Hardlite^™ wear plate: ultra light, ultra wear resistant

18 months ago, a set of test blades made from Hardlite were installed in the classifier of a cement mill for one of Welding Alloys’ customers in the US.

Hardlite was the perfect solution for this type of application, as it is an ultra-thin welded overlay wear plate, with a thickness of less than 5 mm. This advanced solution provides an ultra-thin and lightweight result, but without compromising on hardness – it is in fact harder than quartz (64-66HRC).

Hardlite exudes superiority, which cannot be ignored. Opting to use Hardlite over quenched and tempered abrasion resistant steels can dramatically reduce maintenance costs and extend cement and raw mill availability until shut down, consequently maximising profitability, which was proven to this particular cement mill in the US.

Recently, the customer removed some of the Hardlite test blades that were installed and also some of the original type quenched and tempered blades that were in the classifier, this was done so that the customer could install new “back-to-back” blades made from Hardlite.

The choice to replace all of the blades with ones made from Hardlite wasn’t a difficult one, as this innovative solution had lived up to its reputation and the classifier blades that were made out of the Hardlite plate had lasted the distance.

As illustrated in the photo of the blades below, the Hardlite (blade on the right side in the image) only has a small amount of wear on the tips, whereas the quenched and tempered blades (left side in the image) are almost gone. What makes this so impressive is that the quenched and tempered blades are only 12 months old and the Hardlite blades shown were after 18 months in service. Truly highlighting the impressive wear resistance of Hardlite.

Hardlite plate is manufactured by our WA Integra service division, which specialises in providing in situ repair and maintenance welding services, as well as custom engineered wear resistant components to increase service life of parts.

Our Welding and cutting processes do not affect the wear properties of the Hardlite plate. This means Hardlite can be fabricated and fitted to produce parts or linings that reduce excessive wear from impact and abrasion. Thanks to the plate’s light weight, it is most suitable for wear protection of moving parts. For air abrasive applications like classifier blades, Hardlite is really unbeatable.

Welding Alloys’ Integra engineers and technicians are located across the globe and have significant experience in wear prevention within cement mill classifiers and the protection of their vital components. Benefit from our engineered wear protection solutions and significantly increase the service life of your components.