TECHNOLOGY
wear with a high-strength steel. This made the rotors a relatively
small project that was possible to deliver within one day using MIG welding with a standard mix of argon and carbon dioxide as shielding gas. An inspection after 19 days of operation
found that the rotors remained in good condition. However, this covered a period of abnormally low production and did not represent normal operation so the team reserved judgement. With the kneader being out of service and in a clean condition, the technician took the opportunity to apply a further 4 kg of the alloy before the kneader was returned to service under normal service conditions. A final inspection after a further
month found the wear on the rotors with 6070N to be comparable with the nano-alloy that was previously used. The technician applied a further 4 kg of the new welding wire to prepare the rotors for the next period of operation. The operator has now fully switched
to 6070N for repairing the kneader rotors to cut the cost of materials and ensure security of supply.
Full results anticipated in mid-2024 The manufacturer is still evaluating the alloy. Initial findings indicated a similar level of wear to the previous material but the performance needs to be evaluated over a longer period. Laboratory testing indicated that coatings created with the new welding
The leading edge was built up with light-colored EnDOtec 6070N, while other areas have been repaired with high-strength steel in a darker color
wire should have higher wear resistance. If this is true, the manufacturer will be able to keep the kneader in operation for longer and schedule maintenance outages less often. If the coating achieves the same wear resistance as it did in the laboratory, that could extend the maintenance intervals by around 20 per cent, which is equivalent to six additional days in service. Over the course of a year, that would
reduce the number of outages by two, and save money by avoiding lost production. The manufacturer will complete its testing and confirm whether
this is possible during summer 2024. The other benefit of waiting until
mid-2024 to confirm findings is that it will provide a clearer picture of the material’s performance over a long period in a real-world environment. The brick-making facility is not
a laboratory, so we don’t have the opportunity to disassemble the kneading machine and record the precise weight of the rotors before and after repairs. Therefore, we can’t be exactly sure how much wear the rotors have experienced. Instead, we can build up a picture of
performance over a year by recording when and how much welding wire has been applied and comparing it with the machine’s throughput. In the case of the kneader for refractory
brick clay, the 6070N alloy was used to resist pure abrasion under the heavy pressure from mixing a clay-like material at a slow speed. However, wear is also heavily influenced by corrosion and temperature so we are also evaluating the alloy’s performance at other customer sites where these factors come into play. Ultimately, EnDOtec 6070N packs
Close inspection of the leading edge 38 / WELDING WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 03 - May 2024
high-performance into a welding wire that is typically only around 1.2 mm in diameter. It has opened up new opportunities to use the alloy to resist wear across demanding applications that combine abrasion, corrosion and extremely high temperatures.
www.castolin.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
