Evaluation of Fine Grindability of Solid Materials by Ball, Vibration and Planetary Mills

Work Index is an important factor in designing grinding processes. In previous papers, the authors proposed a Corresponding Work Index which is proportional to the Work Index. The Corresponding Work Index could be estimated by examination of the zero-order grinding rate constant using various grinding mills. In this study, grinding experiments were carried out with five types of solid materials using a ball mill, a vibration mill and a planetary mill. The relationships between the Corresponding Work Index and particle size were evaluated. For these mills, the Corresponding Work Indices of silica glass, quartz and feldspar increased up to a certain particle size and became approximately constant. However, the Indices of limestone and gypsum had a minimum when the evaluated size was nearly the same as that of grain size. The Corresponding Work Index can be useful for evaluating the fine grindability of solid materials in these mills.