AUSTRAL Technologies’ SPOTX hardfacing products are revolutionary materials specifically designed to combat extreme in-service degradation and provide the best performance in aggressive environments where impact, abrasion and corrosive wear are critical sources of material failure.
While SPOT60 has been setting the industry standard for more than 15 years, the company has recently introduced the new SPOTX range to provide customised impact, abrasion and corrosion resistant solutions to condition-specific applications.
The products have been designed to provide a more cost effective option to the SPOT60, for something that is almost comparable with SPOT60 wear resistance.
By utilising computational metallurgy to create a new series of hardfacing overlay materials, SPOTX deposits have been designed and application techniques developed to produce deposits for the most severe wear applications.
SPOT94X
SPOT94X is a chromium-free and heat treatable impact and abrasion resistant alloy. This means it preserves excellent performance before and after standard quench and temper heat treatments.
The microcomposite high density deposit of complex borides and vanadium carbides in a martensitic matrix allow it to compete with the wear performance of WC/Ni overlays at a lower price point.
SPOT94X has been impact tested against a WC-Ni PTA deposit on a custom built 20 Joule continuous impact tester and the results were outstanding.
SPOT94X lasted over 10,000 impacts, while the WC-Ni PTA lasted 800.
SPOT94X has around four time the impact resistance of most chromium carbide wearplate.
SPOT94X was trialled against Austral’s SPOT60 at a Western Australian gold mine in a choke chute, where it was proven to last three times as long as standard chromium carbide wearplate.
However due to the product containing no chrome, it was affected by corrosion; but lasted two thirds the life of SPOT60.
After these results, it was determined that the SPOT94X life could be expected to almost double in a dry non-corrosion application.
SPOT96X
SPOT96X is an iron based alloy specifically designed to produce overlays using conventional wire welding processes that replicate the microstructure of tungsten carbide PTA overlays.
Where SPOT94X is heat treatable, SPOT96X can withstand the challenges of corrosion.
SPOT96X grows extremely hard molybdenum boride particles homogenously throughout the entire weld bead.
These particles are harder and smaller than the tungsten carbide hard phase in PTA weld overlays, which significantly enhances the product’s impact resistance.
SPOT96X has proven to be particularly suitable for applications where resistance to gouging or high-stress abrasion is required.
SPOT96X has paired the toughness required for high-impact applications with superb wear resistance that rivals most wear-resistant coatings on the market.
Its welded microstructure looks similar to tungsten carbide – nickel PTA overlays while simultaneously avoiding the large long, needle-like particles known to cause problematic embrittlement in chromium carbide overlays and many nanostructured steel alloys.
SPOT60
For more than 15 years, SPOT60 has been the benchmark for abrasion resistance in wear plate. SPOT60 is a plasma transferred arc deposit of tungsten carbide in a nickel, silicon, boron matrix.
The product has been proven to reduce the need for shutdowns at a variety of Australian mine sites where high wear rates in chutes, hoppers and ground engaging equipment restrict the life of sacrificial and protective components.
One particular customer had previously used 20mm alloy-chromium carbide overlay plates that would wear through every 12 weeks and cause damage to the parent metal of the chute.
After replacing the overlay plate with SPOT60, the liners showed only 2.5mm wear on the leading edge after 12 weeks of use.
This allowed the plant to extend its maintenance shutdowns from 12 weeks to 38 weeks, which had significant flow-on effects in terms of downtime, crane hire and combined labour.
