The phenomena (breakage, abrasion, chipping, etc.) taking place during wet
grinding in a bead-mill have been analyzed using a set of tools developed t
o allow for a quantitative description of the particle shape. in complement
of the classical approach based on selection and breakage functions. Diffe
rent operation conditions have being examined for the grinding of gibbsite:
concentration of the suspension, mass and diameter of grinding beads, type
of gibbsite ("radial" and "mosaic"). Large beads favor the initial breakag
e of "radial" gibbsite particles when chipping is observed with small beads
. Abrasion is clearly observed in the case of autogenous grinding. "Mosaic"
gibbsites were found to be more prone to abrasion in the early moments of
the grinding than "radial" gibbsite. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rig
hts reserved.