Patent Publication Number: US-2015068975-A1

Title: Wear-resistant liner system and method

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to and benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/876132, entitled “CERAMIC INSERT DESIGN FOR WEAR LINERS,” filed Sep. 10, 2013, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. 
     The subject matter disclosed herein relates to wear protection, and more particularly, to wear liners for high wear and high impact applications, such as mineral processing equipment. 
     A variety of processing equipment may include surfaces that are subjected to high wear and high impact. For example, such processing equipment may include classification (e.g., sizing) equipment used to classify or separate different phases of a multi-phase flow. Some multi-phase flows may include solids, particles, debris, and so forth, which may be abrasive and/or erosive, and thus, may increase wear on surfaces of the processing equipment. This wear may increase maintenance costs related to downtime and replacement parts. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying figures in which like characters represent like parts throughout the figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a partial perspective cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a classifier with a wear-resistant liner; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a wear-resistant liner including a plurality of inserts with retention features embedded within a matrix material; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an embodiment of an insert with retention features; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an embodiment of an insert with retention features; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an embodiment of an insert with retention features; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an embodiment of an insert with retention features; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an embodiment of an insert with retention features; and 
         FIG. 8  is a method for manufacturing a wear-resistant liner including a plurality of inserts with retention features embedded within a matrix material. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS 
     One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. These described embodiments are only exemplary of the present invention. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these exemplary embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     As discussed in detail below, the disclosed embodiments relate generally to wear protection, and more particularly to wear liners for high wear and high impact equipment. For example, high wear and high impact equipment may include classification equipment (e.g., hydrocyclones) that separate or classify phases of a multi-phase flow and/or pipes used to convey a flow (e.g., a multi-phase flow). The classification equipment and pipes may be used with a flow (e.g., slurry) that includes solids (e.g., balls from ball mills, particles, debris, etc.). Additionally, the flow may have a high velocity, and in some instances, the flow may contact surfaces of the classification equipment or pipes. For example, in certain mining applications, a hydrocyclone may receive a mineral slurry including steel balls (e.g., from ball mills or semi-autogenous mills), which may be up to 5 centimeters in diameter and may weigh up to 500 grams. As such, some flows, particularly high velocity flows including solids, may cause wear on surfaces of the classification equipment and/or pipes due to high impact, abrasion, and/or erosion. 
     Accordingly, liners may be manufactured for classification equipment and pipes using the disclosed techniques to reduce wear (e.g., due to impact, abrasion, and/or erosion) on inner surfaces of the classification equipment and pipes. The liners may therefore increase the life of the surfaces when handling multi-phase flows with solids, such as balls from ball mills, particles, debris, etc. In certain embodiments, a composite liner may include two or more materials. For example, a liner may be manufactured by embedding inserts (e.g., ceramic inserts) into an elastomeric matrix (e.g., polyurethane). The inserts may be secured within the elastomeric matrix by adhesion forces at interfaces between the inserts and the elastomeric matrix. However, wear (e.g., due to high impact, abrasion, and/or erosion) on the liner may cause the insert and the elastomeric matrix to separate at an interface, allowing one or more of the inserts to be ejected from the elastomeric matrix. Loss of one or more inserts increase wear of the surrounding inserts from increased exposure of the interfaces between the inserts and the elastomeric matrix to the multi-phase fluid. This increased wear then may lead to the ejection of clusters of neighboring inserts from the elastomeric matrix. 
     Accordingly, the disclosed techniques relate to inserts that may include retention features (e.g., mechanical locking features, interfacial adhesion features, etc.) to increase the retention of the inserts within a matrix material. In particular, the disclosed retention features may increase the surface area of the interface between the inserts and the matrix material, which increases the adhesion forces between the inserts and the matrix material. Accordingly, use of the disclosed techniques may increase the life of high wear liners, thereby decreasing the costs and downtime associated with replacing or repairing the liners. 
       FIG. 1  is a partial perspective cross-sectional view of a classifier  10  including a wear-resistant liner  36  manufactured using the disclosed techniques. While the illustrated embodiment of the classifier  10  is a hydrocyclone  12 , it should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the classifier  10  may be a gas cyclone, an ore sorter, a fluidized bed classifier, or any other suitable classifying equipment that has a surface exposed to solids, particles, or debris in a multi-phase flow. Further, while the hydrocyclone  12  is described below in the context of a liquid/solid hydrocylcone, it should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the hydrocyclone may be configured to separate liquid/liquid mixtures or solid/solid mixtures. Additionally, the classifier  10  described herein may be used in a variety of industries and applications, such as the mining and mineral processing industry; the metal working industry; the drilling industry (e.g., petroleum industry); pulp and paper mills; etc. Further, it should be noted that the disclosed techniques are also applicable to pipes configured to convey an abrasive and/or high impact flow and any other components exposed to an abrasive and/or high impact flow. 
     The classifier  10  includes a housing  14  having a separation portion  16  and a head portion  18  (e.g., cap). The separation portion  16  includes a sidewall  20  and a tapered chamber  22 . In particular, the tapered chamber  22  may taper from a large diameter portion  24  to a small diameter portion  26 . The head portion  18  includes at least one tangential inlet  26  configured to receive a multi-phase flow. The multi-phase flow enters through the inlet  26  and flows spirally downwards toward the separation portion  16 . The spin velocity of the multi-phase flow increases as the multi-phase flow descends. The spinning motion generates strong centripetal forces which causes the phases (e.g., solids and liquids) of the multi-phase flow to separate. Heavier (e.g., denser) liquid and/or solids impinge upon inner surfaces  28  of the separation portion  16  and the head portion  18  and exit through an underflow outlet  32 . The lighter (e.g., less dense) liquids and/or solids migrate toward a center of the chamber  22  and move upwards to exit through an overflow outlet  34 . 
     In some embodiments, the multi-phase flow may be slurry including abrasive solids, balls from ball mills, particles, debris and so forth. The abrasive solids, balls, particles, and debris, which impinge upon the inner surfaces  28  at high speed, may result in wear, abrasion, and/or erosion to the inner surfaces  28 . Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments provide a wear-resistant liner  36  disposed on at least a portion of the inner surfaces  28  to reduce wear, abrasion, and erosion to the inner surfaces  28 . In some embodiments, multiple wear-resistant liners  36  may be provided to protect the inner surfaces  28 , rather than a single, continuous wear-resistant liner  36 . It should be appreciated that wear-resistant liners  36  manufactured using the disclosed techniques may be used on any suitable wear surface or liner of any suitable apparatus exposed to high wear, abrasion, and/or erosion. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a cross-section of a portion of the wear-resistant liner  36 , in accordance with an embodiment. As illustrated, the wear-resistant liner  36  is a composite liner including two or more materials. In particular, the wear-resistant liner  36  includes a plurality of inserts  38  that are constructed from a highly wear-resistant material, such as ceramic, ceramic composite, tungsten carbide, steel, etc. The inserts  38 , such as ceramic inserts, may be particularly resistant to abrasion, but may crack due to high impact. The wear-resistant liner  36  also includes a matrix material  40  that at least partially surrounds the inserts  38 . That is, in some embodiments, one or more faces of one or more inserts  38  may be exposed. For example, as illustrated, the top face of each insert  38  may be exposed. However, in other embodiments, the matrix material  40  may cover each face of each insert  38 . The matrix material  40  may be a highly durable material, such as a polymer, an elastomer, a urethane (e.g., polyurethane), a silicone, a rubber, and so forth. The matrix material  40  may deflect (e.g., yield) to high impact flows, and may protect the inserts  38  from the high impact flows. As will be described in more detail below, the wear-resistant liner  36  may be manufactured by embedding the inserts  38  within the matrix material  40 . The wear-resistant liner  36  may be manufactured such that each insert  38  is disposed at a distance  41  from neighboring inserts  38 . In some embodiments, the distance between inserts  38  may vary. In certain embodiments, one or more of the inserts  38  may be disposed directly adjacent to neighboring inserts  38 . 
     As will be described in more detail below, each insert  38  includes at least one retention feature  42  on at least one face  44  of the insert  38 . For example, in some embodiments, each face of an insert  38  may include at least one retention feature  42 . In some embodiments, a face of an insert  38  may include two or more retention features  42 , which may be the same or different. In some embodiments, the retention features  42  may differ among faces of the insert  38 . Further, in some embodiments, the at least one retention feature  42  may be the same or different between different inserts  38 . Further, the placement of the at least one retention feature  42  of different inserts  38  may be the same or may vary. The at least one retention feature  42  may include a rough surface area, an adhesive, and/or mechanical locking features (e.g., a recess, a groove, a ridge, a step, a slot, etc.). The retention feature  42  may increase the adhesion between the insert  38  and the matrix material  40  to block the removal of the insert  38  from the matrix material  40 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of the insert  38  with retention features  42 . The insert  38  may include any suitable geometry. As illustrated, the insert  38  may be a hexagonal prism with hexagonal faces  46  and rectangular faces  48 . In some embodiments, having an insert  38  in the shape of a hexagonal prism may be desirable due to the angles of the vertices of the hexagonal base faces  46 . In particular, the hexagonal faces  46  include larger angles  49  than some other polygons (e.g., triangles, squares, rectangles, and pentagons), and providing faces with larger angles may reduce stress concentrations and thereby decrease the likelihood of the angles rupturing the matrix material  40 . However, in other embodiments, the insert  38  may include faces  46  of any other suitable shape, such as a triangle, a square, rectangle, a pentagon, an octagon, a circle, an oval, and so forth. Additionally, the insert  38  may include any suitable dimensions. In the illustrated embodiment, the insert  38  includes a length  50 , a width  52 , and a height  54 . In some embodiments, the length  50 , the width  52 , and the height  54  may each be between approximately 1 millimeter (mm) and 10 centimeters (cm), 5 mm and 5 cm, 1 cm and 3 cm, or any other suitable distance. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, one of the retention features  42  of the insert  38  is an area  56  of increased roughness. While the rough area  56  is illustrated on only one side face  48 , it should be appreciated that the rough area  56  may be provided on more than one face of the insert  38  or on all of the faces of the insert  38 . Further, it should noted that the rough area  56  may be provided over the entire surface area of the face(s) of the insert  38 , rather than just a portion as illustrated. The rough area  56  increases the contact surface area between the insert  38  and the matrix material  40 , as compared to a smooth area, and thus, may increase the retention of the insert  38  within the matrix material  40  by increasing the available surface area for adhesion of the insert  38  to the matrix material  40 . The rough area  56  may be produced using any suitable techniques. For example, in some embodiments, the rough area  56  may be produced by adhering particles (e.g., ceramic particles, metallic particles, etc.) to the face of the insert, by etching, or by using mechanical machining methods. 
     The illustrated embodiment of the insert  38  includes an additional retention feature  42 . In particular, the additional retention feature  42  is an adhesive layer  58  disposed on a side face  48  of the insert. Similar to the rough area  56 , the adhesive layer  58  may be disposed on a portion of or the entirety of the side face  48 , and may be disposed on more than one face of the insert  38 . The adhesive layer  58  may be applied to the desired faces of the insert  38  before the insert  38  is embedded within the matrix material  40 . 
     As noted above, the retention features  42  of the insert  38  may also include mechanical locking features, such as recesses, grooves, slots, ridges, protrusions, and so forth. Various embodiments of mechanical locking features will be described in more detail below with respect to  FIGS. 4-7 . It should be appreciated that the embodiments described herein are provided as examples and are not to be limiting. In particular, while different embodiments of the retention features may be illustrated using different figures, it should be noted that any of the disclosed embodiments may be combined on any one of the inserts  38  shown in the figures. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of the insert  38  including mechanical locking features  60  on first and second side faces  62  and  64  of the insert  38 . In particular, the mechanical locking features  60  include recesses  66  (e.g., groove, recess, etc.) in the first and second side walls  62  and  64 . The recesses  66  increase the surface area of the first and second side faces  62  and  64  as compared to an insert  38  having generally planar faces. As noted above, the increased surface area may increase the adhesion between the insert  38  and the matrix material  40 . While the illustrated recesses  66  extend across the length  68  of the side faces  62  and  64 , in other embodiments, the recesses  66  may extend across only a portion of the length  70 . The recesses  66  may be any suitable shape. In some embodiments, the recesses  66  may include a generally trapezoidal cutout as illustrated, or may include a triangular, square, rectangular, or circular cutout. 
     In some embodiments, the insert  38  may also include a recess  71  (e.g., hole) that extends from a third side face  73  to a fourth side face  75 . The recess  71  may be circular, as illustrated, or any other suitable shape, such as a triangle, square, rectangle, etc. Further, while the recess  71  extends across the length  68  of the insert  38  in the illustrated embodiment, in other embodiments, the recess  71  may extend across only a portion of the length  70  or may extend from the third side face  73  toward the first side face  62 , the second side face  64 , and/or the base faces of the insert  38 . The recesses  66  and  71  increase the contact surface area between the insert  38  and the matrix material  40 , which may block movement of the insert  38  within the matrix material  40  across the x-axis  77 , the y-axis  79 , and the z-axis  81 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, each inset  66  includes a generally planar surface  70 . However, in other embodiments, the recesses  66  may be provided with nonplanar surfaces to further increase the surface area between the insert  38  and the matrix material  40 . For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the recesses  66  may include nonplanar surfaces  72  having a plurality of ridges  74 . 
     In other embodiments, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the insert  38  may include ridges  76  (e.g., protrusions) extending from faces (e.g., the side faces  62  and  64 ) of the insert  38 . The ridges  76  may be any suitable shape, such as trapezoidal, triangular, square, rectangular, circular, and so forth. Additionally, while the ridges  76  extend across the length  68  of the side faces  62  and  64 , in other embodiments, the ridges  76  may extend across only a portion of the length  68 . Similar to the recesses  66  and  71 , the ridges  76  also increase the contact surface area between the insert  38  and the matrix material  40 , which may block movement of the insert  38  within the matrix material  40  across the x-axis  77 , the y-axis  79 , and the z-axis  81 . 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an embodiment of the insert  38  including a plurality of different types of mechanical locking features  60  disposed about the faces of the insert  38 . For example, the insert  38  may include the recess  66  with the planar surface  68  on the first side face  62  of the insert  38 . The insert  38  may also include the recess  66  with the nonplanar surface  72  on the second face  64 . Additionally, the insert  38  may include first and second slots  78  and a plurality of protrusions  80  on a third face  82 . Additionally, the insert  38  may include a stepped base face  84 . In some embodiments, the stepped base face  84  may be on a bottom face of the insert  38 , while the top face of the insert  38  may be substantially planar. While the second base face of the insert  38  is not visible in the illustrated embodiment, the second base face may also include any suitable combination of the retention features  42  described above (e.g., the rough area  56 , the adhesive layer  58 , and/or the mechanical locking features  60 ). 
       FIG. 8  is a flow chart of a method  86  for making the wear-resistant liner  36 . The method  86  includes providing a plurality of inserts (e.g., inserts  38 ) having a least one retention feature  42  (e.g., the rough area  56 , the adhesive layer  58 , and/or the mechanical locking features  60 ) (block  88 ). In some embodiments, providing the inserts  38  may include manufacturing the inserts  38  with the retention features  42 . For example, the inserts  38  may be manufactured using a mold having the retention features. In other embodiments, the retention features  42  may be formed using manufacturing cutting techniques (e.g., turning, milling, grinding, drilling, EDM, laser cutting, water jet cutting, ECM, etc.). Additionally, the retention feature  42  may be formed by applying one or more adhesive layers on one or more faces of the inserts, or adhering particles to one or more faces of the insert  38  to create a rough area. 
     The method  86  also includes arranging the plurality of inserts  38  within a mold (block  90 ). For example, the mold may be shaped to correspond with a desired wear-resistant liner  36  shape. In other embodiments, the mold may be shaped to correspond with a portion of a desired wear-resistant liner  36  shape. Additionally, arranging the plurality of inserts  38  within the mold may include arranging the inserts within a base material disposed in the mold or arranging the inserts within a base material and placing the base material including the inserts within the mold. The base material may be used to facilitate a desired arrangement of inserts  38 . For example, the base material may be a mesh base (e.g., polypropylene) having a plurality of spaces (e.g., holes) configured to receive the inserts  38 . The spaces may be sized to fit the desired inserts  38 , and the spaces may be spaced apart to create a desired distance between the inserts  38 . Further, the method  86  includes injecting the matrix material  40  (e.g., a liquid polymer, elastomer, polyurethane, etc.) into the mold (block  92 ) and curing the matrix material  40  to embed (e.g., suspend, surround, etc.) the inserts  38  within the matrix material  40  (block  94 ). The manufactured wear-resistant liner  36  may then be installed into a desired component using retaining rings, bolts, or any other suitable technique. 
     While the invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and have been described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.