Composite chute liners
Chutes and other components may include composite liners to improve performance. Composite liners generally comprise a base metal having a ceramic material embedded therein. The composite liners exhibit improved resistance to wear and, therefore, have a longer usable life than liners formed of the base metal alone.
1. A material handling chute to direct flow of material, the material handling chute comprising:
a support structure; and
at least one chute liner module coupled to the support structure, the at least one chute liner module comprising a composite material including metal and ceramic material, the ceramic material having been embedded in the metal by casting the metal at least partially around the ceramic material.
2. The material handling chute of claim 1 , the chute comprising an ore chute in a mining operation.
3. The material handling chute of claim 1 , the chute comprising multiple chute liner modules coupled to the support structure.
4. The material handling chute of claim 3 , the multiple chute liner modules comprising the at least one composite chute liner module and at least one non-composite chute liner module.
5. The material handling chute of claim 1 , the at least one chute liner module comprising a base metal and at least one ceramic insert embedded in the base metal.
6. The material handling chute of claim 5 , the at least one ceramic insert comprising a porous body of ceramic particles, and the base metal substantially permeating interstitial spaces in the porous body of the at least one ceramic insert.
7. The material handling chute of claim 5 , further comprising multiple ceramic inserts embedded in the base metal over at least a portion of a wear surface of the at least one chute liner module.
8. The material handling chute of claim 5 , the at least one ceramic insert comprising a single insert embedded in the base metal and extending over at least a portion of a wear surface of the at least one chute liner module.
9. The material handling chute of claim 5 , the at least one ceramic insert being embedded in the based metal over at least about 40% of a wear surface of the at least one chute liner module.
10. The material handling chute of claim 5 , the at least one ceramic insert being embedded in the based metal over about 10% to about 90% of a wear surface of the at least one chute liner module.
11. The material handling chute of claim 1 , the ceramic material comprising alumina and/or zirconia.
12. The material handling chute of claim 1 , the at least one chute liner module being coupled to the support structure via one or more threaded attachment points of the at least one chute liner module.
13. A composite chute liner module for lining a material handling chute, the composite chute liner module comprising a body having a wear surface, the body comprising:
a base metal; and
at least one ceramic insert embedded in the base metal over at least a portion of the wear surface, the at least one ceramic insert comprising a porous body of ceramic particles and the ceramic insert having been embedded in the base metal by casting the base metal at least partially around the ceramic insert.
14. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , the wear surface of the body of the composite chute liner module having a concave surface.
15. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , the wear surface of the body of the composite chute liner module being free of through-holes.
16. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , further comprising at least one removable lifting element disposed on the body at one or more locations other than the wear surface.
17. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , the at least one lifting element being disposed at a location such that when the composite chute liner module is lifted via the lifting element, the composite chute liner module hangs approximately at an orientation at which it is to be installed.
18. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , the at least one lifting element comprising an eye-bolt coupled to the body by threaded engagement.
19. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , the base metal substantially permeating interstitial spaces in the porous body of the at least one ceramic insert.
20. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , further comprising multiple ceramic inserts arranged in the wear surface of the composite chute liner module.
21. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , the at least one ceramic insert comprising a single insert extending over at least about 10% of the wear surface of the composite chute liner module.
22. The composite chute liner module of claim 21 , the single insert comprising one or more supports disposed on an exterior of the single insert to position the insert in a mold during casting of the chute liner module.
23. The composite chute liner module of claim 13 , the ceramic insert comprising alumina and/or zirconia.
24. A composite liner for material handling, the composite liner comprising:
a body having a wear surface, the body comprising:
a base metal; and
ceramic material embedded in the base metal over at least a portion of the wear surface to improve resistance of the wear surface to sliding abrasion, the ceramic material having been embedded in the base metal by casting the base metal at least partially around the ceramic material.
25. The composite liner of claim 24 , wherein the composite liner comprises a chute liner of an ore chute for a mining operation.
26. The composite liner of claim 24 , wherein the composite liner comprises a belt skirt of a conveyor.
27. The composite liner of claim 24 , the ceramic material comprising ceramic particles, and the base metal substantially permeating interstitial spaces between the ceramic particles.
28. The composite liner of claim 24 , the ceramic material disposed over at least about 40% of the wear surface of the composite liner.
29. The composite liner of claim 24 , the ceramic material being disposed in at least about 10% of the wear surface of the composite liner.
30. The composite liner of claim 24 , the ceramic material being disposed in at most about 90% of the wear surface of the composite liner.