Multipurpose tippers operate in tough environments where it is important to have a strong vehicle that can withstand extreme wear. It is here that Hardox® plays a crucial role
Tippers are used to transport various types of abrasive material and heavy equipment. Ideally, they should be designed to be robust and durable to withstand the tough working conditions, while at the same time minimise the cost of building and operating them. The conventional approach is to build the tippers using thick mild steel plate with a large number of stiffeners. While this gives the appearance of robustness, it is actually counterproductive. It makes the vehicle weak and inefficient due to poor steel properties and high mass. There is a smarter solution. The desired properties can be achieved by combining the best wear-resistant steel on the market with an optimal design.
The result: A multipurpose tipper with high capacity. It is strong, lighter, and more cost-effective to build and operate. In this regard, Hardox® wear plate and new design cuts manufacturing costs. Hardox® wear plate is produced in a carefully controlled steelmaking process to deliver the best combination of high hardness and high toughness. This allows the construction of a significantly stronger tipper body that is also lighter than a conventional design. By removing the stiffeners, the entire wear plate can absorb shock, making best use of the steel’s properties. A tipper body built with Hardox® needs fewer parts and is made of thinner material.
Thanks to less steel and less processing, total manufacturing costs can be cut by around 25%, depending on the specific design choices. The new design dramatically reduces the number of pre-manufactured pieces. This results in shorter lead times and reduced risk of production issues that cause expensive secondary costs for repairs, corrections, and inspections. The total length of welds in the high-performance design is shorter and, even more importantly, the welds can be thinner as the material is thinner.
Hardox® wear plate bounces back
Hardox® can handle great deflection without permanent deformation. Since fewer parts are needed to restrain movement, it’s possible to reduce or even remove stiffeners entirely on the side of the body and in the structural framework under the floor. This ability of Hardox® wear plate to withstand plastic deformation can be utilised in tipper body design as it offers greater resistance to dents from the impact of rocks against the floor and sides of the tipper body. Experience, testing and calculation have shown that a flexible tipper body structure reduces the depth of dents and improves resistance to cracking. Combining high-strength steel as Hardox® wear plate with a flexible tipper body design is a perfect match.
Benefits of less tare weight
Thinner plate and fewer or no stiffeners reduces tare weight of the whole tipper body. For a maximum gross weight of the vehicle, there is room for more paying cargo on each trip and fewer trips all in all. Also the vehicle consumes less fuel when empty or only partially loaded, and wear and tear on engine and drivetrain are reduced. A truck body made of Hardox® wear plate can increase payload capacity by 10-20% and more in some applications. Not only does this reduce the number of trucks on our roads, it also saves fuel and cuts emissions. Whatever the application, Hardox® wear plate contributes to stronger, lighter and more sustainable equipment. And when the product reaches the end of its services life, 100% of it can be recycled into new strong, energy-saving products.
Salient advantages
The following are the primary advantages of using Hardox® 450:
- Reduces tipper body weight by up to 45%.
- Increase in payload by up to 5 tonnes or more.
- Extended service life of up to 4 times longer.
- Improve fuel economy of up to 12% lower fuel consumption.
- Increase in resale value.
- Decrease in manufacturing cost by up to 25%.
Secret of Hardox® wear plate
Hardox® wear plate is the world’s leading abrasion-resistant (AR) steel – and a perfect choice for tippers. The unique toughness of Hardox® wear plate means less deformation and fewer cracks. Hardness is what gives Hardox® wear plate its unique wear resistance and structural strength. Hardness minimises wear by making it difficult for abrasive materials to scratch or scrape the material. With a high wear resistance, the plate can be thinner and still offer long service life. As Hardox® wear plate stays hard through its thickness, it delivers high wear resistance over its entire service life. The wear resistance of Hardox® 450 is typically three times that of mild steel.
To put this in perspective: Assume the service life of a conventional tipper with a floor in 6.3 mm mild steel is three years. Making a very conservative estimate, a tipper floor with 4.76 mm Hardox® 450 will last at least twice that long or in this case six years. Toughness is the other strong point of Hardox® wear plate. When hardness makes it wear-resistant and strong, toughness is what makes it possible to bend, form and weld the material without cracking. If a Hardox® wear plate is stressed beyond its yield point and plastically deformed – on purpose in the workshop or when hit by a heavy rock on site – it will resist cracking and if a localised crack should occur it will resist propagation.
Hardox® is a trademark of the SSAB Group of companies. Genuine Hardox® wear plate is only produced by the Swedish specialty steel manufacturer SSAB. It is possible to tell it’s an original Hardox® wear plate from the marking printed over every plate’s red surface. The marking will also tell which steel batch it comes from, the serial number, its length, width and thickness. It’s like each Hardox® wear plate having its own passport. All genuine Hardox® are supported by mill test certificates from the company. SSAB Swedish Steel India has offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Local Hardox® stocks are in Chennai and Mumbai. Hardox® wear plates are ordered, shipped and delivered in 48 hours from these local stocks. Visitors can know more about Hardox® at Hall 3 during EXCON to be held December 10-14 at BIEC in Bangalore.