1. Growing Demand for Longer-Lasting Wear Components

Industrial and railway-related equipment operating under abrasive conditions frequently depends on relatively small components that are exposed to disproportionately severe wear. Once these components begin to lose their original geometry, the effect may extend beyond the worn part itself and increase maintenance requirements for the surrounding assembly.

A recent requirement from the Vietnamese market highlighted this challenge. The requested Plate Upper needed to retain the structural advantages of a steel component while providing significantly stronger wear protection around its critical lower working surfaces.

Instead of relying on a conventional steel-only construction, the project required a combined steel and tungsten carbide solution.

2. The Technical Challenge: Strength and Wear Resistance in One Component

The challenge was not simply to manufacture a harder plate.

A component made entirely from a very hard material may introduce other difficulties involving toughness, machining, manufacturing cost, and structural performance. At the same time, an ordinary steel component may provide sufficient strength but experience excessive wear at the main contact areas.

For the Vietnam application, the design therefore needed to separate these two functions:

the main body would provide structural strength, while the critical surfaces would receive dedicated wear protection.

This requirement led to the development of the Plate Upper Tungsten Carbide Plated configuration.

3. Kingrail Manufacturing Solution

Kingrail adopted 16Mn steel as the base material and manufactured the main body through forging followed by precision machining.

After the required steel geometry was achieved, tungsten carbide blocks were installed on the lower wear area using a controlled brazing process.

An important feature of the design is that carbide protection is not limited to a single bottom face. Instead, five surfaces around the lower section are protected with brazed tungsten carbide blocks.

This arrangement provides wear protection around multiple contact directions and reduces direct exposure of the underlying steel in critical areas.

The manufacturing process combines several capabilities:

• Forging of the 16Mn base component
• Precision machining according to the required geometry
• Preparation of carbide installation surfaces
• Positioning of tungsten carbide blocks
• Controlled brazing
• Final dimensional and assembly inspection

Kingrail's capability in both forging and casting also allows the manufacturing route for similar customized wear components to be evaluated according to geometry, material, quantity, and application rather than being restricted to a single production method.

4. Practical Value for the Vietnam Application

The resulting design combines two different material characteristics within one component.

The forged 16Mn body provides the structural foundation required for installation and load transfer, while the tungsten carbide blocks are concentrated in the areas where wear resistance is most important.

For the customer, this approach offers several practical advantages:

• Critical wear surfaces receive dedicated carbide protection
• The main component retains the toughness of a steel structure
• Five-surface protection addresses wear from more than one direction
• The component can be manufactured according to the customer's original dimensional requirements
• Worn or specialized components can be reproduced from project-specific drawings

Rather than simply increasing the hardness of the complete component, the design applies different materials according to their actual functions.

5. Supporting Customized Wear-Resistant Component Projects

The Vietnam project demonstrates a growing requirement for application-specific wear components that combine traditional steel manufacturing with localized hard-material protection.

Kingrail continues to develop customized forged, cast, and machined components according to customer drawings. For components exposed to severe abrasion, tungsten carbide blocks and other wear-resistant solutions can be evaluated according to the actual working surfaces and operating conditions.

By combining material selection, forging, machining, and brazing within one manufacturing solution, Kingrail can support customers looking for practical alternatives to conventional steel wear parts while maintaining the required structural and dimensional characteristics.