Author 1:
Name & Surname: Bolobov V. I.
Company: National Mineral Resources University (Mining University) (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Work Position: Professor
Scientific Degree: Doctor of Engineering Sciences
Contacts: boloboff@mail.ru

Author 2:
Name & Surname: Bochkov V. S.
Company: National Mineral Resources University (Mining University) (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Work Position: Postgraduate student

Author 3:
Name & Surname: Chupin S. A.
Company: National Mineral Resources University (Mining University) (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Work Position: Postgraduate student

Based on the literature review, the authors arrive at the conclusion that abrasivity of rocks is not only governed by their strength, but also by the structure and parameters of mineral inclusions, such as shape, size and amount. In terms of the Khibiny’s apatite–nepheline ore of various kinds with different strength and mineralogical composition, it has experimentally been estimated using the modified Baron–Kuznetsov procedure how the strength of rocks affects the wear rate of specimens made of steel 110G13L that is most often used for manufacturing rapidly wearing parts of mining equipment. It is found that for all ore kinds tested, the steel wear rates are approximately the same irrespective of the ore strength. It has been supposed that on abrasion of steel on hard rock (f ~ 10) composed of grains of hard tabular nepheline with thin partings of relatively soft fine-grain apatite, nepheline grains disengage slowly, the contact surface becomes smooth and steel wear rate is reduced consequently. On the other hand, on abrasion on weak rock (f ~ 0.5) composed mostly of apatite, fast failure of this type rock causes continuous exposure of rough-surface apatite grains, which accelerates steel wear resistance. On steel abrasion on medium-hard rock composed of minerals with various hardnesses, there is a large scatter in the steel wear rate values due to nonuniform distribution of rock-forming minerals. Thus, it has been confirmed that the hardness of rocks is not a determinant of wear of mining equipment parts made of steel.

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