Wear design > Wear > Introduction to wear

Properties of abrasives

The hardness of abrasives plays a major role in causing wear. Hardness testing originally began with the Mohs scale, which ranks minerals on a scale from 1 to 10 based on their ability to resist scratching. For example, limestone and coal are rated as 1 while diamond is rated as 10.

Today, the Mohs scale is often converted to Vickers hardness values. In addition to diamond, the table also summarizes the hardness of several commercial materials for comparison.

 Diamond
Mohs
 10.0
Vickers
9000
 Silica carbide
Mohs
 9.5
Vickers
 2500
 Corundum
Mohs
 9.0
Vickers
 1860
 Quartz
Mohs
 7.0
Vickers
 1070
 Feldspar and granite
Mohs
 6.0
Vickers
 725
 Magnetite
Mohs
 5-6
Vickers
 600
 Calcite
Mohs
 3.0
Vickers
 60
 Gypsum
Mohs
 2.0
Vickers
 20
 Talc
Mohs
 1.0
Vickers
 10

Abrasives with Mohs and Vickers hardness values.

The composition of ore and waste rock in a mine or quarry can vary significantly due to geological differences within the deposit. Normally, a rock contains a mix of various minerals, each with different hardness levels. As a result, wear is influenced by the distribution of these hardnesses.

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