LAUSR

Abstract The abrasive wear of iron ore pellets (IOP) during transportation and storage in the iron making industry influences process quality and leads to air pollution. Therefore, prediction of the abrasive wear of IOP enables one to eliminate possible damages during processing. In the present research, the abrasive wear of IOP is analysed by numerical simulation using the discrete element method (DEM) and an analytical model. The variable parameters of the analytical model, including average normal contact force and sliding distance, were predicted from DEM simulation results. To evaluate the proposed numerical-analytical technique, a standard abrasion resistance test of IOP (ASTM E279) was carried out and the experimental results were compared to numerical-analytical results. The comparison was made for two types of IOP with different mechanical properties. The error of the numerical-analytical method in prediction of abrasive wear of IOP was +21.7% and −34.4% for optimised quality and low quality pellets, respectively.