Tungsten carbide inserts. Wear parts

One of the topics we’ve explored on several occasions, and which continues to
capture our interest, is the range of options available for wear parts on our
cultivators, ploughs, seed drills, and similar equipment. It is certainly a
fascinating subject, and once you start using tungsten carbide you start to
look at it differently.

In a recent conversation with the team at
Bellota Agrisolutions, we asked them to share more details about the manufacturing process and
characteristics of their wear parts. Here are some key insights they provided:

Tungsten carbide is a highly durable and wear resistant material used
in many industries, including agriculture.
Bellota Agrisolutions
has been using tungsten carbide inserts in cultivators for more than 10 years,
consistently achieving excellent field performance.

Bellota Agrisolutions
only uses virgin tungsten inserts in its production, i.e. meaning no
recycled materials are involved. This choice ensures a higher density of
tungsten carbide resulting in superior durability and strength. In addition to
density, grain size, porosity and hardness of the inserts are measures that
are considered to guarantee optimum performance.

The base component is typically machined to provide a perfect and homogeneous
insert support. After thoroughly cleaning the surface, the part undergoes
brazing and heat treatment, creating high-performance products with uniform
hardness throughout the part, thus preventing premature wear. In this
controlled process, the workpiece is cooled to create a strong bond between
the tungsten insert and the base part. After hardening, the cultivators are
shot-blasted to remove all impurities from the heat treatment and then
painted.

To ensure the effectiveness of a tungsten carbide-equipped tiller, it’s not
just the raw material, brazing process or heat treatment that are important,
the design of the insert is also key. Critical wear areas on each
component must be carefully studied, and the inserts must be designed and
positioned to deliver the best possible performance.
Bellota
has developed more than 100 different parts with tungsten inserts,
marketed under the
DURATOP range. These are available both through their own catalogue and as exclusive parts
for machinery manufacturers.

Bellota Agrisolutions, aware of the good characteristics of tungsten carbide, has also launched
other ways of applying tungsten carbide on the market, calling these ranges
DURATOPBOND
and
DURATOPFUSE.

• DURATOPBOND are tungsten carbide chips fused to the base part with a
  high-strength braze. This solution is especially suitable
  for rocky terrain, where there’s a higher risk of insert detachment.
• DURATOPFUSE is a technology where tungsten carbide powder is sprayed
  to create a thin layer, which is then fused to the base component in a
  controlled-temperature process. This technology is ideal for products where
  no more than 2mm of coating is advisable, such as cutting tools.

Without a doubt,
Bellota’s application of tungsten carbide
makes it a leader in the industry.
Bellota Agrisolutions
stands out for offering durable, high-performance wear parts for modern
farming needs.

Versión en español.