INVESTIGATION OF THE SWEDISH ABRASION VALUE

This report describes a new technique for investigating the Swedish abrasion value using a better loading system than in previous tests. Studies were performed using a vacuum cleaner to remove the used emery abrasive during the test as an increase in abrasion is achieved when only unused abrasive is on the grinding wheel. The investigation showed the importance of a correct petrographic composition by testing different rock materials sorted from the aggregate. The standard aggregate size of 8.0-11.2mm was compared to 11.2-16.0mm and results achieved were quite similar despite the different number of particles in the test specimens. It was also found that the relative humidity in the laboratory influences the abrasion process. On cold days with low humidity low abrasion values are obtained. As the abrasion increases with the relative humidity it is important that the test be performed under controlled laboratory conditions. Natural quartz sand was substituted for the emery abrasive and gave different results on mica rich rocks. In general, an excellent correlation between the original and modified Swedish abrasion value was achieved.