Hardox® 500 Tuf wear steel lightens every load for dump truck body manufacturer IWS

Hardox® 500 Tuf is an abrasion-resistant (AR) steel and a perfect fit for high-performance dump truck bodies. Hardox® 500 Tuf is the first 500 Brinell (HBW) wear plate with properties on a par with structural steel. It delivers high strength, extreme hardness and guaranteed toughness in a single wear plate. While improving dent protection, the material also offers a 70-100% longer service life compared to conventional 400 HBW AR steel.

“As soon as my customers hear the benefits of Hardox® 500 Tuf, they don’t want it as an option, they want it standard. The weight savings alone grab their attention, and then there’s the longer service life,” says JD Stone, IWS Vice President and General Manager. “These trucks are workhorses and must be able to take a beating over time, and now that we’ve transitioned fully to the new material, we only deliver the upgraded version.”

When it comes to comparing weldability and bendability of Hardox® 500 Tuf with Hardox® 450, the properties are nearly identical, except that Hardox® 500 Tuf performs equally well at thinner dimensions. According to Phil Raffaeli, IWS Production Manager/Sales, it can be fabricated with the same equipment used for Hardox® 450 . For the six master welders, who have a combined 100 years’ experience, and the World War II era rolling bending press at IWS, Hardox® 500 Tuf was easy to incorporate into production.

“We use the same rolling equipment for Hardox® 500 Tuf as we did for Hardox® 450. The chimes rolled for our elliptical box designs can be slightly shorter and overall thinner going from 0.188” (4.8 mm) to 0.157” (4 mm). Our guys were able to adjust quickly and transitioned smoothly between the two grades,” Raffaeli says.

In the 1920’s, blacksmiths fashioned and hammered out parts for the railcars that rumbled along the back side of IWS’ first building on Front Street. Today, Stone, who is completely committed to quality, not only carries on the tradition of turning out only the best, but continues to evolve with innovative upgrades to serve customers in agriculture, oil and gas, trucking, trailers and tanks.

This elliptical style dump body featuring Hardox® 500 Tuf allows end users in North America to experience Hardox® wear plate’s innovative evolution in advanced wear steels.

“Over the past few years, I’ve watched the trucking industry’s demand rapidly grow for an even harder, tougher material,” says Tobias Appelkvist, Regional Sales Manager, SSAB Special Steels. “We fully support efforts by our Hardox® In My Body certified member , IWS, as they work to meet their customers’ needs.”

Stone and Raffaeli are impressed not just by the quality of the new steel grade, but also by SSAB’s steady commitment to support and service.

“I fully appreciate the expertise of SSAB’s technical services team to partner in testing new ideas and applications,” Stone explains. “It’s one of the many reasons partnering with them puts my business ahead of the curve. We also count on the market-leading quality of their special steel products knowing they will perform as promised. I look forward to our next test of new materials as we broaden our offerings.”