# Investigations on the Charge Motion and Breakage Effect of the Magnetic Liner Mill Using DEM

• Genzhuang Li
• Reem Roufail
• Bern Klein
• Lusheng Zhou
• Amit Kumar
• Chunbao Sun
• Jue Kou
• Lei Yu
Article

## Abstract

Magnetic liners can improve the performance of ball mills by increasing grinding efficiency, extending service life, and reducing maintenance costs. Despite their importance, the fundamental understanding and the quantitative investigation on the effects of the magnetic liners has not been addressed in the literature. This paper addresses this gap by studying charge motion, and how the use of a magnetic liner affects the breakage mechanism of the mill, using discrete element method (DEM) modeling and the Hertz-Mindlin contact model with relative velocity dependent (RVD) rolling friction. Charge motion was modeled under different mill speeds. Compared to conventional steel and rubber liners, the charge motion in the magnetic liner mill was predominantly cascading. Quantitative analysis of the energy dissipation within the mill was conducted to investigate mill breakage. Regardless of speed, over 50% of the total energy dissipation in the magnetic liner mill was in the form of abrasion and attrition. The results highlighted the appeal of magnetic liners in secondary and regrinding application, where abrasion and attrition are considered more efficient in the fine material breakage, and where impact is ideally minimized to reduce mill wear. A number of experiments were conducted to assess the effect of different model parameters on the performance of the magnetic liner mill. The highest abrasion/attrition intensity was observed with high values of the model parameters namely the restitution coefficient, static friction coefficient, and rolling friction coefficient.

## Keywords

Magnetic liner Discrete element method Ball mill Charge motion Abrasion Attrition

## Notes

### Funding Information

This study is financially supported by the HMR Technology Canada and the Mitacs Accelerate Program. Support is also from the China Scholarship Council (No. 201606460030), which enabled the authors to carry out this research at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

### Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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© Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. 2019

## Authors and Affiliations

• Genzhuang Li
• 1
• 2
• Reem Roufail
• 2
• Bern Klein
• 2
• Lusheng Zhou
• 3
• Amit Kumar
• 2
• Chunbao Sun
• 1
Email author
• Jue Kou
• 1
• Lei Yu
• 4
1. 1.School of Civil and Resources EngineeringUniversity of Science and Technology BeijingBeijingPeople’s Republic of China
2. 2.Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining EngineeringUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
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