Hardox

Hardox Plate Laser Cutting

Tubecon Laser, situated in Pretoria, Gauteng, is able to laser cut various sheet metal components including flanges, base plates and mining supplies from Hardox plate(also known as a wear plate). Bending of your laser cut parts are available per customer request. Our fast lead-times, good service and exceptional quality is what makes us one of the best laser cutting companies in South Africa.

Enquiries or quote requests for Hardox sheet metal components can be send through to sales@tubeconlaser.co.za. Please attach the drawings of the required parts to speed up the quoting process.

The hardness of a wear plate, like Hardox, ensures the reduction of wear throughout the plate's lifespan. The hardness of Hardox laser cut parts prevent abrasive materials, such as sand and stones, from cutting into the plate surface. This makes the Hardox sheet metal components perfect for applications where abrasion resistance is crucial, like in tipper bodies, ploughs, concrete mixers and containers to name a few.

In the construction industry, the use of Hardox plates is beneficial due to the thinner plates with increased strength, which significantly decreases the weight of a structure. The hardness and strength combination prevents the material from deforming making it suitable for structures requiring high wear resistance to heavy blows. Repairing wear plates is not a problem as the welding and machining properties are very good.

Hardox laser cut parts can easily be cut, bent, welded or roll bent. For the best possible quality precaution should be taken as the properties can be lost during cold working this sheet metal.

Laser cutting Hardox

The preferred cutting method for Hardox sheet metal components is laser cutting. The parameters required to laser cut Hardox profiles are the same than those used for mild steel.

Laser cutting Hardox generally results in a kerf smaller than 1mm with dim. tolerances +/-0.2mm. Lack of attention can result in cut edge cracking when laser cutting a Hardox plate. Pre- and post-heating the plate and the reduction of the cutting speed reduces the risk of cut edge cracking.

Bending Hardox

The bending quality of Hardox is dependent on the plate, tools and procedures.

The first thing to keep in mind when you require the Hardox laser cut parts to be bent is that the bendability of the plate decreases when the surface is damaged in the area placed under tension. As the strength and hardness of the Hardox plate increases, higher bending forces are required and springback increases too. The punch radius should also be larger or equal to the bend radius required for the stronger Hardox plates. The width of the opening die can reduce the bending force and the impression marks when it is increased.