Comminution

Comminution is the reduction of solid material into smaller particles by crushing, grinding, or impact. It is used to prepare materials for processing and to control particle size.

Compression (mechanics): A loading mode in which forces push inward on an object, tending to shorten or crush it. Jaw and cone crushers reduce material chiefly by squeezing it between surfaces.
Mineral processing: The treatment of mined material to separate valuable minerals from waste and prepare them for further processing. Ore is comminuted to expose mineral grains before physical separation.
Fracture mechanics: The study of how cracks initiate and grow in materials under stress. Comminution depends on cracks forming and propagating through particles.
Dissolution: The process by which a substance disperses into a solvent to form a solution. It reduces visible solid material by molecular mixing rather than mechanically breaking particles.
Impact (mechanics): A brief collision that applies a force over a short time and can transfer substantial energy. Hammer mills and impact crushers fracture particles through collisions with moving surfaces.
Crushing (mineral processing): The coarse size-reduction stage in mineral processing, usually performed with crushers. It reduces run-of-mine ore before finer grinding.
Brittleness: The tendency of a material to fracture with little prior plastic deformation. Brittle feed materials generally break more readily under crushing and impact.
Ultrasonic homogenization: A process that uses high-frequency sound to disperse or disrupt material in a liquid. It can reduce dispersed particle or droplet sizes without conventional crushing or grinding.
Attrition: The wearing down of a material through friction or repeated contact with other surfaces or particles. Grinding media and particles rub against one another, producing fine material.
Flotation (mineral processing): A separation process in which selected mineral particles attach to bubbles and rise through a liquid. Grinding liberates mineral grains so flotation can separate them from other particles.

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