• The sinter plant operation involves handling abrasive material made up of a mixture of coke, lime, iron ore, at elevated temperatures. At the end of the sinter chain, at temperatures well in excess of 700°C, the sinter is crushed to a specific size by forcing the sinter cake through a grate; both parts of the crusher (rotor and bars) are subjected to heavy abrasion at high temperatures. Through our metallurgical knowledge and first hand experience, WA has developed a unique technique, combined with an improved abrasion resistant material, to greatly improve the service life of the components (measured in thousands of hours of operation) and thus dramatically reduce the downtime for maintenance of the installation, and save overall operating cost.

           WA Products and applications: 3-D Carb - Sinter Crusher

• The refractory lining of the blast furnace is subject to impact and abrasion during material loading. To avoid damage, the throat of the blast furnace is protected by mobile wear resistant plates. In order to obtain a lifetime of the wear plates equal or greater than that of the refractory lining, a unique solution has been developed by WA, involving alloy development and application technology.

            WA Products and applications: contact your WA Integra Service Centre

• The continuous casting plant is the transition from liquid to solid state, and thus plays an important role in all steel plants; it is a installation in which combined wear by corrosion, abrasion, thermal fatigue and metal to metal friction is present, specifically in the contact between the slab and the rollers. Over decades, Welding Alloys has invested considerable resources in the development of alloyed materials resistant to wear mechanisms present in the concast line, and further welding techniques to improve the service life and reduce the maintenance cost of the rollers -

              WA Products and applications: MultiSurfacer SCM 3000 - Continuous casting rolls

• The rollers of the top zone are the most exposed to high temperatures and thermal cycling, WA has developed specific cladding alloys (iron-based, nickel-based and cobalt based) which are proven to significantly reduce caster downtime, and offline maintenance costs.

              WA Products and applications: CORRESIST S - CORRESIST O -

• Pipe production involves shaping and reducing the pipes diameter in several processing steps until they have the required dimension; this is done with concave rollers which  operate in extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. For this very demanding application, a complete refurbishing solution with a highly wear resistant alloy and a fully automated custom-designed machine - MultiSurfacer PFR1 - is available from WA, or refurbishing can be done thorugh our WA Integra Service Centres.

             WA Products and applications: MultiSurfacer PFR1

• Generally destined for the car industry, zinc galvanised thin sheets are used in the production of vehicle bodies.  The steel sheet continuously passes through a galvanising kettle containing molten zinc, or zinc aluminimum alloy.  Galvanising kettles are often made of special iron alloy and may be internally clad to minimise the corrosive effects of the zinc alloys, and with time, the iron corrodes, sometimes leading to flooding of the zinc. To protect the kettle from corrosion Welding Alloys Integra Service Centres have a complete solution, from the supply of new galvanising kettles with internal cladding, to their refurbishment. In each case WA has develped a unique noble alloy, designed for corrosion resistance of galvanising kettles, and has developed advanced welding techniques to provide reliable cladding methods.

            WA Products and applications: Galvanising kettles