Forming Heat Treated Wear Resistant Steel

A competitor proudly claims his steel is so much harder, he could not even bend it.

In reality, his wear plate is so brittle it cannot be formed without cracking the steel.

It is easy to create a steel that will provide high hardness test values. To achieve 500 BHN with the ability to be readily formed and welded, requires specific chemistry and careful heat treatment.

A major benefit of steel wear plate is having the ability to form it into the shape that benefits your application. This means steel wear plate can be formed using rollers or a press brake to the desired shape. This is required when forming wear resistant steel into a curve for use in a chute or bucket.

Some commodity wear plates are listed as AR500F. The F stands for formable. Attempting to form AR500 steel that does not have an ‘F’ designation, will result in cracked or broken steel. You will never see AR600 with the ‘F’ designation, because it is too brittle to be formed.

The highest quality wear resistant steel plates are designed to be formable and take impact. If they are too brittle, they will crack trying to form the steel.

JADCO QT-PLUS ^® is readably formable without heat. But make certain your press brake or rolls have enough tonnage to make the bend.

An easy Rule of Thumb for Forming QT-PLUS ^® is it requires 4 times the force needed for the same thickness of mild steel. If your equipment is tough enough to form 1.5” thick mild steel, you will only be able to form 3/8” thick QT-PLUS ^®.

The following dimensions will determine if your equipment can form JADCO QT-PLUS:

Here one of JADCO’s two 1,000-ton press brakes is forming QT-PLUS ® plates. We operate two shifts daily with these press brakes in our facility just North of Pittsburgh, PA.

Laser alignment is used to know exactly where to position the press brake, to create the exact arc necessary for in your project.

When a welder takes the time to comment on how well a liner fit in an existing bucket, you know it made a positive impression. Another welder at a different company commented on the difference with how JADCO liners fit. “I could give away a third of my tools, since I will not be needing them with how well your steel fits.”

Why Struggle With Poor Fitting Under Performing Wear Steel, When You Can Install The Industry Leader?

JADCO’s QT-PLUS ® delivers greater performance IN YOUR MOST CHALLENGING WEAR APPLICATIONS than the various wear steel you have used in the past.

Being able to create wear resistant steel having the same hardness through the entire thickness of the steel, demands you accurately control the alloying chemistry with precise heat treating.

Doesn’t Every Steel Company Make Their Wear Plate Last As Long As JADCO QT-PLUS?

The quick answer is No; although the attention to alloy content required at the steel mill is available to anyone. Yet most wear plate distributors choose to reduce the proper quantities and percentages of these essential alloying elements, to get a lower selling price.

When you cut back on these critical alloys, wear life drops, and it is always the customer who suffers.

For the last 46 years, JADCO has focused exclusively on delivering consistent, longer equipment life for our customers.

We are able to deliver better results to our customers, because we think differently. How? By strictly focusing on improving your current results.

Allow us to help you today by emailing us at info@jadcomfg.com or calling (724) 452-5252.

We will schedule a meeting with one of our local wear plate specialists at a time that best fits your schedule.

Remember, the only thing you have to lose by not working with JADCO is profit.