Wear of Cutting Tools in Hard Rock Excavation Process: A Critical Review of Rock Abrasiveness Testing Methods

Increasing demand for the use of different mechanized excavation systems in civil and mining projects has elevated the importance of understanding the wear process of rock-cutting tools. This requires proper measurement and analysis of rock abrasiveness and cuttability characteristics. Predicting the wear life of cutting tools, evaluating the required number of tools needed for excavating the desired structure in a given ground condition, and assessing the cost and time of tool replacements are among the most important topics for feasibility studies of any mechanized excavation project. Over the years, various testing methods have been developed and introduced to study and measure the abrasive and wear characteristics of rock materials. Several research centers throughout the world are working on experimental models for quantifying rock abrasiveness and to get more accurate and reliable measurements of this rock property. However, the majority of the testing methods focus on measuring abrasiveness as a rock-related characteristic rather than considering it as an interactive behavior. The ultimate use of the measured abrasive properties of rock is for estimating the tool life in drilling and excavation operations. Hence, many researchers are collecting field measurements and conducting various analyses to develop models for the prediction of tool life based on rock properties for a given application. This paper reviews the different rock abrasivity measurement and evaluation procedures. The effective factors on the measured abrasive characteristics of rock samples have been classified and discussed, and a critical review is offered to compare the performance and reliability of different testing methods for different applications. Highlights A comprehensive review of the laboratory rock abrasiveness testing methods is offered. The effect of different test settings and parameters on the measured abrasiveness of rock is discussed. The suitability of different testing methods for wear prediction of hard rock cutting tools is evaluated.