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.