Minerals Engineering 15 (2002) 715721

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A performance model for impact crushers

S. Nikolov

Centre Terre et Pierre, 55 Ch. dAntoing, B-7500 Tournai, Belgium

Received 3 May 2002; accepted 17 August 2002

Abstract
In this paper we develop a performance model for impact crushers. The product size distribution is obtained as a function of the
crushers rotor radius and angular velocity, the feed rate and the feed size distribution. The model is based on the standard matrix
formulation that includes classication and breakage matrices. It can be applied to both hammer and vertical-axis impact crushers
with the help of the corresponding estimations for the impact energy per unit mass.
Here we propose classication and breakage functions for impact crushers taking into account the dynamic character of the
impact breakage. The classication function has the form of a cumulative Weibull distribution and incorporates a minimum
breakable size of the particles depending on the impact energy and the feed rate. The breakage function is modelled as the sum of
two BroadbentCallcott distributions. It is assumed to depend on the impact energy and the feed rate through the proposed expression for the proportion of the ne fraction in the product.
The model predictions are compared with experimental data for limestone treated in a pilot-plant hammer crusher. The variations of the product size distribution resulting from changes in the rotor velocity and the feed rate are investigated.
2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Crushing; Modelling; Simulation

1. Introduction
Nowadays, impact crushers are widely used for
comminution operations because of their high sizereduction ratio, easy modication of the product and a
relatively simple design. On the other hand, the prediction of the behaviour of mineral processing plants
through modelling and simulations is the more and
more employed as a reliable, time- and cost-saving
approach for development, analysis and optimisation of
crushing circuits. In this context, the availability of
relevant mathematical models for impact crushers is
important for a successful simulation of such plants.
Despite its importance, however, the modelling of the
comminution behaviour of impact crushers received
little attention in the literature. There have been some
recent attempts to develop performance models for this
type of crushers, for example by Csoke and Racz (1998)
and Attou et al. (1999), but nevertheless, a signicant
amount of work remains to be done. In addition, the

Tel.: +32-69-88-42-66; fax: +32-69-88-42-59.

E-mail address: svetoslav.nikolov@ctp.be (S. Nikolov).

available commercial codes for simulation of ore processing plants still lack specic models for impact
crushers, which obviously reduces their eld of application.
In this work we develop a performance model that
can be applied to all types of impact crushers. Our goal
is to predict the product size distribution, provided that
the crushers rotor velocity and radius as well as the feed
rate and size distribution are known before hand. The
specic ore properties and the crushers design are taken
into account through a reasonable number of adjustable
parameters.
Here, the standard model for cone and jaw crushers
developed by Whiten and White (1979) is taken as a
starting point. Because of the specicity of the impact
breakage, this model cannot be used for impact crushers
in its original form. While the general scheme of the
breakage process in cone and jaw crushers (see Fig. 1) is
still applicable in our case, the classication and the
breakage functions that describe the fragmentation
process from statistical point of view should be reconsidered.
The fragmentation process in cone and jaw crushers
is relatively slow and is based on the application of a
compression stress on a part of the particles surface.

0892-6875/02/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 9 2 - 6 8 7 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 7 4 - 7

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S. Nikolov / Minerals Engineering 15 (2002) 715721

Fig. 1. Scheme of the breakage process in cone and jaw crushers.

The feed particles are selected for breakage by C.

Those that do not break pass unchanged in the product.
The debris of the broken particles are redistributed by
means of B and are eventually subjected to further
fragmentation together with the new feed material. According to Whiten (1972), the product size distribution p
can be expressed as follows:
p I  C  I  B  C

Alternatively, the impact breakage takes place at a much

shorter time scale and implies a dynamic crack propagation that leads to a much faster failure of the particles.
According to Austin (1984), the impact generates compressive and tensile shock waves travelling throughout
the particle. The presence of a signicant, rapidly
growing tensile stress helps the particles to break from
within. In addition, the particle breakage theory proposed by Oka and Majima (1970) states that larger
particles should break more easily because they contain
larger micro-cracks compared with the smaller ones.
In order to account for the dynamic character of the
impact breakage, we replace the standard classication
function for crushers with a cumulative Weibull distribution depending on the impact energy. Thus, important parameters for the performance of impact crushers
such as the rotor radius and velocity as well as the feed
rate are naturally incorporated in our model on the basis
of simple particle dynamics considerations.
Next, the breakage function for crushers proposed by
Whiten and White (1979) is replaced with the sum of
two BroadbentCallcott distributions representing the
ne and the coarse fractions in the product. The proportion of the ne fraction in the product is assumed to
increase with increasing the rotor velocity and to decrease with increasing the feed rate, which is in accord
with the experimental observations.
The model predictions are compared with experimental data for limestone treated in a pilot-plant hammer crusher. Throughout the text, vectors (f ) and
matrices (C) are denoted by underlined symbols.
2. Model development
2.1. Mass balance
A schematic representation of the size-distribution
model developed for cone and jaw crushers by Whiten
(1972) and later improved by Whiten and White (1979)
is shown in Fig. 1. The particles are characterized by
their size distribution, which is represented in a discrete
form by the vectors f (feed) and p (product) respectively. The classication operator C (a diagonal matrix)
computes the probability of breakage for each particle
size. The breakage operator B (a lower triangular matrix) governs the redistribution of the broken particles in
the preliminary dened size classes.

1

f

1
1

where I is the identity matrix and  denotes the inverse of a square matrix.
More recently, Csoke and Racz (1998) developed a
model for hammer crushers with the basic assumption
that the feed particles are subjected to a single breakage
after impact with the hammer bars. This results in the
following mass balance equation:
p B  C  f I  C  f

The above equation corresponds to a scheme where the

classication and the breakage matrices are connected in
series without the feedback shown in Fig. 1. Consequently, Eq. (2) does not contain the inverse matrix
appearing in Eq. (1). Attou et al. (1999) extended the
approach of Csoke and Racz and considered two different breakage processes in hammer crushers. In his
model, the particles can break either after impact with
the hammer bars of the rotor or after collision with the
internal walls of the crushers chamber. The mass balance of this model is an extension of Eq. (2) and does
not incorporate the possibility for further fragmentation
of the debris issued from breakage of parent particles.
We performed numerical simulations with both mass
balance laws (1) and (2) and found that Eq. (2) is incompatible with the denition of the breakage and the
classication matrices. Actually, it predicts that the
product contains a non-negligible fraction of feed particles having a probability of breakage of 100%, which is
physically impossible because the proposed equations
do not account for particles agglomeration.
For this reason, we use the standard mass balance law
(1), which implies that the debris issued from breakage
of parent particles can be subjected to further fragmentation. We believe that the assumptions incorporated in Eq. (1) are applicable in the case of impact
crushers with the argument that most of the feed particles are indeed subjected to more than one fragmentation due to the particlewall and the particleparticle
collisions.
2.2. Impact energy per unit mass
Consider the impact between a single particle and a
crushing bar attached to the rotor of a hammer crusher.
Given that the rotor mass is much greater than the mass
of a single particle in the feed, and that before impact the
linear velocity of the crushing bar is much more impor-

S. Nikolov / Minerals Engineering 15 (2002) 715721

tant than the particle velocity, the kinetic energy associated with a single particle is negligible compared with
that of the rotor. Considering the conservation of linear
momentum of the system particle-crushing bar before
and after impact, Attou et al. (1999) derived the following expression for the impact energy per unit mass:
E 0:5  R 0:5  Hb 2  x2

where R (m) is the rotor radius, Hb (m) is the height of

the impact surface of the crushing bars and x (s1 ) is the
rotor angular velocity.
In vertical-axis crushers, the particles are fed to a
horizontal turning table (rotor) with radially oriented
guides and are projected towards the crushers walls by
the centrifugal forces. Unlike in hammer crushers, here
most of the fragmentation takes place at the crushers
walls rather than at the rotors periphery. With the assumption that the particle energy does not change during its ight from the rotor periphery to the crushing
walls, i.e., the particleparticle interactions are neglected
in a rst approximation, Nikolov and Lucion (2002)
derived the following expression for the impact energy
per unit mass:
E R2v  x2

4
1

where Rv (m) and x (s ) are the rotor radius and angular velocity respectively. The notation Rv is used to
distinguish between the impact energy for hammer and
vertical-axis crushers given with Eqs. (3) and (4) respectively.
It is interesting to note that for the same rotor radius, the impact energy per unit mass provided by
hammer crushers is lower than that provided by verticalaxis crushers. This could explain the fact that verticalaxis crushers produce more nes and perform better
when ner granulate must be reduced in size, which is
most probably due to the higher level of impact energy
reached in these machines.
2.3. Classication function
In their model for cone and jaw crushers, Whiten and
White (1979) compute the components of the classication matrix C with the help of the following classication function:


m
di  k2
5
Ci di 1 
k1  k2
where Ci di is the probability of breakage for a particle
of size di (mm), k1 (mm) is the minimum size of particles
that undergo breakage, k2 (mm) represents the maximum particle size found in the product (i.e., all particles
in the feed with size di > k2 are broken); m is a shape
parameter.
In Eq. (5), both k1 and k2 depend explicitly on the
crusher setting, which is a static variable and is not re-

717

lated to any movement of the crusher parts and the

particles. With their experiments on impact fracture of
single particles, King and Bourgeois (1993) demonstrated that the probability of impact breakage for a
given particle depends mainly on its size and the impact
kinetic energy, which is clearly a dynamic variable that
includes the velocity of impact. Therefore, we have to
dene another, more suitable classication function reecting the dynamic character of the impact breakage.
The experiments performed by King and Bourgeois
(1993) as well as by Kapur and Fuerstenau (1995) show
that the probability of impact breakage for single particles in function of the impact energy is well described
by the Weibull distribution proposed by Weichert
(1988). Attou et al. (1999) adapted this distribution as a
classication function for impact crushers in the following form:



a
k
n
6
Ci di 1  exp  s  di  E
Q
where E (J/kg) is the average impact energy per unit
mass, Q (t/h) is the feed rate; a and s depend on the
specic crusher design and size; k and n are related to
the material properties of the granulate. In Eq. (6) the
breakage probability for particles with size of several
dozens of microns is not exactly zero at given feed rate
and rotor velocity, which is in contradiction with the
experimental evidence. Moreover, Eq. (6) is an almost
step-like function of the particle size when applied to
typical size distributions. Actually, Eq. (6) has been tted to experimental data for breakage of identical particles with dierent impact energies while the inverse
problem (breakage of particles with dierent size with
the same impact energy) has not been investigated. According to Eq. (6), a very limited number of particles
should have breakage probabilities dierent from one or
zero, which is unrealistic.
In order to deal with these problems, Nikolov and
Lucion (2002) recently proposed a new classication
function in the form:
"

k #
di  dmin
Ci di 1  exp 
7
dmin
where dmin (mm) is the minimum size of the particles that
undergo breakage for the given operating conditions
and k controls the shape of the classication function.
The probability of breakage for particles smaller than
dmin is Ci di 0 by denition.
Eq. (7) is actually a cumulative Weibull distribution
that can be derived from physical considerations related
to brittle fracture of solids. Similarly to Eq. (5), the
classication function (7) contains a minimum breakable size but does not contain a predened upper size of
the particles in the product. This is in accord with the
fact that the product issued from impact crushing has

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S. Nikolov / Minerals Engineering 15 (2002) 715721

broader size distribution compared with that issued

from cone or jaw crushing.
Our basic assumption is that the minimum breakable
size dmin for impact crushing is a function of both the
impact energy and the feed rate. Higher rotor velocity or,
equivalently, higher impact energy per unit mass E, leads
to a ner product size for the same feed rate and size.
Therefore, dmin should decrease with increasing of E.
As for the inuence of the feed rate on dmin , an increase in the feed rate, keeping the feed size unchanged,
results in higher frequency of the particleparticle collisions. As each collision dissipates energy, the average
impact energy will decrease at higher feed rates and that
would result in a coarser product, i.e., a greater value for
dmin . Taking into account these considerations, we can
write:
 


n 
Q0
E
dmin dmax  exp  c0 c1  ln

E0
Q
8
where Q and E are the feed rate and the average impact
energy per unit mass respectively; Q0 and E0 are reference feed rate and reference impact energy respectively;
dmax (mm) is the maximum particle dimension in the
feed; n is a material parameter; c0 is a rate constant and
c1 accounts for the intensity of the particleparticle interactions.
The dependence of dmin on the feed rate is modelled
with a logarithmic function because of the fact that relatively important variations in the feed rate do not
change signicantly the product size distribution obtained with impact crushers. In addition, at reference
feed rate Q Q0 , lnQ0 =Q 0 so that all other model
parameters can be identied independently on c1 . It is
noted that c1 should depend, among the other factors, on
the volume enclosed between the rotor and the crushers
internal walls. A larger volume of the fragmentation
chamber leads to a lower volume fraction of solids for
the same feed rate and particle size and therefore, the
particleparticle interactions are less frequent.
The parameter 0 < n < 1 species the relationship
between the impact energy per unit mass and the minimum breakable size dmin and controls the saturation
value of dmin for given granulate properties and crusher
design.
The parameter k in Eq. (7) controls the shape of the
classication function and hence, the shape of the
product size distribution. Greater values for k correspond to a higher breakage probability for the large
particles. Therefore, k can be expected to decrease with
increasing the impact energy. In this work, we assume
that k depends directly on the rotor velocity. As the
impact energy is proportional to the second power of the
rotor velocity, the dependence of k on the impact energy
can be written as:

r
E
k k0  k1
E0

where k0 and k1 are material coecients.

2.4. Breakage function
According to Karra (1982), the breakage distribution
function bij represents the fraction of the debris created
from breakage of identical parent particles of size dj and
passing through a screen with mesh size di . It is assumed
that the shape of the size distribution of the debris is
independent on the size of the parent particles. As
mentioned in a review paper by Kelly and Spottiswood
(1990), this is true for almost all of the experimentally
studied product size distributions obtained by crushing
or grinding of a large number of dierent minerals.
The breakage distribution function for crushers derived by Whiten and White (1979) reads:

m

l
di
di
bij di ; dj / 
1  / 
10
dj
dj
where / denotes the mass fraction of the ne product; m
and l are material coecients accounting for the shape
of the ne and the coarse product size distributions respectively.
The form of Eq. (10) reects the fact that the
breakage function for crushers is better represented as
the sum of two probabilistic distributions. According to
Kelly and Spottiswood (1990), this is due to the presence
of two dierent breakage mechanisms at a microscopic
level: shatter and cleavage. An important remark is that
the proportion of the product ne fraction / in Eq. (10)
is assumed to be independent on the operating conditions. The size distributions of the ne and the coarse
products are modelled with a power-law function that
cannot be derived from a known statistical distribution.
In a recent work, Nikolov and Lucion (2002) used the
classication function given with Eq. (7) together with
the breakage distribution function (10) to simulate the
performance of hammer crushers. The results of the
simulations suggest that the assumption of a constant
ne product fraction / in Eq. (10) may be too restrictive
to correctly describe the changes in the product size
distribution obtained from impact crushing with dierent rotor velocities and feed rates. Here we propose a
breakage function consisting of the sum of two BroadbentCalcott distributions:
(




m 
di
/  1  exp 
dj
"

l !#)
di
1  /  1  exp 
dj

bij di ; dj 1:582 

11

S. Nikolov / Minerals Engineering 15 (2002) 715721

where /, m and l have the same meaning as in Eq.

(10). The normalisation factor is computed as 1=1
exp t1 1:582.
The cumulative distribution function derived by
Broadbent and Callcott (1956) is actually a normalised
Weibull distribution starting from a particle size d 0
and, as already explained, not only provides a better t
to the experimental data but can also be obtained from
physical considerations related to brittle fracture.
As for the proportion of the ne product /, Narayanan and Whiten (1988) found that during impact
breakage of single particles, / increases with increasing
the energy intensity while m and l remain virtually unchanged. In the case of impact crushing, this means that
/ increases with increasing the rotor velocity. On the
other hand, / should decrease with increasing the feed
rate because higher frequency of the particleparticle
interactions involves lower average impact energy in the
crushing chamber. Taking into account that 0 < / < 1
by denition, we can express the above arguments in a
mathematical form as follows:
 

 r
Q0
E
/ 1  exp  c2 c1  ln
12

E0
Q

719

to 0.74, 2.6 and 0.55 respectively. The values of the

parameters necessary to compute the shape of the classication function are xed to k0 1:35 and k1 0:1.
We have performed simulations for two sets of experimental data taken at dierent feed rates, namely
Q 2 and 7 t/h. At xed feed rate, the products obtained with three dierent rotor velocities (x 540; 720;
900 rpm) have been analysed. It is important to note
that except for the rotor velocity and the feed rate, all
other model parameters have been kept unchanged for
all performed simulations.
The experimental and simulated size distributions of
the products obtained with dierent rotor velocities at
feed rate of 2 t/h are compared in Fig. 2. The corresponding size distributions obtained at feed rate of 7 t/h
are depicted in Fig. 3.
It is seen that the model is able to predict the product
size distribution with a reasonable accuracy even when
important variations in both the rotor velocity and the
feed rate are imposed. At xed feed rate, higher rotor

where c2 is a rate constant; for simplicity, c1 is assumed

to be the same as in Eq. (8).
The breakage matrix B is constructed with the
method outlined in King (2000). Let the size distribution
of the granulate is obtained with a series of N screens
with mesh sizes Di (i 1; N  1); DN 0 by denition.
Then di is the representative size of particles with dimensions Di > di > Di1 . The non-zero components Bij
of the breakage matrix B can be computed using Eq.
(11) as shown in King (2000):
Bij bi1j Di1 ; dj  bij Di ; dj
Bjj 1  bjj Dj ; dj

13
Fig. 2. Measured (symbols) and predicted (curves) product size distributions for dierent rotor velocities at feed rate Q 2 t/h.

3. Results
The model developed in the previous section has been
implemented in an in-house FORTRAN code. It has
been validated with experiments performed on a hammer crusher with rotor diameter and width of 0.65 and
0.45 m respectively. The rotor radius is R 0:325 m; the
height of the rotors impact bars is Hb 0:1 m. The
material used is limestone from the region of Tournai,
Belgium. The feed has been calibrated by screening and
its size ranges from 14 to 20 mm. The maximum particle
dimension in the feed is dmax 26 mm. The reference
feed rate Q0 and the reference impact energy E0 are
taken to be 2 t/h and 300 J/kg respectively. The rest of
the parameters in Eq. (8) are identied as follows:
c0 1:4, c1 0:12 and n 0:35. The parameters of the
breakage function (Eqs. (11) and (12)) m, l and c2 are set

Fig. 3. Measured (symbols) and predicted (curves) product size distributions for dierent rotor velocities at feed rate Q 7 t/h.

720

S. Nikolov / Minerals Engineering 15 (2002) 715721

velocity produces a ner product size distribution. Alternatively, an increase in the feed rate results in a
coarser product at xed rotor velocity. The results also
conrm that the product size distribution issued from
impact crushing is broader than that obtained with cone
or jaw crushers.
The inuences of the rotor velocity and the feed rate
on the minimum size of the particles that undergo
breakage dmin are shown in Fig. 4. It is seen that dmin
strongly depends on both the rotor velocity and the feed
rate and ranges from 3.8 to 7.8 mm for the given operating conditions.
The evolution of the proportion of the ne fraction /
in the product with rotor velocity and feed rate is shown
in Fig. 5. It increases with increasing the rotor velocity
and decreases with increasing the feed rate as expected
and ranges from 0.35 to 0.59 for the given operating
conditions.
For comparison, when the model of Whiten and
White (1979) is used for simulation of the behaviour of
short-head cone crushers, the values for /, m and l are
often xed to 0.2, 0.5 and 2.5 respectively. A greater
value for the ne fraction / in our case reects the wellknown fact that the product issued from impact crush-

ing contains more nes than that obtained with cone or

jaw crushers.

4. Conclusions
In conclusion, we have developed a performance
model for impact crushers that is able to predict the
product size distribution at steady-state operating conditions and contains a reasonable number of parameters. The specic behaviour of impact crushers is
modelled through classication and breakage functions
that both depend on the rotor radius and angular velocity as well as on the feed rate. The introduction of
variable minimum size of the breakable particles and
proportion of ne fraction in the product seems to be
very important for successful modelling of the impact
crushing.
The simulation results are in a good agreement with
the experiment and show that at higher rotor velocity
the product size distribution becomes ner, provided
that the feed rate and size are kept unchanged. Alternatively, higher feed rate at constant rotor velocity results in a coarser product.
The model can be easily implemented in the existing
commercial codes for mineral processing simulations. It
can be used for prediction of the steady-state performance of hammer and/or vertical-axis impact crushers
integrated in complex owsheets. Further work is required to adapt the model for unsteady and transient
operating regimes.

Acknowledgements

Fig. 4. Evolution of the minimum breakable size dmin with rotor velocity and feed rate.

The Belgian Walloon Region government and the

European Community have jointly funded this research
as an Objective 1 European project. The author thanks
Dr. A. Attou for his contributions at the early stage of
the project, Mr. Chr. Lucion for the useful discussions
as well as Mr. R. Lemaire for providing the experimental results.
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Fig. 5. Proportion of the ne fraction in the product / as a function of

rotor velocity and feed rate.

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