A correlative study on textural properties and crushability of rocks

Rock texture is a term representing the mineral grains, grain sizes, and matrices of rocks. Crushability properties of rocks are very important parameters on an industrial scale and they can be determined by different methods. This study investigated the effects of textural properties of rocks on their crushability. For this purpose, some physical and mechanical tests were carried out on 12 different rock samples, which were divided into igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock groups. All rock samples were crushed by using jaw and roll crushers, and crushability indices (CI) and particle sizes (d₅₀, d₈₀) were determined for all rock samples. The textural properties of rocks were defined by using the texture coefficient (TC) approach on thin section images. The test results were statistically analyzed, and firstly the physical and mechanical properties were correlated with CI and TC, respectively. Positive linear correlations were found between TC and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), Brazilian tensile strength (BTS), and Schmidt hammer hardness (SHH). When the rock samples were grouped based on their geological origins, there were strong or good linear relationships between CI and UCS and BTS for both the jaw and roll crushers. Then, TC was correlated with CI, d₅₀, and d₈₀. It was found that TC was influential on CI especially for the roll crusher. However, when the rocks were separated as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary, strong linear relationships were found for both crushers. The same was observed for the relationship between TC and both d₅₀ and d₈₀; the correlation coefficients were higher and more reliable for the roll crusher than the jaw crusher. The results of this study showed that the textural properties of rocks are more influential on the results obtained in a roll crusher than a jaw crusher. However, more rock samples are required to verify the results of this study.