ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products
La Piña’s customer asked for the hardness to be increased to between 55 and 57 HRC to enhance the durability of its agricultural discs. La Piña contacted ArcelorMittal’s mill in Sestao (Spain) for a solution.
Thanks to the close collaboration between ArcelorMittal’s Customer Technical Team, the mill, and ArcelorMittal Global R&D in Gent (Belgium), a suitable solution for La Piña’s customer was developed quickly. The Gent team used their own predictive software to design a new quenchable boron grade with the right chemistry for ArcelorMittal’s Durabor® range. ArcelorMittal Sestao produced coils of the newly designed steel within weeks and sent them to La Piña for evaluation.
La Piña used the steel to manufacture agricultural discs. Disc specimens were sent to both the customer and ArcelorMittal Global R&D for testing.
ArcelorMittal Global R&D performed large-scale comparative tests of the new Durabor® grade in the laboratory using a synthetic soil with high sand content.
The two sets of discs have been submitted to a wear test which is equivalent to a disc working for 240 kilometres in a real environment. The results show that wear on the discs made from the new steel is 13 percent lower than on those of the grade already used.
Due to its increased hardness after heat treatment, the new quenchable boron grade will enable La Piña to create discs which last longer, require less maintenance, and improve the sustainability of the agricultural industry.
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