What is wear-resistant steel?

　　Wear resistant steel is a type of high carbon steel with higher hardness and toughness. When used for special purposes, steel can significantly extend its service life in high wear applications.

　　Generally speaking, the stronger the wear resistance of steel, the more difficult it is to form or weld, and due to the increase in manufacturing costs, it is also more expensive. Due to these reasons, it is necessary to balance the requirements for wear resistance with additional costs or reduced flexibility.

　　Application of wear-resistant steel

　　Wear-resistant steel is most suitable for high wear applications, therefore it is usually found in areas with constant motion or material flow. The industries that benefit the most from the use of wear-resistant steel are those that require large-scale material processing, such as mining and construction.

　　Applications include:

　　Vulnerable parts on mining/excavation equipment, including excavators and excavator buckets, lining of dump trucks, and bulldozer attachments.

　　A conveyor belt used for conveying materials.

　　Lining of bins, chutes and hoppers for material flow, such as in mining or cement industries.

　　Wear resistant steel is commonly used as a lining to protect more permanent structures from wear. These linings are usually designed for regular replacement.

　　Although high carbon content makes steel products harder and tougher, they are also more brittle and not suitable for all applications. For example, wear-resistant steel should not be used as structural steel, as brittleness may lead to premature failure.

　　How is wear-resistant steel manufactured?

　　In order to refine iron ore into steel, it is sent to the blast furnace, which separates impurities such as oxygen. During this process, additional materials can be added to generate the target steel quality. If additional carbon is added at this stage, the steel will become more wear-resistant. Different amounts of carbon will produce different levels of wear resistance, and by adding other alloys such as chromium, the typical brittleness of wear-resistant steel can be reduced. Once the molten metal is combined with additives, wear-resistant steel will now be formed and cut.

　　By adding carbon to the metal, the molecular structure is changed to reduce the amount of slip or dislocation in the steel. This means that steel will lose less mass due to wear, which is the source of wear resistance.

　　Usually, heating and quenching stages are required to achieve the hardness of the final product. This involves heating the steel and then rapidly cooling it again to ensure that the structure of the steel is most conducive to wear resistance. This is partly why it is difficult to reprocess worn steel once manufactured, as welding or cutting can increase the temperature enough to eliminate heat and quenching cycles and reduce overall wear resistance.