Frictional characteristics of steel plates during abrasive particle flow: A comparison of in situ measurements made on a linear abrasive wear tester with those on a Jenike shear tester

Abstract

Friction measurements of the flow of abrasive particles on steel plate materials were made using two testers: the Jenike shear tester and a linear abrasive wear tester (LAWT). ‘Wall friction’ values were obtained for a range of steels and surface finishes, typical of the plates used for the manufacture of hoppers and silos in bulk solids handling applications. The abrasive used was crushed soda-lime glass. When abrasive particle flow was parallel to the surface roughness features of the plate, it was found that the friction values on the Jenike were similar to the initial ‘start-up’ values obtained on the LAWT. The latter correlated particularly well with the surface roughness (R_a value) of the sample plates. When abrasive particle flow was perpendicular to the surface roughness features of the plate, then the R_a values could be best related to measured friction values on the Jenike tester. On the LAWT, friction was found to increase with sliding distance until a steady state level was attained. It is considered that this increase is due to the gradual accumulation of wear debris, particularly fragmented abrasive particles, on the surface of the wear specimen. Thus, the recorded LAWT friction values were considered to result from abrasive particle-plate and abrasive particle-particle debris interactions. The implications of the results for hopper and silo design are considered.