Hardox® round bars

Hardox® steel round bars are versatile, ready-to-use high-strength steel rods that combine strength, high toughness, good bendability and good weldability in an absolutely unique way. They deliver the same high performance you would expect from Hardox® steel across a variety of abrasion-resistant and wear-resistant applications.

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The all-round abrasion-resistant steel as round bar

Hardox® round bars allow you to upgrade your steel quality in different heavy-wear applications such as agriculture, engineering and machining, mining, drilling and construction. These abrasion-resistant steel round bars are tested frequently in each batch and come with guaranteed properties, as all engineering steels require.

Why Hardox® round bar?

  • Come already through-hardened
  • Easy to machine and weld, no preheating needed
  • Exceptionally clean and fatigue resistance comparable with ingot casted steel
  • Have same guaranteed properties as Hardox® wear plate
  • Open up new design potential for stronger, lighter equipment
Shiny, bright steel bars in Hardox® steel have precise shapes and tight dimensional tolerances.

A versatile product, a variety of uses

The special properties of Hardox® abrasion-resistant round bar offer great advantages to fabricators and manufacturers in a diverse range of wear-resistant tools and attachments.

A yellow skeleton bucket by HS Schoch, who uses Hardox® round bars to get longer, more reliable service.

Speed up production of sieve or skeleton buckets

HS Schoch uses Hardox® round bar to replace parts previously cut and shaped from steel plate. Now, the round bars are simply cut to length and welded in place. The benefits? Less time-consuming and costly. The round shape helps extend service life. There are no edges and the handled material slides more easily. No high-temp welding needed.

The German precision machining company WSB takes Hardox® round bars to the next level of super-tight tolerances and surface brightness.

Guaranteed strength and fatigue resistance

High-accuracy Hardox® steel round bars can be used in even more high-precision, tighter-tolerance applications as turned, ground and polished (TG&P) steel bars, thanks to renowned German machining center WSB.

A hydraulic quick coupler and yellow digging bucket by Cerapid that uses Hardox® 400 round bar to boost quality and performance.

Steel round bar a success in quick couplers

For earthmoving and attachment manufacturer Cerapid, conventional steel was too soft, and harder steel grades tended to crack too easily. But Hardox® steel round bar was just right in its hydraulic quick couplers – hard enough to withstand abrasion and penetration, yet tough enough to resist cracking. See how they got hooked on Hardox® in their hydraulic quick couplers.

Man welding Hardox® round bars. These steel bars are easy to weld even with their high strength and do not need preheating.

Convenience and high performance, guaranteed

Hardox® abrasion-resistant round bars feature the same guaranteed properties as the trusted Hardox® wear plate. They come in two hardness levels: Hardox® 400 and Hardox® 500. Hardox® 400 is offered in diameters of 40–100 mm (1.575–3.937 in.) and Hardox® 500 in diameters of 40–160 mm (1.575–6.299 in.) Both round steel bars come in lengths up to 5,000 mm (196.85 in). The cleanliness and fatigue resistance of Hardox® steel round bars are comparable with ingot casted steel, combined with high strength and impact toughness.

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Already hardened steel round bar

Engineering components subjected to high stress levels are traditionally hardened by heat treatment. But this only affects the surface of the material and fails to penetrate down to the core. Hardox® round bars are hardened steel round bars that are delivered already through-hardened. The hardness is consistent from the surface right down to the core of the material.

Hardox round bars ready to use for rod mills

Tight tolerances for efficient, repeatable processing

Hardox® abrasion-resistant round bars can reach very tight tolerances. In cooperation with an expert machining center in Germany, we have succeeded in easily achieving tolerances of h11, h9 and f8 for the Hardox® 400 and 500 bars. This capability opens new opportunities for a wide range of applications using high-strength bright bar. Examples include axel, pin and coupling applications.

Delivery condition of metal round bars

  • As-rolled or turned surface
  • Pre-heat treated and ready to use, no extra quenching needed

Why buy Hardox® abrasion-resistant round bar from SSAB

You might be considering buying conventional steel for rods, such as high-carbon steels like 42CrMo4V steel. These steels are an acceptable solution but can pose some serious limitations.

For one, you need an additional heat treatment to increase the bar’s strength, which usually results in an inconsistent hardness profile on the cross section. This will significantly impair the impact toughness levels, giving you a product whose quality you can’t rely on. And heat treatment is a costly, time-consuming process.

Stocks of Hardox round bars
Schematic image of a rod mill.

Rod mills gain improved grinding performance with Hardox® round bars

A rod mill is an application that requires significant wear resistance, as well as high crack resistance and toughness.

How Hardox® round bars make friends in the workshop

Hardox metal bars in a workshop, ready for processing.

More on the workshop properties of Hardox® 400 round bars

The turning of Hardox steel rods and turning recommendations.

Hardox® round bar turning recommendations

 A Hardox steel rod that was cut by band sawing and recommendations on how to do this.

Hardox® round bar band sawing recommendations

All you need to know about welding Hardox® round bar

Hardox® round bars combine unique performance with exceptional weldability. Any conventional welding method can be used for welding Hardox® steel to other weldable steel.

Dimension Range

Mechanical Properties

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    Product Diameter (mmin) Hardness 1)
    (HBW)
    Hardox® 400 40.0 - 100.01.575 - 3.937 370 - 430
    Hardox® 500 40.0 - 160.01.575 - 6.299 450 - 540
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    Comparison

      1) Hardness [HBW] according to ISO 6506-1. Testing is performed for one heat treatment batch.

      Hardox® wear products is through-hardened. Minimum core hardness is 90 % of the guaranteed minimum hardness.

      Impact Properties

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        Product Longitudinal test, typical impact energy,
        Charpy V 10x10 mm test specimen 1)
        Min. impact energy for longitudinal testing,
        Charpy V 10x10 mm test specimen 1)
        Hardox® 400 45 J / -40 °C33 ft-lbs / -40 °F 27 J / -40 °C20 ft-lbs / -40 °F
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        Comparison

          1) Test specimen position according to EN 10083.

          Chemical Composition (heat analysis)

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            Product C *)
            (max %)
            Si *)
            (max %)
            Mn*)
            (max %)
            P
            (max %)
            S
            (max %)
            Cr*)
            (max %)
            Ni*)
            (max %)
            Mo*)
            (max %)
            B*)
            (max %)
            Hardox® 400 0.32 0.70 1.60 0.025 0.010 1.40 1.50 0.60 0.004
            Hardox® 500 0.29 0.40 1.10 0.014 0.005 2.80 1.70 0.35 0.003
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            Comparison

              The steel is grain refined. *) Intentional alloying elements.

              Carbon Equivalent CET(CEV)

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                Product Hardox® 400 Hardox® 500 Hardox® 500
                Diameter (mm) 40.0 - 100.01.575 - 3.937 40.0 - 100.01.575 - 3.937 100.1 - 160.03.941 - 6.299
                Max CET(CEV) 0.39 (0.60) 0.51 (0.82) 0.56 (1.12)
                Typ CET(CEV) 0.37 (0.58) 0.46 (0.73) 0.48 (0.95)
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                Comparison

                  CET and CEV formula

                  Tolerances

                  More details are given in EN 10060.

                  Bar Diameter and Length

                  Tolerances according to EN 10060.

                  Bar Straightness

                  Straightness according to EN 10060.

                  Bar Surface

                  Black condition.

                  Delivery Conditions

                  The delivery condition is Q (Quenched). QT (Quenched and Tempered) are available upon request.

                  Delivery requirements can be found at www.ssab.com.

                  Fabrication and Other Recommendations

                  Welding, bending and machining

                  Recommendations can be found in SSABs brochures at www.hardox.com or consult Tech Support.

                  Hardox® Round bar is not intended for further heat treatment. It has obtained its mechanical properties by quenching and when necessary by means of subsequent tempering. The properties of the delivery condition cannot be retained after exposure to temperatures in excess of 250ºC.

                  Appropriate health and safety precautions must be taken when welding, cutting, grinding or otherwise working on this product. Grinding, especially of primer coated plates, may produce dust with a high particle concentration.

                  Get your Hardox® round bars here

                  To satisfy our customers’ growing demand for Hardox® round bars, we have improved local availability in order to speed up deliveries. The most common dimensions of Hardox® round bars are stocked at 15 sales locations worldwide, making it easy to order production material and test samples. The local stocks can also be customized to provide certain dimensions. The central stock for Hardox® round bars is located in Antwerp, Belgium. The production stock is located in Sweden.

                  The map shows central and local stocks. For available dimensions and delivery conditions in your area, contact SSAB sales.

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