Wear Resistant Steel

Most people refer to IRON as STEEL and STEEL as IRON. However, these are two very different products. Iron or iron ore is the fourth-most abundant element on the planet and can be found and mined in the earth to make various steels, cast iron, wrought iron, high/low alloy steels etc. Iron ore is the base element to make all grades of iron and steels, and is also an essential mineral which helps make hemoglobin in the human body. (more…)

Austenite and Martensite, in steel, refers to the microstructure of steel at the atomic level. During the tempering process or cooling, Austenite is transformed into Martensite. The ideal wear resistant steel would have a combination of retained Austenite as well as some transformed Martensite. (more…)

All steel mills produce standard sizes of bars (i.e. flat, round, square) and plates (i.e. 48” x 96”, 96” x 240”, 120” x 288” etc.). Consequently, the fabricator must have equipment to cut the bars or plate to a size which they can use for further processing. Other than shearing, sawing, grinding or water jet, wear resistant steel is usually cut using heat to melt the material. There are 3 main processes and each has its advantages. (more…)

Impact resistance in wear resistant steel is usually defined as the amount of energy that a material can withstand when it is suddenly hit with a load or force. Think in terms of a steel plate or steel parts being hit by a very hard object like rocks hitting a grizzly screen. It is measured as the amount of force required to crack or deform the steel, and is measured in foot-pounds per inch or joules per centimeter. (more…)

When working with any steel, but in particular wear resistant steels, it is imperative that you know the grain direction of the plate.

A steel plate’s grain direction comes from the mill’s rolling process, which stretches the metallurgical structure of the material. The grains run parallel to the rolling direction. (more…)

ENDURA is a high-performance wear resistant steel, exhibiting a wear resistance 50% higher than conventional 500HB water quenched steel, combined with excellent weldability and very acceptable workability. (more…)

Not all steels are the same. In fact, there are over 3,500 different grades of steel, each encompassing unique physical, chemical, and mechanical properties to make them ‘custom-tailored’ to suit specific applications. Even within certain groups of steel like Abrasion and Wear-Resistant steels (AR steel) there are many different grades, each with different chemistry and mechanical properties that yield different performance. (more…)

Quality dies, molds, fixtures, machine parts, and cutting and punching tools are at the very heart of manufacturing operations. Everyone who constructs, uses, and/or maintains these components must ensure that their quality is sufficient and cost-effective for meeting long-term production requirements. As such, the cheapest option isn’t always the best.

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