2026-10-09
Typical Working Condition: River Gravel Sand Making
This article covers a river gravel sand making line. The crusher is a vertical shaft impact crusher (VSI). The finished sand is used for concrete and for dry-mixed mortar. River gravel is the feed, and the output is manufactured sand for those two products.
Two decisions drive the wear side of this line: the chamber type, which is selected against the gradation the finished product has to meet, and the group of wear parts that is evaluated and replaced together.
The Cutting Head: The Core Wear Part
The cutting head is the core wear part of a VSI sand making machine. Ours are made of high-manganese-chromium alloy, heat treated and finish machined.
Because it is the core wear part, the cutting head sets the condition the rest of the rotor is judged against.
The rotor assembly is a modular design, so it is easy to install and easy to take apart.
The distributing plate, the impact blocks and the counterattack plate liners are matched parts. Evaluate them for replacement together with the cutting heads: one group, not one part at a time.
When the cutting head is checked, that is the moment to check the matched parts in the same rotor.
Two Chamber Types: Rock-on-Rock and Rock-on-Anvil
A VSI runs one of two chamber types on this kind of feed.
- Rock-on-rock: suited to aggregate shaping. It gives good particle shape and less powder.
- Rock-on-anvil: it gives high sand output.
Select the chamber type from the gradation the finished product has to meet. The decision belongs to the material and the product, so make it once and hold it.
Rock-on-rock and rock-on-anvil are aimed at different products, and the gradation tells you which one you are making.
Do not run one chamber type on all materials.
Machine Cavity Liners and Matched Parts
The machine cavity liners (wear plates) and the cutting heads are one set of life parts. Treat both sides of that set as one job.
Replace the cutting head when it wears to the alarm size. Replace the liners when they wear thin. If the liners stay in past that point, the machine casing will be damaged.
Bearings, motors and V-belts are matched to the machine model. Order them against the model.