This work presents results of experimental researches of influence of various hightemperature thermomechanical treatment (HTMT) modes in 35KhGSA steel – material applied in rock-destroying cutters – on hardness and wear rate for the most common abrasive rock in mining operations – sandstone. It has been found out that HTMT leads to increase of steel hardness and reduction of wear rate compared to heat treatment applied at manufacture of cutters. The maximal increase of hardness (by 23%) and reduction of wear rate (by 38%) corresponds to the mode of distortion accumulation of ∼1,5 at 900 °С at water quenching and tempering at 230 °C. A conclusion that thermomechanical treatment is an effective way to increase the wear resistance of steels applied in the conditions of abrasion wear has been drawn.

A lot of researchers are developing new DEM parameters calibration approaches based on an experiment plan or the use of learning algorithms. This research is aimed at improving iterative algorithms frequently used for calibration. The big time consumption as a main problem of iterative algorithms is questioned. It is proposed to use Random forest algorithm to determine DEM parameters impact on the measured bulk responses. Measured responses are the parameters obtained by image processing using a technical vision system. As a result of 200 experiments processing, DEM parameters impact values on each bulk response were generated and presented as histograms. Obtained results were interpreted on the basis of the bulk material behavior and its physical properties. There is a discussion on the possibility of developing a universal DEM parameters calibration method based on the iterative algorithm.

Radial charts were commonly used in the industry to allow retrospective assessment of technological parameters. Today it is relevant to digitize the obtained data in order to simplify the automation of technological processes. Digitization of radial charts by means of standard methods is carried out with the help of human labor at significant time costs. The article proposes an automated method for digitizing radial charts using software, developed in the LabVIEW programming environment. The results of processing radial charts are displayed on the screen in numerical and graphical form, and can also be exported to a file (for example, to Notepad or MS Excel). The presented technique can be applied to images obtained on a color or black-and-white scanner, which minimizes geometric distortions, associated with the conversion of a paper document into electronic form, and ensures recognition quality of the clear plot line with an average relative error of up to 3 %. In case of ink fading or perspective photos of the diagram, the value of relative error can reach 8 %, as a result of which additional manual correction of the data will be required.