Equipment uptime is pivotal, particularly in industries that have high impact and abrasion like pulp & paper, mining, and construction. AR steel plates help address these needs. Placing abrasion resistant steel plates in high wear areas of your machinery can help make your equipment more durable, increasing uptime and profitability.
However, not every abrasion resistant steel plate is created equal. Alloyed steel plates, such as Tricon’s Tri-Braze®, allow businesses in these industries to greatly extend equipment life and reduce time spent on maintenance and repairs. In order to help you understand the different types of AR steel plates and their use cases, we’ve assembled a helpful guide below.
What are Abrasion Resistant Steel Plates?
Understanding AR Steel Grades
Commodity AR steel plates are rated based on their surface hardness as measured by a Brinell Hardness Tester. The higher the calculated Brinell Hardness of a material, the harder the material’s surface. Materials with a higher Brinell Hardness Number (BHN) will generally have higher resistance to abrasion. This grading system gives a general indication of a material’s service life under abrasive conditions, but suffers from two major flaws. First, being only a surface test, it gives no indication of the hardness in the plate’s middle. Second, it does not give any indication of the material’s impact resistance and tendency to crack during welding.
There is typically a tradeoff when it comes to hardness. As the hardness of a carbon/manganese/silicon-based material increases, the ductility, weldability, formability and impact resistance of that material decreases. This means that steels with higher hardness levels can be more difficult to form, fabricate or weld. When you are selecting an AR steel plate, the best option strikes a balance between the level of abrasion/impact resistance and workability.
- AR200: This is the earliest version of the AR steel plates, with a hardness range of 170-250 BHN. They are generally in the as-rolled (not heat treated) condition and rely on high carbon content to achieve hardness levels.
- AR400: This type of steel has a typical hardness range of 360-444 BHN, which offers more abrasion resistance than AR200 while retaining good levels of formability. AR400 was the earliest of the post-rolling heat-treated grades of abrasion resistant steels.
- AR450: These were the next step in the evolution of heat-treated abrasion resistant plates. These grades typically have a hardness range of 420-470 BHN while maintaining some formability and impact resistance
- AR500: AR500, with the typical hardness range of 470-525 BHN, offers more abrasion resistance than an AR450, but at the cost of formability and weldability. Commodity AR 500 plates can be prone to cracking during welding, forming, or cold weather conditions.
- AR600: While offering more abrasion resistance than AR500 plates, the surface hardness levels render them un-formable and extremely prone to cracking during welding. Chromium carbide overlay plates are generally a better alternative to steel plates in this hardness range.
- Alloyed Abrasion Resistant Steels: Alloyed abrasion resistant steels are the ultimate evolution of the abrasion resistant grades. By using other alloying agents like chromium, nickel, molybdenum, boron and titanium, they are able to achieve surface hardness levels equal to AR500, through hardness (unlike standard AR grades which lose hardness in the center), and the formability and weldability of an AR400. This makes them the ideal choice for use in environments with extreme abrasion and impact conditions.
