What are the Crushing Machine Types?

What is a Crushing Machine?

A crushing machine, more commonly referred to as a crusher, is a mechanical device that applies force to stones, rocks, or materials with the aim of reducing their size. Crushing machines play an important role in mining, building, and recycling industries whereby large-sized stones or materials are crushed into smaller fragments for their easy processing and use. Particle size reduction in this respect is the major objective of any crushing machine, in such a way that the raw material can be presented in a manageable form for subsequent screening or conveyance, or even further sequences of crushing.

There are various kinds of crushing machines, each with its own particular characteristics and applications. In the instance of jaw crushers, they are generally considered to be employed at the primary stages of crushing or those processes that involve the crushing of huge stones or ores with very high compressive strength. Impact crushers, however, are ideal for shaping purposes since they give out cubical-shaped particles and suitable for median to hard stones. Cone crushers are often used in the secondary and tertiary stages of crushing for the fulfillment of efficient crushing of stones with different levels of hardness. All in all, the versatility and efficiency of crushing machines make them indispensable in various industrial processes involving stone or material crushing.

How Does Crushing Machine Work?

Crushing machines or crushers are the prime ones that break bulky material or items into smaller pieces. The application of mechanical force is mainly included in the principle, which includes a crushing chamber with a hard stationary surface and another with a moveable surface. Material in the jaw crushers is introduced into the chamber of crushing between the two jaws, one of which is fixed and the other swings backward and forward. Impact-type crushers work on the principle of rapid impact that shatters the material when it is thrown against a hard surface or broken by hammer impact. The process of crushing involves a reduction in material size due to repeated application of force till the particle size becomes reasonable enough.

Crushing processes in such devices are governed by the speed of the crushing tool, size, and shape of the material feed, and the setting or clearance between the surfaces of crushing. Besides, the properties of the material to be used within the process are very important in relation to hardness and abrasiveness, which will determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the crushing operation. Once the material is reduced to the needed size, it is usually discharged for further processing or conveyed for use in applications such as construction, manufacturing, or recycling. Overall, crushers play an important role in reducing raw materials to sizes that are more amenable to subsequent processing and applications, whichever the area of application.

Which Crusher to Prefer for Which Sector?

1. Mining Sector

The selection of the crusher machine to be used in the mining sector could be done based on a number of factors. Mining often includes hard stones and ores that need to be transported in large volumes. For this reason, primary crushers are generally preferred. The use of such crushers mainly aims to break larger parts into smaller and workable pieces. Crushers that are commonly preferred in the mining industry include jaw and impact crushers. Jaw crushers are usually ideal for primary stone crushing in the mining industry due to the fact that it is a powerful and effective solution when processing hard and large stones. This type of crusher is called an impact crusher because materials break into smaller sizes due to high impact forces, which may be useful for treating hard materials in mines. Overall, primary crushers that can work in a strong and efficient way in processing large volumes and difficult materials are usually preferred in the mining field. Fundamentally, crushers are heavy-duty and high-capacity machines that have an important role in processing large stones and ores within the mining sector.

2. Construction Industry

During the crushing and processing of various materials within the building industry, different kinds of crushing machines may become preferred. In general, several types of crushers are in operation to process various materials within the construction business. The common crushing machines in use within the building industry include jaw crushers, cone crushers, impact crushers, and vertical shaft crushers.

a. Jaw Crushers

In view of this, the jaw crushers employed to break and shred materials in the construction process are often used. These machines, in general, are optimum and used for breaking larger stones or pieces into smaller, and these work efficiently in coarse crushing at construction sites.

b. Cone Crushers

In return, cone crushers are also applied in the construction industries and are well sought at the stages of secondary and tertiary crushing. Generally, these are very good crushers in terms of breaking and giving shape to stones into smaller pieces. Cone crushers, most utilized in aggregate production, have an important role in bringing the construction material to ideal dimensions.

c. Impact Crushers

Impact crushers can be used to break and shape a wide variety of materials in building. These machines tend to work on high-impact forces, so they may work their magic on stones and concretes. Impact crushers can also be favored during the production of formed and specially sized materials in construction projects.

3. Quarries and Aggregates

Generally, quarries and aggregates have a preference for different varieties of crushing machines. In quarries and aggregates, the operation of crushing is generally achieved with effectiveness and efficiency by generally using crushing machines such as jaw crushers, impact crushers, cone crushers, and vertical shaft impact crushers.

a. Jaw Crushers

These are crushers that are very commonly preferred in quarries and aggregate production facilities. Generally, these machines are ideal for the primary breaking of hard stones and for breaking up big blocks of stones into smaller pieces.

b. Impact crushers

Impact crushers used in aggregate production and quarries can quickly reduce the material and produce stones of desired size. Since most of the impact crushers in general operate with high impact forces, due to this they easily can crush many types of materials.

c. Cone crushers

These are a kind of compression crushers. They crush the stones by compressing and crushing the feed material between the concaves along a circular motion inside the crushing chamber. Generally, they are used in secondary crushing stages. They are receiving a lot of attention due to their important role in producing aggregates of desired size. d) Vertical shaft impact crushers

These are crushers that break material with centrifugal force at high speeds. Vertical shaft crushers are often preferred for aggregate production in order to obtain formed stones, sands and fine materials. For this reason, these are generally used crushers in construction sites to acquire high-quality and formed materials.

4. Recycling Facilities

Depending on the different properties and varieties of the materials used in recycling, various crushing machines can be preferred accordingly in recycling facilities. The most common crushing machines used in recycling facilities include impact crushers, hammer crushers, cone crushers, and vertical shaft crushers.

a. Impact Crushers

Impact crushers may be preferred in recycling facilities to crush various materials. These machines can be generally used for breaking hard materials that may vary from stone, concrete, brick, and asphalt. The impact crusher can crush the material into desired size pieces due to the high speed of impact forces. All these features may widely vary in recycling facilities.

b. Hammer Crushers

Hammer crushers can be applied in the recycling plants for crushing various metal pieces, as well as other materials. Very often such-type machines are effective and may be used for metal recycling and assist the process of recycling by grinding or shredding the parts made of metals.

c. Cone Crushers

Cone crushers may be preferred in some special applications than in recycling facilities. These are quite effective in cases where there is a vital need to properly break down concrete and wastes from construction and then process them accordingly. These machines can often be useful in the production of thin materials.

The selection of the type of crusher to be used in recycling facilities will vary depending on type, size, and processing requirements of materials processed in the recycling sector. Therefore, the correct choice of crushing machine has to consider the material properties and the production needs.