Design Principles and Improvement of the Evaluation Methods for the Shatter Strength of Metallurgical Materials

Abstract

Shatter strength refers to the ability of materials to resist collisions and impacts and is an important property of metallurgical minerals. Although the current methods differ in terms of the testing equipment, implementation steps and data processing methods, these approaches are nearly identical in principle. However, the current methods are not sufficiently accurate, which makes it difficult to objectively evaluate shatter strength. Therefore, new and more accurate methods are needed. In this paper, a variety of current methods were discussed, design principles were summarized, and new methods were proposed that consider the influence of the degree of rupture and drop time when cracks are generated on the results of shatter strength tests. Based on the new design principles, new parameters such as the crack size index, number of fragments, and total mass of the fragments were added to the evaluation formula. In addition, the test processes were optimized. Then, a batch of lead-containing pellets were evaluated by the new methods. The results obtained in this test show that, compared with the old methods, the new methods can more accurately and objectively evaluate shatter strength and reflect product quality. Users can also design new methods for all kinds of brittle materials according to these principles. However, the new method is more complex than the old methods and needs to consider a greater number of factors. At present, there is no effective means to address the workload. With the development of artificial intelligence and automation devices, new design principles and methods will be more widely utilized.