West Cerchar abrasiveness index tester LECAI70/ASTMD762510

The LECAI70 accurately determines the rock abrasivity index (CAI) employed for the classification of rock materials in terms of abrasivity. The CAI is a dimensionless unit obtained from measuring the wear on a HRC55 Rockwell Hardness steel stylus tip after it has been used to abrade a specimen with a 70N normal force. The apparatus comprises a stationary stylus, a deadweight (70N) placed on top of the stylus, a stiff load frame, a rigid vice to firmly clamp the rock sample and a cross table with 2 adjustable axes for specimen alignment along the two horizontal axes.

The device comes with a graduated knob for 0.01 mm accurate scratch distance control. Options include an indenter visualization system, spare indenters and a sharpening tool. The former encompasses a digital camera with indenter support and inspection software to reveal the wear amount which is then correlated to the abrasiveness index (CAI). The sharpening tool rapidly sharpens a worn stylus for subsequent scratch tests.