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Hardenable boron steel TBL® – excellent processability and high wear resistance

TBL® 45 in use at Lemken – Daily endurance test: Clays, silts, sands, and loams, as well as the stones they contain, represent a continuous challenge to plowshares

High wear resistance meets excellent processing possibilities. The hardenable boron steel TBL® made by thyssenkrupp is well suited for components of agricultural and forestry machines demanding high wear resistance.

The fine-grained boron-alloyed quenched and tempered steel meets the high demands placed on agricultural machinery and special vehicles in terms of wear resistance and optimum processing properties. Components made of TBL® steel are characterized by excellent processability and a long service life where high wear resistance is required.

TBL® steels are primarily used for agricultural wear parts in soil cultivation and harvesting technology, such as harrow and hollow discs, plowshares, but also for the manufacture of knives and hoes.

Hardenable boron steels TBL® are available as uncoated wide hot strip and as cut-to-length plate.

A special steel grade for the agricultural and forestry industry

Hardenable boron steel TBL® for wear-resistant harrow discs.
Hardenable boron steel TBL® for wear-resistant harrow discs.

Agricultural machines are expensive and should therefore be hard wearing, as they are subject to extreme wear. The steel used for the construction of those machines needs to be especially wear-resistant. Moreover, the steel should be easy to process, allowing manufacturers to form, weld, and thermal cut the material in all commonly used methods.

The hardenable TBL® boron steels made by thyssenkrupp provide the material solution meeting all these needs for high-wear components in the agricultural industry. TBL® combines an especially high final hardness level achieved after processing, and high ductility. Owing to these characteristics, TBL® has long been used for the construction of agricultural and forestry vehicle components. TBL® steel features a high purity degree and close-analysis tolerances, thus ensuring consistent behavior in the quenching and hardening process.

New: The portfolio of our hardenable boron steels with very good processing properties and high wear resistance has been expanded. The new grade TBL® 45 with a hardness of 51 to 57 HRC after quenching and tempering is used where long service lives under high wear stress are required: agricultural wear parts for soil cultivation and harvesting technology.

Boron steels TBL® according to DIN EN ISO 683-2 (previously DIN EN 10083-3)

Steel grade
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Reference grade
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Hot-rolled strip
THICKNESS1
from _ to in mm
WIDTH1
from _ to in mm
TBL® 30 Special mill grade 2.50 – 15.00 1,000 – 2,030
TBL® 35 Special mill grade 2.50 – 15.00 1,000 – 1,630
TBL® 40 Special mill grade 3.00 – 12.00 1,000 – 1,630
TBL® 45 Special mill grade 3.00 – 12.00 1,000 – 1,630
TBL® 50 Special mill grade 3.00 – 12.00 1,000 – 1,630
Dimensions for cut-to-length plates on request.
1. Not all thickness and width combinations possible.

Chemical composition (Mass fractions in ladle analysis)

Steel grade C [%]
Si [%] Mn [%]
P [%] S [%] Al [%] Cr [%] Ni [%] Ti [%] B [ppm] Typ. CEV Typ. CET
TBL® 30 0.25 – 0.35 ≤ 0.40 1.00 -1.50 ≤ 0.025 ≤ 0.010 0.02 – 0.06 ≤ 0.50 - 0.02 – 0.05 10 – 50 0.55 0.40
TBL® 35 0.30 – 0.40 ≤ 0.40 1.00 -1.50 ≤ 0.025 ≤ 0.010 0.02 – 0.06 ≤ 0.50 - 0.02 – 0.05 10 – 50 0.60 0.50
TBL® 40 0.35 – 0.45 ≤ 0.40 1.00 -1.50 ≤ 0.025 ≤ 0.010 0.02 – 0.06 ≤ 0.50 - 0.02 – 0.05 10 – 50 0.70 0.55
TBL® 45 0.40 – 0.50 ≤ 0.40 1.00 -1.50 ≤ 0.025 ≤ 0.010 0.05 – 0.15 ≤ 0.50 - 0.005 – 0.020 10 – 50 0.75 0.60
TBL® 50 0.45 – 0.55 ≤ 0.40 1.00 -1.50 ≤ 0.025 ≤ 0.010 0.02 – 0.06 ≤ 0.70 0.10 – 0.30 0.02 – 0.05 10 – 50 0.80 0.65

Mechanical properties, typical values in delivery condition at room temperature

Steel grade
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Thickness
[mm]

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Yield strength
Re [MPa]

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Tensile strength
Rm [MPa]

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Elongation
A5 [%]

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Hardness
in delivery
condition
[HBW]
TBL® 301 ≥ 3 – 12 400 620 22 180
TBL® 351 ≥ 3 – 12 430 680 22 200
TBL® 401 ≥ 3 – 12 470 750 20 220
TBL® 451 ≥ 3 – 12 510 825 17 240
TBL® 501 ≥ 3 – 12 620 880 17 260
1. Depending on testing position (beginning, middle or end of coil) typical values may differ. | Test direction: transverse in rolling direction

TBL®-Boron steels with impressive final hardness

During the quenching and tempering process, the combination of carbon, manganese and the smaller boron content ensures that the TBL® steels can be hardened easily in different media. The maximum attainable hardness depends on the type of process applied and is about 660 HBW (62 HRC). The subsequent tempering, i.e. renewed heating of the component, reduces the stresses in the material caused in the hardening process.

Application examples of boron alloyed quenched and tempered steels

Hardenable boron steel TBL® for blades and shafts of plows.
Hardenable boron steel TBL® for blades and shafts of plows.

Hardened TBL® steel is especially well suited for the construction of wear-resistant welded parts with complex geometries. Exemplary use cases within the agricultural sector are the shares and waves of ploughs. Due to its very high durability, this steel grade also lends itself well for the construction of coupling elements and chains of construction vehicles. Even unhardened, TBL® is suitable for applications subject to moderate wear, such as cement mixers.

A current example is agricultural machinery manufacturer Lemken. The latter has extensively tested the new TBL® 45 grade – and found it to be excellent. The overall package of various advantages of the steel ultimately led to the decision to use TBL® 45 from thyssenkrupp Steel in Lemken plows in the future. A well-considered decision, in the run-up to which both project partners invested a lot of time and effort for interdisciplinary cooperation. More on the Lemken practical example is available for download.

Excellent processing properties

Our TBL® steels offer a wide range of processing possibilities. TBL® can be hot formed, but also be cold formed and used unhardened. This is an option for concrete mixers, which are subject to minor abrasive wear. Even unhardened, boron steel offers good wear properties owing to its fine-grained microstructure.

The fine-grained microstructure is obtained by settings made during the rolling process: In the as-delivered condition, the steel contains ferrite and perlite, i.e. both hard and soft microstructure elements. After the hardening the microstructure displays a 100% martensite content, which is an indicator of an extremely strong material. That is why we recommend a combination of hot forming between 900 and 1050 °C, followed by quenching and tempering, where intricate geometries are concerned and high demands are to be met.

TBL® steel has excellent processing properties, both in cold and in hot forming. It can be welded or cut in all commonly used processes, both automatic and manual. In order to avoid cold cracks, the steel should be preheated. Our Technical Customer Service is available to answer any questions you may have regarding the processing of TBL® steels. We will be just as happy to advise you on all joining and forming technology issues.

Typical values for heat treatment

Steel grade
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Normalizing
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Hardening
Austenitizing
Duration ≥ 15 min.
Subsequent tempering
Duration ≥ 30 min.
TBL® 30 860 – 880 °C 860 – 880 °C 150 – 350 °C1
TBL® 35 840 – 860 °C 840 – 860 °C 150 – 350 °C1
TBL® 40 835 – 855 °C 835 – 855 °C 150 – 350 °C
TBL® 45 820 – 840 °C 820 – 840 °C 150 – 350 °C
TBL® 50 810 – 830 °C 810 – 830 °C 150 – 350 °C
1. Optional

Material news: Special steel for agriculture in a wear test

Hardenable boron steel TBL® 45 offers an impressive final hardness

Farming Revolution is a company with a mission to provide farmers with a sustainable and economical alternative to today’s weed control: by using an efficient electromechanical hoeing robot to remove weeds from fields and land using a rotating chopper made of wear-resistant steels. In a special wear test, Farming Revolution examined not only structural and microalloyed steels but also the boron-alloyed wear-resistant steels TBL® 45 and TBL® 50 from thyssenkrupp Steel.

Result: Farming Revolution confirms the excellent product properties. The steel grades prove their effectiveness with average hardness values from 57 to 60 HRC after hardening in water. Indeed, they had the lowest wear compared to other investigated steels from the competition.

www.farming-revolution.com

General inquiry

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Contact

thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse 100

47166 Duisburg, Germany

+49 (0)203 52-0

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