Study of the wall adhesive tensile contact of moist iron ore bulk solids

The adhesive tensile stress between moist bulk iron ore solids and wall surfaces are critical to control and avoid blockage in large throughput material handling plants. In this study, an experimental system was designed to investigate the adhesive tensile contact between a range of iron ore materials and wall lining specimens. The contact mechanism between the material specimen and the wall surface was initially characterised. The experimental results indicated that the adhesive tensile stress is dependent on both the moisture content and the applied major consolidation stress, with the former exhibiting more significant contribution to increasing the magnitude of stress. The surface roughness of the wall showed a negligible effect in determining the adhesive tensile stress. Additionally, the iron ore sample with a higher fines content was observed to be able to achieve a higher adhesive tensile stress compared to the coarse samples. Consequently, the insights resulting from the study demonstrated practical applicability through measures such as blending and/or beneficiation, which reduce the adhesive tensile stress and minimise blockages.