The Latest Trends in Wear-Resistant Steel for Dump Trucks and Side Tippers

Wear-resistant steel used in dump trucks and side tipper

Wear-resistant steel used in slag and soil dump trucks is a type of low-alloy wear-resistant steel. It boasts two prominent advantages: first, it is easy to smelt, with a simple production process and low comprehensive costs; second, it offers good toughness, weldability, and machinability, resulting in excellent overall performance. As such, it is widely used in low-impact and non-severe wear scenarios. However, in domestic slag and soil dump trucks, wear resistance is not the primary reason for its adoption. Let’s break down the actual operational needs:

(1) During loading, the truck body is struck by rocks, and the expectation is that it should not crack or form dents.

(2) During unloading, the surface must be wear-resistant, prevent swelling, and avoid soil adhesion.

(3) During transportation, the most critical requirement is lightweight design.

Historically, high-strength steel was predominantly used in domestic dump trucks. The significant shift toward wear-resistant steel occurred after the collapse of the Wuxi Bridge and the subsequent crackdown on "large-tonnage trucks with small labels," highlighting that lightweighting is the true driver. What makes wear-resistant steel appealing is not its high hardness of 450 HBW but its tensile strength of ≥1400 MPa, which enables lightweight truck bodies, allowing for higher payloads, faster operations, and better profitability. In this context, wear resistance is merely a complementary "bonus."

The secondary status of wear resistance is not only inferior to the true intent of ultra-high strength but also to another "bonus"—dent resistance. Dents in the truck body can lead to incomplete unloading, prompting excavators to scrape the residual material. This scraping, often an违规操作, can easily crack the body panels. In practice, drivers may complain, "Others’ trucks don’t crack, but yours do; others don’t have dents, but yours do." Thus, dent resistance becomes a significant selling point. For example, Sinotruk Huawi once conducted comparative tests using real truck bodies made of two different materials, demonstrating the difference in dent resistance when loading rocks.

However, every advantage comes with a trade-off: while dent resistance reduces the formation of dents, it may lead to cracking. Cracking issues are among the top quality concerns for wear-resistant steel. To address this, Hi-Tuf dual-phase wear-resistant steel was developed. Its characteristics include:

• Low carbon content with high Ti, ensuring excellent weldability.
• A dislocation-based quenched martensitic matrix, providing base hardness.
• Two unique features: TRIP effect and TiC precipitates.

The TRIP effect involves approximately 6% retained austenite in the microstructure. This soft austenite enhances plasticity and formability. During deformation, it transforms into martensite, significantly increasing work hardening and further boosting surface hardness. Meanwhile, TiC precipitates, which are much harder than the steel matrix, act as barriers against scratches—either preventing them entirely or making them shallower—effectively protecting the base material.

This has inspired a new R&D direction for the next generation of wear-resistant steels:

• Utilizing dispersed hard carbide particles to finely balance hardness and toughness across a wide range, tailored to specific scenarios.
• Employing low carbon content, ultra-fine grains, and micro-alloying to ensure superior comprehensive performance of the matrix.

The focus for this new generation of wear-resistant steel is no longer solely on "wear resistance." Instead, it is branded with a new selling point: crack-resistant wear-resistant steel. This evolution underscores that, despite the name emphasizing "wear resistance," this property has consistently taken a back seat in practical applications.

Baohui Steel

As the main supplier of many trailer and trucks manufacturer worldwide, we are familiar with all the technical issue, the wear resistant steel is facing. We work with Baosteel Expert together and try to give more practical and high-tech solutions for all of or customers. We are willing to discuss with you about your new trailer and truck projects.