Hoverdale’s Special Steels Division offers a wide range of products, purpose-built to improve efficiency & reduce downtime.
The range of applications for our hard, wear resistant steel plate and chromium carbide lining includes hardfacing of hoppers, chutes, bunker transfer points, and crushers. And our design & manufacturing service covers everything from tungsten carbide pan mixer blades to digger and dozer cutting edges and blades.
Hard-Facing Electrode Rods
Hoverdale's Tubular Hard Facing Electrodes are available in six different specs to suit any requirements.
Special Steels
Improve efficiency, reduce downtime & make your life easier. The toughest special steels on the market.
Special Steels & Wear Plate Applications
See the most common uses of our overlay plates and which products suit which jobs.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are special steels and wear plate?
Special steels and wear plate are engineered materials used where abrasion, impact or sliding contact would wear standard steel too quickly. In practice, this category can include abrasion-resistant plate, overlay plate, chromium carbide lined products and hardfacing materials designed to protect high-wear areas and extend component life in heavy industrial environments.
2. What is wear plate used for?
Wear plate is used to protect parts that regularly suffer material loss from friction, impact or abrasive product flow. Typical uses include hoppers, chutes, transfer points, crushers, buckets, mixer blades, screw conveyors and other bulk handling components where unprotected steel would wear out too quickly and increase maintenance frequency.
3. What is the difference between wear plate and overlay plate?
Wear plate often refers to through-hardened abrasion-resistant steel such as 400, 450 or 500 Brinell grades, while overlay plate usually combines a tough base plate with a very hard wear-resistant surface layer. Overlay products are often chosen for severe abrasion zones, whereas standard wear plate is widely used where a balance of hardness, toughness and fabrication is needed.
4. What is chromium carbide overlay plate?
Chromium carbide overlay plate is a composite wear product that combines a weldable steel base with a hard overlay designed to resist abrasion. It is commonly used in demanding industrial areas such as chutes, hoppers and material handling equipment, where surface wear is intense and a standard plate may not last long enough in service.
5. Where is wear plate commonly used in industry?
Wear plate is widely used in quarries, mines, cement plants, steel works, docks and other heavy-duty industrial sites. Common applications include chute overlay, hopper overlay, impact plates, vibrating feeder trays, pan mixer liners, screw conveyors, digger buckets and transfer point areas where constant product movement creates repeated wear and costly maintenance issues.
6. What causes wear in bulk handling equipment?
Wear in bulk handling equipment is usually caused by abrasion, impact and sliding contact from moving materials. The highest wear often appears at transfer points, chutes, hoppers, crushers and feed zones where material changes direction, drops under force or continually rubs against the same surface. These are the areas where special steels and liners can make the biggest difference.
7. What do AR400, AR450 and AR500 mean?
These numbers normally refer to the Brinell hardness level of abrasion-resistant plate, with common grades including 400, 450 and 500. In simple terms, as hardness increases, wear resistance generally improves, but fabrication can become more demanding. That is why the best grade depends on the actual mix of abrasion, impact, toughness and workshop requirements.
8. Is the hardest wear plate always the best choice?
Not always. A harder plate can offer better abrasion resistance, but higher hardness can also make cutting, welding and forming more difficult, and some applications still need enough toughness to cope with impact. The right material is usually the one that matches the real wear mechanism, not simply the one with the highest hardness number.
9. What is hardfacing?
Hardfacing is the application of a wear-resistant alloy onto a metal surface to rebuild or protect it. It is used both to restore worn parts and to protect new components before they go into service. The aim is to improve resistance to wear and reduce the frequency of shutdowns, repairs and full part replacement.
10. What are hard-facing electrode rods used for?
Hard-facing electrode rods are used to deposit a wear-resistant layer onto components exposed to abrasion or combined wear conditions. Common applications include mixer blades, worn screws, blast furnaces, chute liners, wear plates and screw conveyors. Different rod types are selected according to the service demands, hardness needed and the type of component being rebuilt or protected.
11. Can worn components be rebuilt instead of replaced?
Yes, in many cases they can. Hardfacing is widely used to rebuild worn metal parts back toward their original dimensions or to add a more durable overlay to the most vulnerable areas. This approach is often chosen when the underlying component is still sound and the goal is to cut replacement cost, reduce downtime and extend service life.
12. Which components benefit most from special steels?
The biggest gains usually come from parts that see repeated abrasive contact, impact loading or constant product flow. That often includes chute liners, hoppers, wear plates, screen areas, cutting edges, mixer parts, feeder trays, conveyor-related wear zones and earthmoving attachments. These are the kinds of components where material choice can directly affect uptime and maintenance cost.
13. Can wear plate be cut, welded and fabricated?
Yes, many wear plate products can be cut, welded and fabricated, but the process should be matched to the material grade and hardness. Through-hardened abrasion plate is commonly fabricated in workshops, while harder products and overlays may need more care during cutting, bending or welding because wear resistance and fabrication ease do not always increase together.
14. When should wear liners or wear plate be replaced?
They should usually be reviewed when wear starts affecting performance, reliability or safety, rather than waiting for full failure. Signs can include rapid thinning, loss of protection at transfer areas, repeated patch repairs, rising maintenance time or damage spreading into the parent structure. Planned replacement is normally more cost-effective than allowing a wear zone to fail unexpectedly.
15. What information should you provide when specifying wear plate or special steels?
It helps to provide the application, material being handled, wear pattern, dimensions, thickness, current material grade, expected service life and whether the issue is mainly abrasion, impact or both. Photos, drawings and details of the component location are also useful, because correct selection depends on matching the steel or overlay to the exact duty it needs to handle.
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