Conventional industrial materials are no longer the benchmark for wear applications, suffering from gradual mechanical abrasion and resultant component failure in heavy industry facilities. Heat distortion, fine particle abrasion, and low thermal shock resistance over time are common symptoms associated with traditional steel equipment in corrosive environments. Ni hard and Chrome overlay linings for elbows and burners in coal firing applications, for example, are subject to gradual particulate erosion that can reduce product efficacy and cause significant maintenance downtimes for repairs and replacement. Improved abrasion resistant materials are required to resolve this problem.

Modern production requirements of high throughput industrial applications require as close to continuous operation as possible to meet modern demands. The growth in global energy demand increased by 2.1% in 2017 alone, doubling the previous year’s rate of growth. To ensure that supply rises at a commensurate rate, energy providers are attempting to improve the efficacy of each stage of the exploration, production, and supply process, requiring unique material solutions to match global demand. Abrasion resistant materials such as high-grade alumina, advanced silicon carbide, and fused zirconia are increasingly applied at every stage of the industrial process chain to meet changing market demands.

Abrasion resistant materials are formulated using advanced Wear Resistant Technologies (WRT) developed to solve application-specific challenges in unique industrial sectors. Innovations in the field of advanced ceramics have enabled manufacturers to machine customized shapes and bespoke components from some of the hardest synthetic materials currently discovered.

Abrasion Resistant Materials from Saint-Gobain

At Saint-Gobain, innovation and integration are the core of what we do. We provide unique material solutions for the most exacting applications, offering the benefit of our expertise to established industries and emerging sectors alike.

Our portfolio of wear resistant technologies includes:

• Durafrax® 2000, a fine-grain alumina (Al₂O₃) with exceptional small particle abrasion resistance for long-service components in demanding wear applications;
• Corguard®, an electrically fused compound of alumina, zirconia (ZrO₂), and silica (SiO₂) with an impervious crystalline structure to handle aggressive chemicals coupled with abrasion;
• Cryston®, a proprietary high-performance nitride-bonded silicon carbide ceramic with outstanding abrasion resistant capacities and high degrees of formability for the most demanding refractory applications;
• Norfrax® RB, a premium, reaction-bonded silicon carbide (SiSiC) abrasion resistant ceramic with supreme mechanical stability suitable for any wear application;
• Hexoloy®, is a densified alpha phase silicon carbide with interlocking grains of refractory glass for unsurpassable mechanical strength and exceptional wear resistant characteristics;

Applications of Abrasion Resistant Materials

These advanced materials exhibit comprehensively improved strength characteristics due to enhanced intra-molecular bonding structures and improved granular compositions. These materials can be formulated to reduce the risk of thermal spalling in pyro-processing, negate chemical wear in the chemical and petrochemical industries, fabricated into various components for power generating, iron making, mining and other aggressive material handling applications.

Wear Resistant Solutions from Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain is an industry-leading supplier of advanced ceramic materials for the most demanding industrial applications on earth. We can prepare unique wear resistant solutions for numerous sectors from our established range of cutting-edge abrasion resistant materials.

If you would like additional information about our abrasion resistant materials, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

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