LKAB’s experience with Hardox® wear plate, a wear-resistant steel, goes back several years, but recently the company’s requirements for service life and more advanced solutions have become more acute. The higher volumes being unloaded have led to increased wear and fewer opportunities for maintenance. In this context, Hardox wear plate, in specific Hardox 600 has contributed to improved operations.

-  “What we were looking for was a material which could maintain a uniform quality over a long service life,” says Evert Nilsfors from LKAB, Narvik, Norway. “Hardox 600 has proved equal to all our strictest requirements.”

One material which can match these requirements is SSAB’s most advanced wear-resistant steel: Hardox 600. This is extremely hard, not just on the surface, but throughout its entire thickness, meaning that wear will not vary over time.

-  “Our cooperation with LKAB has a long history, so it is gratifying that we have now arrived at a business solution,” says Tobias Appelkvist, Sales representative for SSAB Special Steels Norway.

Higher demands on all parties
Hardox 600 is no ordinary wear-resistant material, and taking advantage of its properties requires all involved parties understanding what is necessary, from plate production, to the shops where the material is cut, drilled and welded - to maintenance personnel on site. Stud welding of wear plates is a cost-effective method, permitting quick and simple assembly, and thereby prolonging replacement intervals.

-  “It has been a great benefit that we can now plan our maintenance. Previously, shutdowns were unplanned, and that increased costs,” Nilsfors says.

Optimizing the wear-resistant material
LKAB did not just want a hard-wearing material, but also had an ambition for the whole solution to be as cost-effective as possible.

-  “Wear is rarely evenly distributed in an application. Instead there are areas of heavier wear in which thicker plate needs to be used. But on the other hand, there is no point using the thicker material on low-wear areas,” says Jonas Allebert, wear specialist at SSAB.

By careful analysis of drawings and flows, an optimum solution for the whole chute has been designed. The result is that the whole chute has the same service life, with maximum benefit from the wear-resistant material.

Picture 1
Stud welding of Hardox® wear plates

Picture 2
Jonas Allebert, SSAB och Evert Nilsfors, LKAB

Contact person:
Tobias Appelkvist

Key Account Manager SSAB Shape

M +47 41 21 7982
tobias.appelkvist@ssab.com

SSAB Svensk Stål AS
Postboks 47 NO-1314 Lysaker
T+47 23 11 85 80