MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF 3 AUSTRALIAN IRON-ORES

During mining, crushing and handling the size of iron ore lumps decrea ses. Key factors in determining the amount and size of fines that are produced are the mechanical properties of the ore. In a continuation o f earlier work on the same ores the mechanical properties of three Aus tralian iron ores were determined. In particular, fracture toughness w as investigated in greater detail by examining its relationship to cra ck length using the compact tension test. The elastic modulus and stre ngth of the ores were also determined in flexure and compression. The results were interpreted using Weibull statistics, enabling the ores t o be ranked according to strength and elastic modulus. These results, together with data on the mechanical response of the ores to stress an d observations concerning the effect of mineralogy on cracking, provid e a coherent understanding of the mechanisms involved when the ores fr acture.