Balancing hardness with uncompromised toughness, NLMK South Africa’s QUARD is purpose-engineered for severe abrasive and high-impact environments. This makes it an ideal material for fabricating crusher liners and wear components in African quarrying and mining conditions.
By Jimmy Swira
Not all wear part material is made equal, and steel alloys are no exception.
This is what some fabricators of crusher liners and wear parts discover when fashioning material into their desired shapes for respective OEMs equipment needs to withstand abrasion and high impact. At that point, rather belatedly, the biting reality of having procured/sourced the wrong material sinks in: the waste of hard-earned CAPEX on hard material that is unworkable.
This practice (or malpractice) of wrong product selection is down to the flawed belief that steel material hardness translates into toughness. Usually, what complicates matters for fabricators is the limited supply or lack of steel that offers the right balance: the desired hardness without compromising on toughness.
QUARD for predictable and reliable workability
Anton Van den Berg, the Managing Director of NLMK South Africa, guarantees that NLMK strives to address this by producing QUARD, a steel alloy material with predictable and reliable workability. “Precisely controlled quenching and tempering delivers a consistent microstructure and uniform hardness throughout the plate thickness. This has enabled OEMs and fabricators to manufacture complex liner geometries, curved crusher segments and customised wear parts without compromising mechanical performance. On the whole, this has turned QUARD into a product with predictable and reliable workability, despite its high hardness classification.”
In terms of workability, through its metallurgical design, QUARD allows the following:
- Cold forming and bending within defined radii
- Thermal cutting, drilling, and machining using standard industrial equipment
- Stable and repeatable welding performance when correct procedures are followed.
Performance
Besides, with the fabricator having used the suitable material, from a performance standpoint, mining operators benefits through reduced equipment component wear and longer liner change intervals, Van den Berg points out. “While high hardness provides exceptional resistance to abrasive wear, sufficient toughness ensures the material can absorb impact energy and resist crack initiation and propagation – an essential requirement in crushing and material-handling applications.”
Van den Berg is proud that feedback from fabricators and OEMs indicates that QUARD has addressed one of the most common challenges faced in the fabrication of wear parts and liners.
Additional performance characteristics include:
- Excellent resistance to abrasive and gouging wear
- High crack resistance under cyclic and point loading
- Consistent through-thickness hardness, even in thicker plates
- Low impurity content, improving fatigue performance and structural reliability
Substantial gains
The gains are substantial, affirms Van den Berg: “Overall, we are satisfied to hear about reduced fabrication risk, improved production efficiency, and consistent end-product quality, which are critical factors for both OEM and aftermarket supply chains.”
Improved component reliability and availability
Altogether, from an availability and reliability perspective, these properties translate directly into extended component service life, fewer liner change-outs, and improved crusher availability. Van den Berg believes this reputation has positioned QUARD as a premium wear solution for heavy-duty mining applications. Besides, it has cemented NLMK’s position as a leader in delivering predictable, workable, fabricator-friendly wear protection materials.
