Fewer and Shorter Stoppages
The substantially longer life of equipment fitted with wear resistant or corrosion resistant elastomers leads to reduced costs for maintenance and fitting work in connection with the replacement of worn parts. Stoppages will be fewer and production losses will be smaller.

Simple Design
Elastomers weigh less than other wear materials and since they can easily be combined with other structural materials, our wear resistant elastomer product makes simple and low weight structures.

Easy to Use
Elastomers are "soft" and easy to handle materials. For example, they weigh less and are easier to work with than steel. Installation personnel, therefore,
are less likely to suffer the common injuries caused by lifting and working with heavy objects, such as back and crushing injuries.

Better Working Environment
The selection of elastomers as a wear material is not only an economic decision. Elastomers have come to play a prominent role in creating a more comfortable working environment. Wear resistant elastomer structures contribute substantially to the reduction of noise and vibration and the control of dust dispersion.

R. Wales & Son's knowledgeable staff will be happy to make reccommendations for your particular applications.

The selection of the best elastomer will depend on a number of operational, physical and environmental factors:

Type of Wear

Wear can be defined as "the undesirable removal by mechanical means of material in the form of fine particles from a solid body surface". However, wear is not to be considered as a single uniform process, but involves a great number of different mechanisms. The most important and typical wear considerations regarding elastomers are the following:

Sliding Wear
This kind of wear arises when moving particles of processed material buff the elastomer surface or "plow" away fine elastomer particles. This is common in chutes, vibrating feeders, flotation cells, and fine screening cloths.

Cutting Wear
This type of wear is caused by sharp-edged particles falling on the elastomer surface, hitting it with high impact energy, which results in cuts and punctures. Such wear occurs in mill linings, chutes, feeders and on transfer points.

 

Crushing Wear
Crushing wear occurs when the elastomer surface is subjected to large compressive stresses which tear apart the elastomer material, for example, heavy goods being dump loaded. It may show up in truck boxes, mine cars, barges, and primary screens.

 

As a rule, the optimum mechanical properties of an elastomer lie within a limited hardness range,usually 35-80 shore A durometer. The hardness of the elastomer is a major contributor to its resistance to wear and crushing. This resistance is the result not only of the processes taking place in the surface of the elastomer, but also of the ability of the entire layer to deflect or absorb energy or resist deformation.

Our wear resistant elastomers often have a higher wear resistance than the hardest steel compound. This is a result of the most unique property of elastomers, its elasticity. Elastomers absorb the load by a spring action, as distinguished from a non-elastic material, where the kinetic impact energy is spent with plastic deformation and chipping of the surface.

Elastomer Thickness
When choosing elastomer linings for various loading equipment, mobile or stationary, it is extremely important to select the right thickness to avoid crushing damage. This is caused by the elastomer not having time to flex and absorb the load with sufficient speed. When the drop height and/or the particle size of the material is great in relation to the thickness of the elastomer, the kinetic energy will be so high and penetration into the elastomer so deep that puncturing will occur.

The thickness of the elastomer should be selected according to the impact energy it has to absorb. Otherwise there is a danger that penetration of the elastomer will occur as shown in the drawing below.

 

The thickness of the elastomer should be chosen accordingly to the estimated impact energy, based on the drop height and particle size of the material, then increased by a suitable wear layer.

 

Elastomer Hardness

Generally speaking, 65 shore A natural rubber is the preferred elastomer for combating dry abrasion and high impact forces that often occur when handling coarse material. 40 shore A natural rubber is the preferred elastomer for wet slurry service or wet/dry sliding abrasion where fine to medium size particles (up to 6 inches) are being handled.

Urethane also gives excellent results when used in wet slurry abrasive service of wet sliding abrasive when fine particle sizes (up to 1/4 inch)are being handled and chemicals are present.

Angle of Impact/Sliding Wear

The angle of impact is of great importance in designing chutes and hoppers. The resilience of the elastomer materials should always be considered when the angle of impact changes.

At a 90 degree impact angle, resilience is the major factor in resisting wear, but as the impact angle reduces, tear resistance becomes more important.

The progression of one style of lining to another is illustrated on the left.

 

Velocity of Particles

In the case of impact and sliding abrasion there is a critical speed above which elastomers are unable to recover and absorb energy. In this case the product's resilience cannot be used to its full extent and the surface may deteriorate more rapidly. For velocities above 10m/s (30ft/s) consult our knowledgeable technical staff.

Temperature

Different elastomer compounds exhibit varying degrees of resistance to temperature. R. Wales & Son offers a wide range of elastomer materials which maximize potential applications in hot environments.

Chemical Environment

Different elastomer compounds exhibit varying degrees of resistance to chemicals. R. Wales & Son offers a wide range of elastomer materials which maximize potential applications in chemical environments.

Elastomers are used to complement other construction materials. Which material or combination of materials will yield the best results from all operational points of view must be considered individually for each application. Therefore, it is important to analyze the operation conditions very carefully.

R. Wales & Son's knowledgeable staff will be happy to make reccommendations for your particular applications.