The Hardox HiAce combats abrasive wear and corrosion. Image: SSAB
SSAB has armed quarry operators with a HiAce to target two of their main headaches: abrasive wear and corrosion.
A lot is asked of quarrying equipment. Day after day, the equipment can suffer intense wear and tear as it deals with harsh and abrasive aggregate to make the materials many industrial sectors rely on.
To protect this valuable equipment, many quarries install wear plates at key points.
SSAB’s Hardox wear plates are among the toughest, hardest and most resistant on the market. The latest addition to the Hardox range is no exception.
The Hardox HiAce expands on the existing Hardox range to provide quarry managers with a variety of choices when looking for a wear plate to suit their application.
The HiAce, featuring the same strong mechanical properties and hardness as the Hardox 450, is specially designed to negate abrasive wear and corrosion according to SSAB regional sales manager for Western Australia Graham McClelland.
“Hardox grades use a very lean chemistry that will give excellent workshop properties when it comes to welding, cutting and bending,” he said.
“However, this is not beneficial when it comes to corrosion-resistance of a material.
“If corrosion is present, there is a risk that the surface starts to corrode. Wear will come from removing oxide layers and hardness will not be utilised to the fullest extent. Hardox HiAce offers a much higher corrosion resistance due to the alloy content.
“In a wear application, when corrosion is present, Hardox HiAce will not start to corrode, and full hardness of the material can be utilised.”
Hardox HiAce thrives in corrosive and abrasive environments meaning it can meet the daily challenges the quarry industry faces.
“In quarrying, there are a lot of areas with abrasive and corrosive wear,” McClelland told Quarry.
“Especially in Australia, where the conditions lend themselves to harsh operating environments.”
Quarrying often takes place in these harsh environments, especially in regional and remote sites across Australia. Corrosion and abrasion leads to more maintenance, higher repair costs, a shorter service life, and overall headaches for quarry managers.
The Hardox HiAce is designed to counter these pain points through its specially designed steel.
“Corrosion rate is increased with temperature and humidity, so in a country such as Australia there is a high risk for corrosion problems,” McClelland said.
“But the alloy concept, together with the high hardness of Hardox HiAce, is a perfect match for these environments.”
Hardox HiAce’s flexibility means it can be used in a range of applications, including quarrying equipment and in other heavy industries like mining.
In Queensland’s quarrying operations’ hot and humid climates, Hardox HiAce has been used to reinforce waste containers, helping them withstand wear and corrosion. In Western Australia, regarded as one of the world’s harshest mining environments, it is being used to strengthen mining trailers that transport iron ore, giving the trailers up to 50 per cent longer service lives.
A combination of low pH levels, chemicals, temperature and minimal maintenance can be the perfect storm for causing specific damage called pitting corrosion.
Pitting happens when the corrosion on the metal surface is localised to a small, rounded pit. A single pit can stop a machine in its tracks as it damages the metal’s deep structures, even though it does not cause much loss of surface material.
Pitting corrosion has been detected for years in processing equipment across several heavy industries from mining to the quarrying and construction materials sectors.
Although hard to detect and predict, pitting can be alleviated by the use of Hardox HiAce.
“In some applications, it can be hard to understand if and how much corrosion is influencing the problem,” McClelland said. “Testing Hardox HiAce is a very low risk, due to the hardness being the same as Hardox 450.
“The worst-case scenario is that Hardox HiAce will perform exactly the same as Hardox 450. When there is no corrosion and the only problem is wear, the Hardox HiAce is a flexible and low-risk material for quarrying.”•
For more information, visit ssab.com
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