Tungsten Carbide Armor
Tungsten Carbide Overlay (TCO).
Tungsten Carbide Overlay (TCO), also known as “Tungsten Carbide armor,” is one of the hardest metal alloys and thus excellent for wear protection. Tungsten is English for tungsten, formerly widely used as a filament in light bulbs. Sintering tungsten to carbides gives you a kind of fine grit. We sprinkle this grit into the weld pool during the welding up process on a workpiece. This creates a layer of tungsten carbide, even harder and more wear-resistant than the chromium carbides we discuss in the Welded Plate section. Because of its high hardness and wear resistance, tungsten carbide is also used for milling and turning chisels, for example.
High hardness for extreme conditions
We recommend application of the relatively expensive Tungsten Carbide Overlay especially in areas where extreme wear occurs, such as when there is a combination of abrasive wear with also high impact. Consider slam strips and high-speed paddles. For example, when cleaning bottom ash in waste incineration. There, you have rotating drums with impact strips mounted on them (see the photo to the right) that separate material streams by striking parts of different specific gravity from a constant stream of moist shaft. Those moldings wear out so fast that without welded-on tungsten carbides, you have to replace them every so often.
Highlights
Tungsten Carbides Overlay
- wear resistant overlay with tungsten carbides
- stand time extension to planned production stop
- mixing paddles asphalt and concrete production
- wear resistant impact strips in recycling
- customization and assembly possible
TCO in asphalt production
With tungsten carbide, we also achieve great results in asphalt and concrete production. There, mixers run with arms and blades that are subject to considerable wear and tear. In these industries, they have a production freeze once a year. Around Christmas, (road) construction is at a standstill for 4 to 6 weeks, so that is the time to replace all the wearing parts in the production facilities. Wivé Techniek works with the customer on wear protection to ensure that the strongest wearing parts last at least 48 weeks, regardless of production volume. Stand time extension at top level.
Sometimes not choosing TCO
An important part of our work is thinking with the customer about the right investment. When wearing standard components necessitate interim stops, wear mitigation measures come into play. Quitting is extremely costly in full-continu companies. They work day and night seven days a week for a reason. But if you do make it to the annual stop, then replacing it with costly tungsten carbide customization is not a logical choice, even though TCO lasts three times longer.
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We hoped that with the TCO solution we could even skip a production stop. And that turned out to be true!
Learn more about wear-resistant TCO
Tungsten Carbides reduce wear in abrasive and impactful processes where parts are subjected to extreme forces. With deployment of customized TCO, Wivé can contribute to wear reduction and thus standstill time. Also in your processes? Definitely. Contact us for an introduction to our wear protection experts, or request a quote right away!