REDUCING COST AND INCREASING LIFE CYCLE IN LOADER BUCKETS USING HIGH STRENGTH STEEL AND WEAR RESISTANT STEEL MICROALLOYED NIOBIUM

摘要

CBMM applied niobium microalloyed steels in two types of buckets of wheel loaders operating at its facility in Araxa, Brazil. The objective was to evaluate the benefits of these steels related to cost reduction, productivity and component life cycle. One of the analyzed machines collects hot pieces of ferroniobium after ingot stripping and loads them into crusher silos. The use of wear resistant steel and tool steel solved the problems of deformation, wear and cracks during service, increasing bucket life by about 190%. The other evaluated machine was a wheel loader operating at the niobium ore mine. The new design with wear resistant and high strength steels reduced bucket weight by 14%, with a corresponding increase in load capacity. The extra capacity made loading the 42-tonne mine trucks more productive. With the new materials, the cracks that previously occurred in the buckets wheel loaders were eliminated, while the same wear resistance of the original chromium carbide clad steel was retained. Furthermore, investment costs were reduced by 7%.