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Wear
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Wear resistance of materials used for slurry transport

Yongsong Xie n, Jiaren (Jimmy) Jiang, Kidus Yoseph Tufa, Sing Yick
Mining Wear and Corrosion National Research Council Canada, 4250 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1W5

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 15 September 2014
Received in revised form
2 January 2015
Accepted 3 January 2015

More and more slurry transport systems are used in mining operations to efciently and cost-effectively
transport ores and tailings. The materials used for slurry transport are often subjected to severe wear
attack. In this study, the wear modes and wear resistance of materials commonly used for slurry
transport are discussed. Slurry jet erosion, Coriolis slurry scouring erosion and slurry sliding abrasion
tests are used to simulate these wear modes and to characterize the wear resistance of the materials. The
wear resistance of selected materials from each material category commonly used for slurry transport,
including steels, high chromium white cast irons, chrome carbide-based and tungsten carbide-based
overlays, elastomers, plastics, ceramics and cermets, are reported. The relationships of the wear
resistance of these materials with their mechanical properties are also briey discussed.
Crown Copyright & 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Slurry erosion
Slurry abrasion
Wear testing
Mining, mineral processing

1. Introduction
A growing number of short- and long-distance slurry transport
systems are used for the transport of ores and tailings in various mining
operations in the world. Slurry transport has a number of handling
advantages including low cost, minimum maintenance and small
environmental impact [14]. In slurry transport, the concentrate of
ore or tailing is mixed with water and then pumped over a distance
through pipeline. The mechanical interactions between the ore/tailing
and the surface of the components of the slurry transport equipment
result in the wear damage of the equipment. Examples of the critical
wear components include pump impeller, pump suction side liner,
pump casing, pipe elbow and bend. Fig. 1 shows some worn components of slurry pumps and pipes. To reduce the maintenance costs
incurred for replacing and/or repairing worn components and minimize
the losses in production during related equipment down-time, the most
cost-effective wear-resistant materials should be identied and applied.
The equipment and components used in slurry transport are
exposed to a multiplicity of wear modes. Among them, the most
signicant and most common wear modes are as follows [6]:

Erosion caused by directional impact of particles. Examples: pipe

elbows (Fig. 1(c)) and bends, leading edge of pump impeller vanes.
Erosion caused by random impact of particles. Examples: pump
impeller shroud and trailing edge of pumping vanes.
Abrasion caused by sliding and rolling particles. Example:
straight pipes.

Corresponding author. Tel.: 1 6042213074.

E-mail address: yongsong.xie@nrc.gc.ca (Y. Xie).

In addition, tribocorrosion, a material degradation process due to

the combined effect of corrosion and wear, plays a role in the wear
damage in some operations. Tribocorrosion is not addressed in this
paper so that the focuses of this paper are erosion and abrasion.
Although many materials have been used for slurry transport, little
systematic studies were reported on their wear resistance and wear
mechanisms. This paper reviews wear-resistant materials commonly
used for slurry transport, introduces the laboratory wear test methods
used at the National Research Council Canada for characterizing wearresistant materials for slurry transport applications, and presents
some typical wear resistance data of commonly used materials for
slurry transport. The relationships of the wear resistance of these
materials with their mechanical properties are also briey discussed.

2. Wear-resistant materials commonly used for slurry

transport
2.1. Steels
ASTM A53, ASME SA 106 Grade B, API 5L Grade B, X42 and X65
steels are used in certain areas/sections of the slurry transport system
as a mediocre low cost selection. They have low carbon content (0.3%
max.) and low hardness (130 HB min.) and their wear properties are
generally poor. There are a variety of wear-resistant products and
accessories that have come onto the market to replace mild steel pipe
in high wear areas, including internally induction hardened steel,
ame hardened dual phase steel, etc. Fedur is the product name for a
wear-resistant composite steel made up of two layers inseparably
bonded by a special roll bonding method. One layer has a tough, high

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2015.01.005
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(13502000 HV) metallic carbides in a matrix consisting of various

ferrous phases. Macro-hardness is generally in excess of 550 HB (after
heat treatment). Extensive distributions of hard micro-constituents
result in their widespread application in severe abrasion, erosion and
low to moderate impact wear situations.
Typical applications are slurry pump impellers, casings, side
plates, slurry pipe elbows and reducers.

2.3. Elastomers
According to an ASTM denition, elastomers are any rubber-like
compounds (natural or synthetic) which can be stretched repeatedly
at room temperature to at least twice their length but return quickly
to their approximate original dimensions when the applied stress is
released. Because of their general similarity to rubbers, polyurethanes and polyureas are also classied as elastomers. The capability of polyurethanes and polyureas to be spray coated is a very
signicant attribute which increases the range of their application.
General advantages of elastomers over other wear protection
options occur in the areas of resilience, toughness, corrosion resistance,
ease of fabrication, non-stick and self-lubricating qualities, noise/
vibration damping capabilities and light weight. In wear situations,
they rely mainly on their elastic properties to absorb the deformation
induced by the abrasive or erosive medium elastically with minimal
plastic deformation. However, they have clear limitations in the areas
of tearing and gouging resistance, strength and ability to withstand
elevated temperatures.
Natural rubbers have excellent abrasion and erosion resistance
when hydrocarbon and weathering resistance are not required.
Neoprene rubbers are good materials where resistance to hydrocarbons and wear are needed. The properties of polyurethanes and
polyureas vary depending on the base polymers. They can exhibit
outstanding mechanical properties, wear resistance and chemical
resistance at moderate temperatures [9].
Elastomers are widely used as the materials of hoses and hose
bends, linings of pipes, pump casings and side liners.

2.4. Plastics

Fig. 1. Examples of worn components in slurry transport systems: (a) 1 m

diameter, high Cr white cast iron impeller after 3 months' use in an oil sands
slurry pump, (b) slurry pump suction side liner with 40 mm of material removed
(from reference [5]) and (c) oil sands slurry pipe elbow in which 8 mm thick CrC
overlay and 6 mm thick base steel were worn through.

weldability quality consisting of low carbon steel. The other consists of

an alloyed carbon steel having a high hardness. Standard stainless
grades are higher cost options available in piping form. They are used
when wear attack is relatively low while corrosion concerns are high.
They can be austenitic, ferritic, martensitic or duplex stainless steels
from the AISI 200, 300 and 400 series and also in proprietary alloy
compositions [7].
Typical applications of steels in slurry transport are slurry pipe
spools, bends and elbows, and pump shaft sleeves.
2.2. Chromium white cast irons
Chromium white cast irons are recognized as the cast alloy group
which offers excellent resistance to abrasion, erosion and corrosion
[8]. In general, they have microstructures containing 2060 vol% hard

The use of plastics for wear protection is limited compared to

elastomers. Polyethylenes, including high density polyethylenes
(HDPEs), high molecular weight polyethylenes (HMWPEs) and
ultra-high molecular weight polyethylenes (UHMWPEs) are the
most used wear-resistant plastics for slurry transport. They have
good chemical resistance and their properties increase with
molecular weight. UHMWPE exhibits extremely low coefcient
of friction thus has non-stick and self-lubricating properties [7].
The main uses of polyethylenes in slurry transport are pipe
linings, pump impellers, and ball check valves. Most liners are
attached mechanically.

2.5. Ceramics
Ceramics are inorganic non-metallic compounds usually produced at high temperatures from both naturally occurring or
synthetic feedstocks. Typically, they are extremely hard at low
and elevated temperatures and have high wear resistance. They
are chemically inert and exhibit thermal stability and insulation
qualities. Their main deciency is their brittleness. The most
important and widely used wear-resistant ceramics are various
grades of alumina, silicon carbide and partially stabilized zirconia.
Their main uses in slurry transport are hydrocyclone linings,
nozzles, orice plates, valves, slurry launders and mechanical seals.

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2.6. Cermets

3. Laboratory slurry wear tests

Cermet is a term used to designate a heterogeneous combination

of metals with one or more ceramic phases which can constitute
more than 90% of its volume. The solubility between the metallic
and ceramic phases at processing temperature is relatively limited.
Cemented tungsten carbides are the main cermets used for wear
applications because they have excellent combination of hardness
and toughness. They usually consist of hard (14002500 HV) tungsten
carbide grains bonded together with cobalt in a pressing operation
followed by a high temperature, liquid phase sintering process. Other
binder metals are used to enhance properties for certain applications,
e.g. nickel, to improve corrosion resistance which is a general
limitation of tungsten carbide cermets [10].
Typical applications in slurry transport include pump seals and
bushings, valve components, and nozzles.

Wear testing is necessary to help in selecting the most suitable

materials and to predict the wear performance of the components in
slurry transport equipment. Field wear tests are performed at
realistic condition but there are several disadvantages including high
cost, long test time, non-controllable test parameters and nonrepeatable test results [3,5]. Pilot scale slurry loop tests can have
good control on the test parameters and generate repeatable test
results but the tests are still very costly and time-consuming [1214].
In addition, a major disadvantage of conducting tests in a slurry loop
test is the decrease in slurry abrasivity with time due to particle
degradation. The ability to assess the wear resistance of materials for
slurry transport by means of laboratory testing would thus be very
valuable. Laboratory testing is also indispensable for screening and
ranking of a large number of candidate materials for certain applications and for materials development.
The National Research Council Canada (NRC) has been working on
laboratory wear testing for slurry transport applications since the
1980s and has developed and constructed several slurry wear test rigs
which have been used for the selection and development of wearresistant materials for industrial applications. These slurry wear test
rigs include two slurry jet erosion testers, a Coriolis slurry scouring
erosion tester, a slurry sliding abrasion tester and a slurry pot erosion
corrosion tester. The below section will present the results of selected
materials from each material category tested using these wear rigs.

2.7. Overlays
2.7.1. Chromium carbide-based overlays (CCOs)
The product is usually manufactured as overlaid plates which can
then be fabricated into desired shapes. However, some systems
deposit the overlays directly onto the internal surfaces of steel pipe.
The manufacturing involves the controlled metering of a highly
alloyed powder/wire onto the workpiece surface ahead of a weld
deposited pool of mild steel or as the melting electrode. Dissolution of
the powder/wire results in the desired high chromium and carbon
alloy cladding. Open and submerged arc processes are usually used.
The deposit thicknesses can exceed 11 mm although they are typically
in the 68 mm range. The overlays tend to contain transverse
cracking resulting from the contraction of the weld pool upon cooling
(i.e., often called relief or check cracking) [11]. Hardfacing applied
such that minimal dilution occurs providing tough and weldable
structural support from the backing plate.
The compositions of CCOs are essentially based on high
chromium white cast irons. Typically, the grades of alloy will
contain in the range of 2532 wt% Cr and up to 5 wt% of C [7].
Typical applications of CCOs include slurry piping, elbows, and
shaft sleeves. In oil sands mining operations, chromium carbide
overlaid piping has been used as the workhorse in high wear areas
of slurry piping which includes elbows and straight piping after
elbows. Chromium carbide overlaid piping is well liked by maintenance as it can be easily eld repairable [4].
2.7.2. Tungsten carbide-based metal matrix composite (WC-MMC)
overlays
The WC-MMC contains a distribution of hard tungsten carbide
particles suspended in a tough, ductile metal matrix alloy. Plasma
transferred arc welding (PTAW) is the most common method for
depositing WC-MMC overlays; however for specic components or
in-eld repairs gas metal arc welding techniques are employed [10].
PTAW process can produce relatively thick deposits (36 mm in a
single pass), with low dilution ratios while maintaining the integrity
of the composite materials. Commercial WC-MMC overlay powder
feedstocks tend to contain a blend of 6065 wt% WC combined with a
Ni-based matrix alloy. Two major types of tungsten carbides are used,
macro-crystalline WC and cast eutectic WC/W2C carbides. To reduce
carbide degradation during the welding deposition process, eutectic
WC/W2C carbides coated with a thin layer of macro-crystalline WC
have also been developed. The carbide shapes can be either angular or
spherical. Spherical fused tungsten carbides produced from angular
carbides by a tightly controlled melting process can be fully dense
with increased toughness and hardness [11].
Typical applications of WC-MMC overlays include slurry pump
suction side plates, hydrotransport screens and valves.

3.1. Tested materials

Table 1 lists some materials assessed using the NRC laboratory
slurry wear test rigs and their hardness values. These materials
were selected from each material category introduced in the
previous section.
3.2. Slurry jet erosion testing
The NRC slurry jet erosion (SJE) test assesses material resistance
to slurry attack at various impingement angles and has been shown
to provide a convenient and reproducible technique [15,16]. In the
SJE testing, as shown schematically in Fig. 2, the slurry is pumped by
an air-operated pump from the slurry reservoir. The slurry exiting
from the nozzle impacts the surface of the sample clamped in a test
holder and then returns to the reservoir. The specimen holder can be
adjusted to provide a selected slurry impingement angle. The slurry
ow rate is maintained by a computer controlled electronic valve to
control the compressive air.
Table 1
Materials assessed using the NRC slurry wear rigs.
Category

Material

Hardness

Steels

Low alloy pipe steel

AISI 1018 mild steel
Martensitic stainless steel
Abrasion resistant plate AR400
Abrasion resistant plate AR600
27% Cr 3% C white iron
25% Cr 4% C white iron
35% Cr 5% C white iron
Natural rubber
Polyurethane
UHMWPE
Alumina
WC/Co
Weld CCO
PTWA WC/NiBSi overlay

231 HB (2.6 GPa)

254 HB (2.9 GPa)
308 HB (3.5 GPa)
357 HB (4.1 GPa)
580 HB (6.6 GPa)
58.4 HRC (7.2 GPa)
64.8 HRC (8.9 GPa)
65.3 HRC (9.1 GPa)
40 Shore A (0.62 MPaa)
90 Shore A (6.58 MPaa)
3.6 HV (40 MPa)
2125 KHN (22.9 GPa)
2300 HV (24.8 GPa)
52.0 HRC (5.9 GPa)
60.2 HRC (7.6 GPa)

Cr white cast irons

Elastomers
Plastic
Ceramic (sintered)
Cermet (sintered)
Overlays

Measured by instrumented indentation.

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Fig. 4. SEM image of AFS 5070 silica sand.

Fig. 2. Schematic of NRC slurry jet erosion rig.

Fig. 3. SJE volume loss of selected materials at impingement angles of 201, 451 and 901.

Fig. 3 presents the volume losses of selected materials from the SJE
testing. For steels, the volume losses were determined by the weight
losses and densities of the samples. The density values were obtained
using the gravimetric method based on the Archimedean principle.
For other materials, the volume losses were measured directly using a
laser prolometer. To minimize any potential effects from water
absorption and swelling on elastomeric and plastic specimens, the
tested specimens were dried in a vacuum furnace for more than ten
hours before measuring the wear volume losses. In the testing, slurry
containing 1.2 kg erodent and 12 kg water was used. The nozzle had a
diameter of 5 mm and the nozzle to sample distance was 100 mm.
The jet velocity was 16 m/s and the test duration was 2 h. Three
impingement angles, 201, 451 and 901 were used. The erodent used in
the tests, AFS 5070 silica sand, is natural silica sand having a semirounded shape and a size range of 212300 m (see Fig. 4). AFS 50
70 silica was used in all the slurry wear tests reported in this paper
because silica is the most common naturally occurring abrasive/
erosive particles and mesh 5070 is the size which has the highest
percentage in the particles size distributions of most Canadian natural
silica sands. Fig. 5 shows the typical SJE wear scars generated on a low
carbon steel and a WC-MMC overlay specimens.
3.3. Coriolis slurry scouring erosion testing
The Coriolis erosion tester was introduced in 1984 [17] in an effort
to develop a test method that simulated the motion of slurries and
their interaction with container surfaces, such as slurry pumps or

pipelines. The method utilizes the combination of centrifugal and

Coriolis accelerations in a revolving rotor to pass slurry rapidly across a
test surface such that the solid particles are forced against the surface,
producing wear during their passage. A similar erosion test method
has been used for ranking erosion resistant materials of slurry pump
components [18]. NRC has developed the Coriolis erosion tester
further [1921], allowing the use of at plate specimens and the
accurate measurement of the cross-sectional area of the eroded track.
The Coriolis erosion method is particularly suitable for evaluating
materials involved in handling slurries at locations where solid
particles tend to impact a wear surface at a very low impingement
angle. The data obtained from Coriolis erosion testing have correlated
well with eld trials [22,5].
As can be seen in Fig. 6, the Coriolis rig consists of a diametrically
grooved rotor, which rotates at a preselected speed. The slurry is premixed before being fed into the center of the rotor at a constant rate.
The considerable centrifugal force (Fcent) subsequently causes the
slurry to be expelled along two slurry grooves and the Coriolis force
(Fcor) acts to force the slurry against the sample surfaces. The impacts
and the rebounds of the erodent particles on the specimen surface
cause most of the particles jump along the specimen surface with
low impact angles (o51) during the Coriolis erosion testing. The other
particles slide or roll along the specimen surface. The velocity with
which the slurry traverses across the sample surface increases
depending on the distance from the center of rotation, with the
velocity ranging from 14 to 24 m/s across the length of a standard
specimen at rotor speed of 5000 rpm.
Fig. 7 shows the wear rates obtained from the Corioilis erosion
tests which were normalized with respect to the used erodent
amount and erosion scar length to give values of mm3/kg/mm. In
the testing, the rotor speed was 5000 rpm, the slurry was 10 wt%
AFS 5070 silica in water and the slurry fed rate was 60 ml/s. The
slurry was not re-used after exiting the rotor. The wear volume
losses of all specimens were measured using a laser prolometer.
The same as in the slurry jet erosion testing, the tested elastomeric
and plastic specimens were completely dried in a vacuum furnace
before measuring their wear volume losses.
3.4. Slurry sliding abrasion testing
A Miller tester (Fig. 8) constructed in conformity to the ASTM
G75 standard [23] was used to measure the slurry abrasion response
(SAR) numbers of the materials. In the testing, the wear specimen is
sliding reciprocatingly against a neoprene rubber lap in slurry. The
abrasive particles trapped between the rubber lap and the specimen
cause the abrasion of the specimen. Procedures stipulated in the
ASTM G75 standard were followed. Three consecutive 2 h tests were
conducted and mass loss after each 2 h test was measured. The

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Fig. 5. Typical SJE wear scars using AFS 5070 silica sand at impingement angles of 201, 451 and 901 on (a) a low carbon steel and (b) a WC-MMC overlay.

Fig. 7. Wear rates of selected materials from the Coriolis slurry erosion tests.

Fig. 6. Schematics of the Coriolis erosion rig, the forces acting on the erosive
particle and a wear scar.

variation of cumulative mass loss, M, as a function of testing time, t,

was tted to the following formula:
M At B

The values of A and B are calculated using the least square tting
method from the test data. The SAR number was then calculated
according to the following expression as dened in the ASTM G75
standard:
!



dM
7:58
j
SAR 18:18
dt t 2 h
sample

where sample is the density of the material under investigation. The

higher the SAR number of a material is, the more material has
been worn.

Fig. 8. Schematic of the slurry sliding abrasion rig.

Fig. 9 shows the SAR numbers of selected materials from the

slurry sliding abrasion testing. The testing was conducted using a
mixture of 50 wt% AFS 5070 silica sand and de-ionized water as the
slurry. The sliding speed was 48 rpm and the load was 22.5 N. There
are no SAR data of elastomers in the gure because this method is
not suitable for testing elastomeric materials. When using this test
procedure to test an elastomer specimen, the surface of the soft and
exible specimen touches the neoprene lap thus the abrasive
particles trapped between the rubber lap and the specimen is
minimal. This results in a very small wear rate.

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4. Discussion

plasticity index [26,27]. The plasticity index,

The wear resistance data in Figs. 3, 7 and 9 revealed unsurprisingly that chromium white cast irons, WC-based cermet, chromium
carbide overlay and WC-MMC overlay displayed wear resistance
much better than steels although the hardness difference between
these materials and steels is not so signicant. This is mainly
because these materials contain carbides that are harder than the
silica particles (13502500 HV as compared with about 1000 HV)
thus the silica particles cannot cut or plow the carbides. Fig. 10
shows the SEM image of the worn surface of a high Cr white iron
after the Coriolis erosion test. This gure and Fig. 5(b) clearly show
the carbides stand out from the matrix with edge rounding and
some fracturing, with material removal primarily occurring in the
soft matrix locations. Among all these materials, the WC-based
cermet offered the highest wear resistance because of its highest
carbide content (490%) and the ne WC grains in the cermet,
which had higher toughness than coarse WC grains and resulted in
the very small distances between the WC grains thus the soft
matrix could be well protected.
In the meantime, the very soft elastomers displayed excellent
wear resistance in the slurry wear tests. The laboratory test results
are in agreement with eld wear results. It has been reported that
polyurethane lined pipes lasted 520 times longer than unlined steel
pipes for slurry transport [24,25], and rubber suction side liner of
slurry pump lasted 6 times longer than 27% Cr white cast iron side
liner [6]. The excellent wear resistance of the elastomers attributes
to their excellent resilience to absorb the deformation induced by
the erosive/abrasive particles elastically with minimal plastic deformation. This can be explained by the material parameter of the

, is given by

E
 average slope of the asp erities on contacting surface
H

where E is Young's modulus and H is the hardness of the wearing

surface. The average slope of the asperities on contacting surface is
equivalent to the average attack angle of the erosive/abrasive
particles. The higher the , the more severe the plastic contact is.
The reciprocal of the material parameter of the plasticity index, H/E,
is related to the maximum elastic strain to initiate plastic indentation. Thus the ratio of E/H is a measure of the tendency of a material
for plastic contact deformation. The steels, white cast irons and
overlays have E/H values ranging from 39 (300 GPa/7.6 GPa) to 77
(200 GPa/2.6 GPa) but the two elastomers have much lower E/H
values of 5.3 (3.3 MPa/0.62 MPa for the rubber) and 6.6 (43.7 MPa/
6.6 MPa for the polyurethane).
In the erosion testing, the UHMWPE displayed wear resistance
several times better than the steels although its hardness is much
lower. It is also because the UHMWPE has an E/H value of 24
(941 MPa/40 MPa), several times lower than that of the steels.
However, in the slurry sliding abrasion where the abrasive particle
are embedded into the softer rubber lap thus are not free to move
and are forced against the sample surface, the UHMWPE displayed
wear resistance close to that of the steels.
The sintered alumina, which has a high hardness of 22.9 GPa and
a relatively low E/H value of 17, displayed very good wear resistance
in the Coriolis erosion testing. However, in slurry jet erosion testing,
it had higher wear volume loss than other materials except for the
steels. In addition, the wear volume loss increased with the increase
in impingement angle. Such wear behavior of the alumina can be
attributed to the brittle nature of the ceramic. In the Coriolis erosion
testing, the impact energy induced by the silica particles is small
and is several times lower than that in the slurry jet erosion testing
[28] thus brittle fracture on the alumina surface is minimal. On the
other hand, in the slurry jet erosion testing, especially at high
impingement angle, the much increased impact energy induced by
the silica particles resulted in signicant brittle fracture on the
alumina surface thus much higher wear.

5. Conclusions

Fig. 9. Slurry abrasion response (SAR) numbers of selected materials from the
slurry sliding abrasion testing.

Steels, chromium white cast irons, elastomers, plastics, ceramics, cermets and overlays are commonly used materials for slurry
transport. They displayed different wear resistances in the slurry
wear tests. The appropriate applications of these materials should
be determined by the service conditions.

The most common wear modes of materials used for slurry

Fig. 10. SEM image of the worn surface of a high Cr white iron after the Coriolis
erosion test. Slurry ow direction was from right to left.

transport are erosion caused by directional and random impact

of solid particles at different impingement angles, and abrasion
caused by sliding and rolling particles.
The slurry jet erosion testing, Coriolis erosion testing and slurry
sliding abrasion testing provide convenient techniques for
assessing material performance under slurry impact erosion,
scouring erosion and sliding abrasion conditions.
For chromium white cast irons, cemented tungsten carbides,
chromium carbide-based overlays and tungsten carbide-based
metal matrix composite overlays, the extensive distributions of
hard carbides in a ductile matrix result in their excellent wear
resistance.
Elastomers have excellent wear resistance because of their
excellent resilience to absorb the deformation induced by the
abrasive or erosive medium elastically with minimal plastic
deformation.

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Acknowledgment
The authors would like to express their thanks to the members
of the NRC/Industry Mining Materials Wear and Corrosion Exclusive Research Group for their support of this work.
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Please cite this article as: Y. Xie, et al., Wear resistance of materials used for slurry transport, Wear (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
wear.2015.01.005i