WEAR TECHNOLOGY

IWelding solutions
by Welding Alloys, UK

he past four decades have seen

Welding Alloys develop and
succeed in supplying groundbreaking products and services. Welding
Alloys started life as one man in a small
workshop, making automated machines
and consumables in a shed on the site
of a pig farm near Cambridge, England.
Now with 25 subsidiaries worldwide, it
has a global workforce of over 500 people
consists of engineers, design specialists,
and highly skilled graduates, with
manufacturing sites in over 20 countries
and dedicated service workshops in 19
different locations across the world.

Welding Alloys is a leading manufacturer of welding consumables, wear

plate, and automated welding equipment. As the company celebrates its
40th anniversary, this article looks at some of its most recent contributions
to the cement industry which incorporate the latest in hardfacing
technology to increase component wear life and reduce downtime.
WA Integra
One of Welding Alloys significant
contributions to the global cement
industry has been WA Integra, Welding
Alloys' servicing and wear plate division.
WA Integra is an integrated approach for
the control of wear and extension of the
operational life of industrial equipment
and components. These include vertical
mills, roller press, hammer mills,
separators, chutes and liners, and some
unique developments in the extension of
service life of ball mills.
The latest in hardfacing technology
significantly increases component wear

life, and as a result reduces machine

downtime. Work can be carried out
either in workshops or in situ, as well
as providing hands-on technical advice
through service contracts. The savings
in terms of component costs is only
part of the equation; when calculated
in conjunction with increased operation
time, better grinding efficiency, and the
reduction of stock of expensive wear parts
often the hardfacing service represents a
saving of over 90 per cent compared to
the replacement of parts.

WA Integra Wear Plate

As well as providing engineering advice
and service, WA Integra also produces
composite hard faced wear plates for
various applications. Depending on the
customer need, wear plate is available in
various thicknesses and dimensions, as
Heavy Duty, or HardliteTM a unique,
ultra-thin and lightweight type of plate,
easy to form and fabricate.
According to Richard Baker,
International Integra manager at Welding
Alloys: WA Integras service and products
help to extend the life of high value
products and equipment which in turn
has led to longer production runs with less
maintenance shut downs. The biggest
advantage of longer production runs is
the generation of higher revenue from less
component replacement, thus improving
cost effectiveness.
Mill Operator and satisfied customer,
Mr Schmidt says: Since working with
Welding Alloys we have reduced our
annual maintenance cost to a quarter of
the original. Instead of always replacing
the worn components with new ones we
have adopted WA Integra technology.
The wear of the rolls is perfectly under
control due to pre-planned hardfacing
interventions. As far as wear life is
concerned, the results are exceptional.
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78 ICR DECEMBER 2006