Ceramic wear plates provide an excellent, cost-effective solution for combating extreme abrasion in those high wear areas such as mining and processing of minerals materials. They have the added advantage of a very long service life, lasting well above and beyond that of standard steel plates. This long wear life prevents excessive replacements, keeping equipment downtime to a minimum and maintenance labour and costs down.
Yes, it’s a more expensive system up front, but the cost of playing over time is way less. The hardness of alumina oxide ceramic is second only to diamond and its considerably harder than metal, resulting in minimal wear and material loss to better help keep production running smoother. This means far fewer downtimes and long lasting protection, offering real cost savings in the long run. Ceramic wear plates are the most cost-effective option for application with sliding or abrasive granular material.
What are Ceramic Wear Plates?
Ceramic wear plates are products that are designed to cover the area of a machine subjected to a heavy amount of abrasion or wear. They are made from high density alumina ceramic bricks, with extremely hardness for extended wear life. The size ceramic rubber liner comprises both small and large square or rectangular ceramic tiles with flexible inlay. This composite of materials results in a strong yet lightweight material that leverages the strength, wear resistance and hardness of ceramic with the toughness, steel-like qualities and impact resistance of the base metal.
They are set in place with a wearplate having openings in combination therewith. For example, to line equipment used in extremely abrasive situations such as mining and power generating or material handling. Applications commonly include the protection of hoppers, chutes, conveyors systems, and fan blades from damage where materials are sliding or bouncing such as ore, coal and sand. As a sacrificial coating, ceramic linear protects the facility’s investment by extending the life of equipment in the plant, having a significant impact on reducing main costs when fines or products have wear issues.
Benefits of Ceramic Wear Plates
Ceramic wear plates are a high carbon and chrome alloy, overlay abrasive wear plate which has a nominal hardness of 1600HRR and extremely low residual stress. Their amazing hardness levels have proved them to be much harder than steel, resulting in great wear reduction and longer service life of the machines. This increased life leads to huge cost savings through reduced re-lamping, down time and man maintenance. Constructed with bonded ceramic and steel, you can count on an ultra durable design that resists impact. They wear equipment in a variety of applications including mining and material handling. Thus protecting the equipment they are fitted to while also improving efficiency during operation and reducing such costs resulting from wear therefore providing a very cost effective and reliable solution of abrasives underfoot.
Properties of Ceramic Wear Plates
Ceramic Wear Plates are characterized by the following activities
Extremely hard = high on mohs scale – use for both abrasion and sliding wear. They are resistant to compressions and can easily withstand the weight of heavy items. These plates are chemically resistant against a variety of acids, alkalis and solvents.
Despite being extremely hard, these alumina oxide tiles are mounted on a tough steel backing plate to ensure proper impact resistance and long term structure so they can be easily installed. This combination provides a super long service life, up to 8 times longer compared conventional steel in abrasive conditions.
Uses of Ceramic Wear Plates
Ceramic wear plates are widely employed for lining equipment that experience severe abrasive wear. Common applications protect hoppers, chutes and conveyors in mining and quarrying from abrasive materials such as ore, sand and gravel. They are also important in power generation plants to protect coal handling systems and ash pipelines.
In industry, they protect machines of cement plants, steel mills and pneumatic conveying are in use. By replanting as a sacrificial liner, it can save the investment and reduce maintenance costs of main equipment because it is replacing parts on equipment.
How to Choose the Right Ceramic Wear Plate
The selection of the appropriate wear plate depends not only on material/surface-to-material/surface abrasivity conditions. First, recognize what type of wear : sliding, impact or a combination. For pure abrasion (which I assume is the case here). A high alumina one (over 95%) gives the maximum hardness. For a high impact, you may go with smaller thicker tiles or a strong rubber backed design will help in the sounds.
The nature of the material to be processed is also taken into account (i.e. material particle size and shape; In general, large sharp particles require thicker ceramics. The operating temperature is another importantly, normal adhesive has certain limitations. Finally make sure to verify the plate size along with mounting (bolts or welding) which will fit the structure of the machine for a strong, long-lasting operation.
Conclusion
Ceramic Wear Plates provide a high quality and low cost solution for severe abrasiveness. Their extreme hardness and inherent toughness provide more than twice the wear life of carbon steel on screw conveyor components and are the perfect upgrade for many hard industrial applications.