The South African division of the Welding Alloys Group, Welding Alloys South Africa (Wasa), has introduced new products and services to the local market, with which it hopes industrial companies will reduce their production costs and increase productivity.

Wasa Integra division sales and marketing GM Ken Labuschagne says the company has developed a method to extend the life of half arrows, which are components used on a front-end loader or other earthmoving equipment.

These arrows are positioned between the teeth of the front-end loader and are subjected to most of the wear resulting from digging through sand and stone.

General solutions on the market in the form of half arrows include casting or hot rolled components.

Wasa introduced its new half arrow product to the South African market last month. The company uses a hardface-weld technique to protect the hot rolled components with different types of hardface welding consumables, depending on the application.

Labuschagne says this new product reduces downtime and increases the productivity of earthmoving machines, as the life of the half arrows is increased significantly.

Wasa is testing the hardface-welded half arrows at mining sites and Labuschagne says the results are promising, adding that the company hopes to market the half arrows as a stock item for earthmoving equipment users.

Meanwhile, Wasa introduced a weld overlay on stainless steel plates in February for highly corrosive and abrasive conditions. This method is a popular application in the manufacturing of sand plates and corrosive atmospheres, such as those in fertiliser plants and fan blades for the pulp and paper industry.

“When using a weld overlay on a stainless steel backing plate, the anticorrosion properties of the stainless steel and the anti-abrasion properties of the weld overlay compliment each other, providing a dual protective composition,” Labuschagne highlights.

In November 2012, Wasa launched its roller press-components refurbishment service. The service entails the complete stripping of the damaged equipment’s surface area and the rewelding of the base materials to final diameter. Wasa then adds a high wear-resistant overlay coating, with a gripping pattern.

A refurbished set of rollers would be around 20% of the cost of a new set.

“This is a significant saving for companies,”

says Labuschagne.

This service was jointly developed by the University of Pretoria, Welding Alloys France (WAF) and Wasa.

Wasa refurbished a set of com- ponents for cement company Natal Portland Cement (NPC) last year. The equipment resumed operation in January and Labuschagne says NPC is expected to place an order for a second set of components later this year.

The company also undertakes the weld cladding of small- diameter pipes, to produce mild steel pipes with hardface overlay cladding on the inside. To increase the wear properties of a mild steel pipe with a wall thickness of 4 mm, Wasa inserts a weld-overlay cladding of 2 mm to 8 mm.

Wasa can accommodate pipes with diameters from 70 mm up to 6 m. This method was devel- oped by WAF and introduced to the South African market in October 2012.

These pipes are used in the cement industry to transport ready-mix cement and in the aluminium industry to transport fine-particle ore.

When compared with pipes that have rubber linings, weld cladding will not come loose due to wear and, as a result, will not cause blockages in a pipe.

“Rubber linings are perishable and easily punctured. When the rubber is punctured a bubble is formed between the rubber and steel pipe and this causes a blockage. The benefit of having a small-diameter pipe lined with weld cladding is that it is wear resistant and it has a life expectancy of between eight to ten times longer than that of rubber or normal mild steel pipes,” Labuschagne states.

He adds that Wasa also provides in situ refurbishment, which reduces downtime.

Wasa’s products and services are available in South Africa on an emergency breakdown schedule. Wear liners that are cut to size can be delivered within two working days and on-site consulting services are supplied within 24 hours.