One way to maximize machine efficiency is to make larger machines – and larger machines mean greater throughput and wear. SSAB offers a solution by producing thicker high-strength plate. This enhances efficiency and economy by providing greater strength and wear-resistance for the same plate thickness and weight. Thicker plates enable the manufacture of components that last longer, deliver greater uptime and cut lifecycle cost.
Larger machines are generally more efficient. For mobile machines, for example, the payload to weight (pl/w) ratio reflects mechanical efficiency. A brief survey showed pl/w ratios ranging from 1.1 for 25-tonne dumpers to 1.7 for the largest mining trucks with a capacity of over 200 tonnes. Stationary equipment requires a different approach: For scrap shears, for example, the output per hour per tonne machine weight is a useful measure. Typically, machines with an output of 10 to 15 tonnes per hour have an output to weight ratio of around 1 to 1.5, while machines with an output of 100 tonnes per hour have an output to weight ratio up to four times higher.
But increasing machine size means greater mechanical forces and production throughput – and this leads both to greater wear and to a demand for longer component service life to improve economy and uptime. SSAB has responded by investing heavily in quenching, tempering and rolling mill equipment and procedures to produce thicker, through-hardened plate of consistently high quality. By increasing the maximum plate thickness for Hardox, Weldox and Toolox, SSAB is supporting the push for more efficient machines with greater output.
Hardoxwear plate, Weldox high-strength structural steel plate and Toolox pre-hardened tool and machine steel are available up to a plate thickness of 160 mm (6.299 in.) depending on hardness grade.
