Modeling and Analysis of High-Energy Ball Milling Through Attritors

The effects of major processing parameters of attritor mills on ball milling efficiency (i.e., minimum energy consumption with maximum milling progress) are investigated using discrete element modeling (DEM). The major processing parameters investigated include the size of balls, ball volume fraction inside the canister, ball milling velocity, and design of the impeller shaft of the attritor mill. Their effects are studied through examination of the output parameters including the average speed of balls, maximum speed of balls, and torque applied on the impeller shaft. The torque on the impeller shaft represents the energy consumption during ball milling, while the difference between the maximum and average speeds of balls scales with the compressive pressure during “mini-forging” of powder particles trapped between the colliding balls and thus scales with milling progress (particle deformation and size reduction). The simulation reveals that the ball milling velocity, ball volume fraction inside the canister, ball size, and impeller shaft design are all important parameters for energy-efficient ball milling. In particular, high ball milling velocities can lead to larger particle deformation and faster size reduction with minimum energy consumption. Further, ball sizes smaller than the gap that will not be hit by impellers directly are good for high-energy-efficient ball milling. Otherwise, energy consumption increases substantially.