead of traditional protection that we have seen for years.
I do also understand my opinion can be biased because I manufacture rubber linings, but ... what all of you think about it? What would you pick if you have the chance?
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Marcello Cusma
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