G65 Abrasion Test

Climax Research Services of Wixom, MI compared CRODON with high alumina ceramic in high and low stress abrasion. Most field wear in chutes consists of low stress, flowing material wear rather than high stress/grinding wear. For high stress/grinding wear, alumina ceramic provided superior life cycle. However, in low stress wear CRODON Wear Plate showed significantly better life cycle. With coal slag as the abrading medium, 0.020" of CRODON wear surface showed a life cycle equivalent to .0317" of high alumina ceramic.

G-75 Slurry Abrasion Test

White Rock Engineering of Dallas, Texas, carried out the "G-75 Slurry Abrasion Test" comparing the peformance of the CRODON surface to Coors industrial ceramic. The environment simulated the environment of mud pump liners used in petroleum exploration. In the test method the results are standardized to a SAR Number that allows ready comparison of mass loss of various materials.

The results are summarized below.

On a mass loss basis, Coors ceramic wore at a rate 5 - 7 times faster than CRODON. When adjusted for material density, the Coors ceramic wear rate increased to 10 - 15 times that of CRODON. Under lubricated (slurry), low-stress conditions, CRODON wear plate should exhibit better comparative wear rates than indicated by this test. Actual CRODON performance may be understated by several orders of magnitude.

Impact Test

Field testing showed CRODON with a mild steel backing to be superior to 1/2" AR400 steel by more than a factor of three for moderate impact conditions. Bench testing has proven that CRODON with 400 Brinnel backing steel is more than 10 times more resistant to impact than CRODON with a mild steel backing. Comparing CRODON Plus (AR400 backing steel) with chromium carbide overlay indicated that CRODON Plus can sustain 40% more impact energy than chromium carbide before showing negative results. Additionally, the CRODON Wear Plate only suffered minor chip out versus formation of catastrophic cracking of the chromium carbide. CRODON Plus compared to AR400 plate is probably at least an order of magnitude more resistant to impact.

Balistics Test - MIL-STD-662F

Chromium Corporation conducted an extreme version of impact testing to explore the limits of CRODON Wear Plate. Using a .30 caliber FSB (fragmentation simulating round), the test compared 1/4" AR400 steel to CRODON Plus (0.020" CRODON wear surface on 1/4" of AR400 steel backing). The trial showed that CRODON Plus withstood 31% more ballistic energy than the AR400 steel while adding only 8% to the thickness.

Wall Friction Tests - Mass Flow Properties

Wall Friction dictates how well a surface can promote "mass flow" in a bin or reduce resistance to movement in a chute. Tests conducted by Jenike & Johanson confirmed that the CRODON wear surface outpeforms 304 stainless with a 2B finish. This trial was conducted with "as plated" CRODON material that had not been worn or polished smooth. For the CRODON surface, flow properties wer not impared with light loading while the stainless steel's flow capability degraded significantly with side wall loads under 20lbs per square inch. The CRODON surface achieved release at 20° for loads under 20lbs compared with required angles as high as 30° for the stainless steel. Under heavier loads, stainless steel required angles of 20° to 17° to achieve side wall release. At 20lbs the CRODON surface achieved side wall release at 19°. At loads above 20 lbs, the CRODON surface achieved release at angles from 18° to 14°.