Specializes in characterizing and understanding the wear and tribocorrosion performance of materials in mining and mineral processing
The Mining Wear and Corrosion team at the National Research Council Canada (NRC) specializes in the characterization and performance evaluation of wear and corrosion materials for mining equipment, weld cladding for equipment repair, and research on effects and prediction of acid rock drainage and metal leaching. The team has world class experts and is equipped with a full line of lab testing equipment, including many unique test machines developed in-house, to most adequately simulate different wear and/or tribocorrosion situations in mining. Over the past 25 years, the team has run a Mining Materials Wear and Corrosion Consortium and supported many Canadian mining and oil sands companies and their materials suppliers with essential material evaluation data and in-depth insights into industry-relevant issues to assist in selection of the best possible material for a particular application or in the development/improvement of wear resistant materials.
Additionally, the team has extensive expertise in developing weld cladding and wire-arc additive manufacturing technologies for mining operations and sensors for wear monitoring, and in studying the mechanisms of acid rock drainage and metal leaching to enable better prediction and prevention solutions.
- ASTM Standard wear test
- Non-standard wear test using custom built equipment, including: erosion, erosion-corrosion, abrasion-corrosion, impeller-in-drum impact abrasion, high stress, high temperature abrasion tests and comprehensive characterization of elastomers for wear applications
- Weld cladding and wire-arc additive manufacturing for mining wear reduction and maintenance, repair and operations in mining
- Modeling prediction of acid rock drainage and metal leaching from waste rock piles and dry-stacking of mine wastes
- Characterization of mine waste materials: measurement of important transport properties, O2 consumption and CO2 generation test
- Environmental technologies and related services
- Manufacturing and processing
- Mining, minerals and metals
Specialized labs and equipment
Specialized lab |
Equipment |
Function |
---|---|---|
Mining Wear and Corrosion Lab |
Slurry Jet Erosion Tester |
Slurry erosion resistance test (impingement angles 10 to 90°; temperatures up to 60°C). |
|
Coriolis (Scouring) Erosion Tester |
Low angle (<5°) slurry erosion test, temperatures up to 60°C. |
|
Slurry Pot Erosion-Corrosion Tester |
Evaluate the erosion-corrosion (E-C) performance and study E-C synergism following the ASTM G119 standard guide. |
|
Large Particle Erosion Tester |
Erosion test in slurries containing erodent particles up to 5.6mm (impingement angle up to 85°, RT-60°C). |
|
Falex Abrasive Wear Tester |
ASTM standard tests: G65, G105, B611 |
|
Miller Tester (Slurry Abrasion Tester) |
-Grinding media wear test -Abrasion-corrosion synergy study |
|
Jaw Crusher Gouging Abrasion Tester |
ASTM G81 standard test |
|
Air Jet Erosion Tester |
ASTM G76 standard test |
|
Amsler Twin Disk Test Machine |
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Bond Abrasion Index Tester |
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Ultrasonic Cavitation Erosion Tester |
ASTM G32 standard cavitation erosion test |
|
Grinding Mill |
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Bond Work Index (Ball) Mill |
Standard ball mill for determining the Bond Work Index. Can also be used for dry mill grinding wear testing. |
Weld Cladding and Additive Manufacturing Lab |
Weld cladding and wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) systems |
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Digital Image Correlation (DIC) unit |
Processing distortion monitoring |
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High-speed imaging system with laser illumination |
Metal transfer monitoring during welding |
|
MTS mechanical testing system |
Testing of mechanical properties of materials |
ARD-ML (acid rock drainage and metal leaching) |
Customizable Sensor-Embedded Test Column/Cell for ARD/ML |
Monitoring of mining waste rock and tailings reactivity in test cells/columns: O2, CO2, RH, temperature data collection through embedded sensors. |
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Testing system for characterizing fluid-transport properties of mine tailings |
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System for water quality testing of column effluents |
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