AR400 vs AR500 vs AR600 Wear Plate Which Grade Goes Where

What the Grade Number Tells You

AR400, AR500 and AR600 are abrasion resistant alloy steel plates that share one delivery condition and one thickness range. The number rises with the hardness of the plate, and hardness is what resists the sliding and gouging action of ore, slag, clinker and aggregate.

Because the three grades come from the same stock and the same 2 to 100mm thickness range, a fabricator can mix them inside one structure. That is normally cheaper than building the whole chute or bucket from the hardest grade available.

• AR400 AR500 and AR600 supplied in 2 to 100mm thickness
• Delivery condition Q plus T quenched and tempered
• Size customized and cut to your requirement
• Surface supplied natural or painted
• Equivalent grades listed include NM400 NM500 XAR500 RAEX500 QUARD500 and FORA500

The Metallurgy the Three Grades Share

All three grades are quenched and tempered alloy steel plate with high wear resistance and good impact performance. The wear resistant layer resists the wear of the abrasive medium while the substrate carries the load of that medium, which is why AR plate survives lumpy feed instead of shattering under it.

The alloy layer contains a high percentage of metallic chromium, so the plate also has a degree of rust and corrosion resistance. The layer is recommended for use at or below 600 degrees Celsius, and where vanadium, molybdenum and other alloys are added it can withstand high temperature wear at or below 800 degrees Celsius.

• Wear layer takes the abrasion and the substrate carries the load
• Alloy layer contains a high percentage of metallic chromium
• Recommended service at or below 600 degrees Celsius
• With vanadium molybdenum and other alloys added at or below 800 degrees Celsius
• Wear resistance 15 to 20 times ordinary steel plate and 5 to 10 times low alloy steel plate

Where AR400 Fits

AR400 is the entry point of the range and the grade that stays easiest to work. It is the sensible choice for the large structural areas of a wear package where abrasion is present but not concentrated, such as chute backs, hopper walls and the sides of a bucket away from the cutting edge.

Because it is the softest of the three it takes cutting, bending, welding and punching with the least difficulty, so a site crew can fabricate replacement panels with ordinary workshop equipment.

• Best fabricability of the three grades
• Suits hopper walls chute backs and bucket sides
• Still carries the AR family advantage over ordinary and low alloy plate
• Use where the panel area is large and the wear is spread out

Where AR500 Fits

AR500 is the working grade for most mining, quarry and bulk handling wear parts. It is the grade most commonly held in stock and the one most often cross referenced against XAR500, RAEX500, QUARD500, FORA500 and NM500 on a drawing.

Typical applications are the loader, bulldozer and excavator parts named for the range, together with crusher and screen plant liners in metallurgy, coal, cement, electricity, glass, mining, building materials and brick and tile production.

• Most common grade for loader bulldozer and excavator wear parts
• Widely cross referenced with XAR500 RAEX500 QUARD500 FORA500 and NM500
• Used in metallurgy coal cement electricity glass and mining plant
• Balances wear life against the effort of cutting and welding

Where AR600 Fits

AR600 is the hardest grade in the range and it belongs on the small area that destroys everything else. Feed impact points, the first strip of a liner to meet the feed, the lip of a chute and the parts that are replaced most often are the places where the extra hardness pays back.

Keeping AR600 to those zones and running AR400 or AR500 elsewhere means the wear package fails in one place at a time, on a schedule you control, rather than everywhere at once.

• Highest hardness of the three grades
• Reserve for the concentrated wear zone not the whole structure
• Feed impact points entry edges and chute lips
• Hardest of the three to cut bend and weld
• Best value when it replaces a panel that currently fails between shutdowns

Fabrication Changes as Hardness Rises

All three grades can be cut, bent, welded and punched, and they can be connected to other structures by welding, plug welding and bolting, which saves time at the repair site. That capability is what separates AR plate from a hardened casting that cannot be joined in the field.

The practical point is that the effort rises with the grade. Where your workshop is not set up for the harder grades, order the panels cut, bent and punched with the plate so the only site operation left is bolting or plug welding them in.

• Processing service covers bending welding decoiling cutting and punching
• Panels join by welding plug welding or bolting
• Field repair without returning the part to a workshop
• Order finished panels where the harder grade exceeds your own equipment
• Samples available to trial a grade before the full order

Comparing AR Plate Against the Alternatives

Against ordinary steel plate the wear resistance of AR plate is stated at more than 15 to 20 times, and against low alloy steel plate at 5 to 10 times. Against high chromium cast iron it is stated at 2 to 5 times, and unlike the casting the plate can be cut and welded.

That combination is why AR plate is used across metallurgy, coal, cement, electricity, glass, mining, building materials and brick and tile plants where the same part has to resist wear and still be repairable.

• 15 to 20 times the wear resistance of ordinary steel plate
• 5 to 10 times the wear resistance of low alloy steel plate
• 2 to 5 times the wear resistance of high chromium cast iron
• Weldable and boltable where a casting is not
• Mill test certificate issued for the ordered grade