Optimization Design of the Lower Rocker Arm of a Vertical Roller Mill Based on ANSYS Workbench

The lower rocker arm is an important part of the vertical roller mill and its lightweight design is of great significance for reducing the mass and production cost of the roller mill. Firstly, the strength and deformation distribution of the lower rocker arm under working load were analyzed by ANSYS Workbench to determine the maximum stress and maximum deformation. The parts with large strength margin were used as the basis for the optimal design. During the analysis, firstly, the arm body of the lower rocker arm was determined part of the lightweight design. Secondly, the mass of the lower rocker arm was taken as the optimization target, the stress and displacement generated by the load of the lower rocker arm were taken as the constraint conditions, the structural size of the internal cavity of the lower rocker arm was taken as the optimization design parameter, and the mathematical model of the optimization design was established. Finally, the structural size of the internal cavity of the lower rocker arm was optimized by using the response surface optimization module and multi-objective genetic algorithm in ANSYS Workbench. The optimum results show that, compared with the original design model, the lower rocker mass was reduced by 346.3 kg and the decrease was about 5.29%, while the strength and deformation were nearly unchanged. Therefore, by optimizing the design, the material is saved and the cost is reduced, which can provide a reference basis for the design and light weight of the lower rocker arm.

255 Evaluation of Different Corn Milling Methods for High-moisture and Dry Corn on Nutrient Digestion

A 2 × 2 factorial digestion study using seven ruminally cannulated steers evaluated the effect of feeding diets containing 70% (dry matter-basis) high-moisture (HMC) or dry corn (DC), processed with either a hammer mill or Automatic Ag Roller Mill (Pender, NE), on nutrient digestion. Feeding HMC decreased the amount of excreted dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM; P ≤ 0.01) regardless of mill type, but there was a tendency (P ≤ 0.13) for an interaction between corn type and mill type for DM and OM digestibility. There was no difference between either milling treatments fed as HMC (P ≥ 0.69), but the hammer mill DC diet was more digestible than the roller mill DC (P = 0.05). There was no effect on NDF digestibility, but there was a tendency for an interaction between grain type and processing method for ADF digestibility, with the roller mill DC diet having the lowest (P = 0.02) ADF digestibility and no differences (P ≥ 0.15) among the other treatments. As expected, HMC based diets had greater (P < 0.01) starch digestibility compared to DC, but milling method had no effect (P = 0.56). High moisture corn diets had greater (P = 0.01) DE intake (Mcal/kg), and hammer mill DC tended to be greater (P = 0.07) than roller mill DC. There tended (P = 0.07) to be an interaction for minimum pH, with roller mill HMC and hammer mill DC having the lowest average pH, but not different from hammer mill HMC (P ≥ 0.32). There were no differences (P = 0.56) in average pH, but HMC diets had greater variance (P = 0.04) and greater area under pH 5.6 (P = 0.05) compared to DC based diets. Feeding cattle HMC compared to DC increases nutrient digestibility but milling process had little impact.

254 Evaluation of Different Corn Milling Methods for High-moisture and Dry Corn on Finishing Cattle Performance and Carcass Characteristics

Steers (n=600; Initial BW = 402 ± 17 kg) were fed for134 day to evaluate the effect of milling method and corn type on performance and carcass characteristics. Treatments were evaluated as a 2 × 3 factorial with factors being milling method (Automatic Ag® roller mill or hammer mill) and corn type (100% high-moisture, 100% dry, or 50:50 blend of high-moisture and dry corn). High-moisture corn was processed at harvested based on respective treatment and ensiled until trial initiation. Both dry corn and HMC were processed using a 16-mm screen in the hammer mill and the roller mill was adjusted to ensure all kernels were broken. There were no interactions between milling method and corn type for final BW, daily gain (ADG), or dry matter intake (DMI; P ≥ 0.32), but there was a tendency for an interaction for G:F (P = 0.09). Cattle fed 100% high-moisture corn processed with the Automatic Ag roller mill were 4.7% more efficient (P ≤ 0.01) with 55% lower fecal starch (P < 0.01) compared to high-moisture corn processed with the hammer mill. Cattle fed dry corn tended (P = 0.07) to have a greater live final BW regardless of milling type and had the greatest DMI (P ≤ 0.01) Intake decreased as high-moisture corn was increased in the diet. Due to no differences in ADG with lower DMI led to a 6% improvement (P ≤ 0.01) in G:F for steers fed HMC. There were no further effects (P ≥ 0.14) on performance or carcass traits regardless of milling method or corn type. Processing high-moisture corn using Automatic Ag roller mill improved feed efficiency compared to processing with a hammer mill when corn was included at 70% of the diet, but processing method had little effect when fed as dry corn or blended diets.

An alternative method for producing wheat-flaxseed flour

An alternative method of obtaining wheat-flax flour, based on the use of coarse reduction wheat grits and semolina (from Triticum aestivum) for its subsequent grinding combined with flax seeds, has been developed. This allowed to significantly simplify the grinding process, to eliminate the non-uniform fat distribution among flour grades, which is typical for multi-grade grinding. The technological scheme of a binary grain mixture grinding included one break system and three reduction systems. Break process was performed on a roller mill RSA with an inter-roller gap of 0,05 mm which ensured flour release of at least 50%. Reduction was performed on the reduction part of the facility MLU 202 with a minimal inter-roller gap of 0,01 mm. It was found that the flax seeds introduction into the mixture significantly influenced on all quality indicators, at that the greatest influence was detected at the semolina and flax seeds mixture processing. Statistical analysis enabled to determine a linear character of the dependence of flour color on the yield (R = 0,96–0,99). In comparison to the control the ash content of flour made from a mixture of wheat grits and flax seeds increased by 0,03%, of flour made from semolina and flax seeds mixture – by 0,1%. The fat content of wheat-flax flour (wheat grits + flax seeds) is 3,8%, of wheat-flax flour (semolina + flax seeds) – 3,6%. Flour and bread made from these types of mixtures had high consumer properties that indicates the possibility of its use for obtaining specialized types of bread and production of flour confectionery products.

Capacity of roller mill for cement grinding

Engineering for the cement industry is part of the heavy industry. The cement industry is the main supplier of raw materials for the production of concrete and reinforced concrete. For grinding cement, two types of mills are used - ball and roller. Recent decades have proven the great effectiveness of a vertical roller mill for grinding raw materials. Its effectiveness, combined with the implementation of drying, grinding and separation in one unit, gives it an undeniable advantage over a ball mill. This explains the significant increase in the share of roller mills in the cement mill market. The grinding process in such mills occurs due to abrasion, respectively, in the process of work wear of the rubbing parts of the mill occurs. The work evaluated the performance of a mill with smooth disk rolls. During the study, the cause of the destruction of the sectors of the mill produced by FLSmidth, operating in the Russian Federation, was identified. The study revealed the causes of the destruction of the details of the roller mill: with the simultaneous impact of the workload and the displacement of the sectors resulting from intensive wear, the total equivalent stresses exceed the value of the endurance limit under cyclic loading. Therefore, the accumulation of fatigue damage to the material, the formation and growth of cracks, which adversely affects the performance of the mill. A number of measures have been proposed to increase the operability of mills of this design.