The VSI-1000-OR Vertical Shaft Impact Crusher, also known as a sand-making machine, is the top-capacity final-stage crusher in the range, using rock-on-rock autogenous crushing. The following covers feed materials, output products, applications, wear-part service, the rock-on-rock principle and comparisons with alternatives.
What materials can the VSI-1000-OR process?
The VSI-1000-OR is built for the hardest, most abrasive feed from secondary crushers at high volume. Typical feed includes:
- Basalt, granite and other very hard, abrasive igneous rock
- Hard, abrasive gravel and quartz-rich stone from secondary crushing
- Material requiring conversion into manufactured sand at low wear cost
Maximum feed size is 90 mm, the largest in the VSI range. The open-rotor, rock-on-rock configuration is specifically matched to abrasive rock, where autogenous crushing keeps wear-part cost down.
What products does it make?
The VSI-1000-OR produces manufactured sand and cubical fine aggregate at the highest tonnage in the range. Output serves as a sand substitute or supplement in concrete and asphalt and improves the shape of fine aggregate. The high-velocity rock-on-rock impact yields high fines content and a cubical grain shape suited to bound mixes.
Which industries and applications use it?
- Large-scale manufactured (crushed) sand production
- Hard-rock and abrasive-rock processing where wear cost is critical
- Fine aggregate shaping for asphalt and concrete at volume
- Major quarries supplementing or replacing natural sand
What is the difference between rock-on-rock (OR) and rock-on-anvil (CR)?
In the rock-on-rock (open rotor, OR) configuration of the VSI-1000-OR, the rotor throws material against a retained bed of the same stone, so the rock crushes the rock. This autogenous action greatly reduces wear-part consumption and is preferred for very abrasive feed where wear cost dominates. In a rock-on-anvil (closed rotor, CR) configuration, material is thrown against fixed steel anvils, giving a stronger, more consistent reduction better suited to producing a precise product from harder but less abrasive rock.
How are wear parts replaced and how long do they last?
In the open-rotor configuration the retained rock bed forms much of the wearing surface, so the main consumables are the rotor wear tips and the chamber wear plates rather than anvils. This lowers wear-part consumption on abrasive feed and extends service intervals compared with a rock-on-anvil machine. Wear tips are interchangeable and replaced on a routine schedule set by rock abrasiveness, rotor speed and tonnage; the four interchangeable chambers let the arrangement be matched to the duty.
How does a VSI compare with a tertiary impact crusher?
A tertiary impact crusher uses a horizontal rotor with blow bars and breaker plates, giving strong reduction with cubical shaping for non-abrasive stone. The VSI-1000-OR uses rock-on-rock impact and is the better choice for manufactured sand from very hard, abrasive rock at volume, with low wear-part cost and rotor speed controlling fines. For abrasive feed and a sand product, the VSI is normally preferred, and the two types are often combined so a tertiary impactor shapes the coarse fractions while the VSI generates the sand.
How does the VSI-1000-OR fit into a complete plant?
The VSI-1000-OR is installed after the secondary crusher in the sand circuit, fed from a screen that delivers the correct size fraction, with its output screened again and, where a washed product is needed, passed to sand-washing equipment. The variable-speed rotor lets the operator match fines yield to demand, and the four interchangeable crushing chambers allow reconfiguration as feed or product targets change. It is supplied within complete CONSTMACH plants or as an addition to an existing high-capacity line, with wear parts available from the manufacturer.
