Longer Component Service Life
A wear-resistant hardfacing layer significantly extends the service life of stressed components. Parts last longer before they need to be replaced or repaired.
Abrasion, impact, high temperatures and corrosion wear components down over time. With hardfacing we apply wear-resistant layers in a targeted manner that can withstand exactly these loads. This makes stressed components more resistant from the outset, rather than replacing them only after wear has occurred.
The chosen wear and corrosion protection is always based on the specific load. This extends service life, lengthens maintenance intervals and reduces costs for replacement and downtime.
Where Wear Protection by Hardfacing is Used
Bulk Material and Conveying Industry
In building materials, cement, recycling and conveying technology, abrasive wear by mineral and mixed bulk materials dominates. Components such as screws, mixers, crushers and pipe bends can be protected with wear-resistant hardfacing layers in a targeted manner where the material flow attacks most strongly.
Tooling and Forming Technology
Tools, dies and moulds in forges and press shops are subject to high temperatures and large pressure peaks. Hardfacing applies heat-resistant, load-appropriate layers to cutting edges, contours and functional surfaces, thereby extending tool service life.
Energy and Heavy Industry
In foundries, the glass industry and power plant technology, heat, chemical attack and mechanical load act in combination. Functional layers from hardfacing protect thermally and chemically highly stressed components and keep them in the process longer.
Mechanical and Plant Engineering
On shafts, bearing seats, guides and structural steel components, wear arises from friction, pressure and corrosion. Targeted hardfacing reinforces stressed areas and protects them against renewed wear.
What Wear Protection Delivers for Your Maintenance
A wear-resistant layer determines how long a component remains in service. Hardfacing does not protect indiscriminately, but in a targeted manner where the load is highest.
Fewer Downtimes
Protected components wear more slowly and predictably. This reduces unplanned failures and extends the intervals between maintenance and tool changes.
Protection Exactly Where It Is Needed
Not every component wears evenly. Hardfacing applies the protective layer in a targeted manner to the highly stressed areas, instead of treating the entire component at great expense.
Greater Resistance Than the Base Material
Through the choice of welding consumable and alloy, the layer can be adapted to the specific load. This creates surfaces that withstand abrasive, thermal or corrosive stress better than the original material.
Lower Life-Cycle Costs
Whoever protects components from the outset reduces the follow-up costs from replacement, repair and downtime. Wear protection pays for itself over the extended service life.
Applicable Across Industries
Whether bulk material handling, tooling or plant engineering: wear protection by hardfacing can be adapted to virtually any component and load situation.
Types of Wear and Protection Methods
Wear is not uniform. Which protective layer a component needs depends on how it is loaded. Usually several loads act together – this is referred to as a load collective. Fundamentally, four types of wear can be distinguished.
Abrasion
Abrasion occurs when hard particles or rough surfaces slide over the component and remove material. It is the most common type of wear in the bulk material and conveying industry. Hard, carbide-containing hardfacing layers that withstand abrasion provide protection.
Adhesion
With adhesion, contact surfaces weld together locally under pressure and movement, then tear apart. In extreme cases this leads to seizure. Hardfacing layers with good emergency running properties reduce the tendency to stick.
Tribochemical Reaction
Here the surface and the surrounding medium react chemically, for example through oxidation. The weakened material is then more easily removed. Corrosion-resistant alloys counteract this combination of chemical and mechanical attack.
Surface Fatigue
Alternating loads lead to material fatigue on the surface, causing cracks and spalling. Tough, resilient layers absorb the alternating loads without premature failure.
How Effective Wear Protection is Created
1. Analyse Component and Load
First we clarify what material the component is made of and what loads it is exposed to. The material composition can be determined via a material certificate or spectral analysis; the load arises from the application and the existing wear pattern.
2. Select Protective Layer and Process
On this basis we define the welding consumable, alloy and layer structure. Wear and corrosion protection are individually matched to the load collective, as is the appropriate welding process.
3. Apply Wear Protection
The protective layer is then applied by hardfacing, targeted at the highly stressed areas. Depending on the component and requirements this is done in one or more passes, with a buffer layer to the base material if required.
Hardfacing for Wear Protection
Hardfacing is the key process for effective wear protection. Which variant is right depends on the component, the load and the required layer. We use the appropriate hardfacing process in a targeted manner for your task.
Laser Hardfacing
In laser hardfacing the welding consumable is melted as powder or wire via a laser beam. The process dilutes the base material only minimally and allows precise, near-net-shape protective layers. It is particularly suitable for highly stressed components where dimensional accuracy is required.
Laser Hardfacing
TIG Welding
TIG hot-wire hardfacing introduces the welding consumable via a preheated wire and delivers clean, low-porosity protective layers. Due to the low dilution, required properties such as hardness or emergency running properties are often achieved in the first pass.
TIG Welding
PTA Welding
In plasma powder hardfacing (PTA), powdered welding consumable is melted in a plasma arc. The process applies durable, wear-resistant layers in a targeted manner and is suitable for components where surface wear resistance is paramount.
PTA Welding
MIG/MAG Welding
MIG/MAG hardfacing is an economical process for large-area wear protection. It applies protective material over larger surfaces in a short time and is the right choice where broad-area protection is required.
MIG/MAG Welding
Manual Metal Arc Welding
Manual metal arc welding is suitable for targeted wear protection at individual points or where automated processing is not economical. This allows even small areas to be protected flexibly and with minimal set-up effort.
Manual Metal Arc Welding
We Are Happy to Advise You
We support you in selecting the right process and the appropriate solution.
Do You Weld Yourself? The Right Welding Consumables for Your Wear Protection
If you implement wear protection in your own process, the right welding consumable is decisive. It determines the properties of the coating and thus the service life of the component.
capilla offers welding consumables for a wide variety of applications – from standard solutions to individually tailored products.
Coating and Component Manufacturing – Rethought
In the Laser Competence Centre capilla bundles modern technologies for coating and component manufacturing.
Solutions are created here that go beyond conventional spare parts. Components are targeted tempered, reinforced or completely rebuilt.
This enables components that in this form are not achievable with conventional approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions about Wear Protection and Hardfacing
In hardfacing, wear-resistant material is applied to a component by welding. Unlike fusion welding, two parts are not joined; instead a protective layer is created directly on the stressed surface. This is useful wherever components wear through abrasion, pressure, heat or corrosion and their service life is to be increased – whether preventively on new parts or on components from ongoing production.
capilla uses hardfacing specifically for wear protection of industrial components.
Fundamentally four types of wear are distinguished: abrasion by hard particles, adhesion by fusing contact surfaces, tribochemical reaction by chemical attack and surface fatigue by alternating loads. In practice they usually occur together – referred to as a load collective.
capilla analyses the load collective of your component and derives the appropriate protection from it.
The service is applicable across industries, from the building materials and recycling industry through tooling to mechanical and plant engineering. Primarily highly stressed components such as screws, mixers, tools, shafts or structural steel components are protected.
capilla serves industrial customers from all metal-processing industries.
Yes. Components already in service can also be subsequently fitted with a wear protection layer. This makes sense when the wear is known and predictable and processing can be scheduled within planned revision periods.
capilla coordinates the process so that it fits into your maintenance and revision planning.
Before coating, the material and load of the component are analysed. On this basis, welding consumable, alloy and process are selected.
capilla tailors every wear protection solution individually to the specific application, rather than working with standard recipes.
This depends on the component, the load and the required layer. Laser hardfacing and TIG hot-wire deliver precise layers with low dilution, PTA applies durable layers in a targeted manner, MIG/MAG is suitable for large-area protection.
capilla selects the appropriate process together with you and advises on the most economical solution.
Yes. If a component is provided with a protective layer from the outset, it lasts noticeably longer from the start. This significantly reduces follow-up costs from replacement, repair and downtime.
capilla supports both preventive protection of new parts and protection of already stressed components.
Since wear generally progresses predictably, protective measures can be planned specifically in advance and scheduled within revision periods. This avoids unplanned downtime.
capilla accompanies you in establishing wear protection as a fixed component of your maintenance strategy.
Wear protection protects a component preventively, before or while it wears. Retrofit intervenes later and restores an already worn component. Both use hardfacing but pursue different goals.
capilla offers both services and recommends the most economical approach in each case.