Reducing basecutter cane loss and extending the wear life of basecutter blades through innovative hardfacing techniques
Date
2019
Authors
Schulz, C.
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The wear of basecutter blades affects the profitability of the sugarcane harvesting process and is therefore one of the underlying cost drivers. By keeping the blade sharper for longer, the quality of the cut sugarcane is increased, harvesting speed can be kept at a higher rate and stool damage with impact on following ratoons is reduced. The here realized approach is to apply a wear resistant hardfacing, using the modern surfacing processes laser cladding and thermal spraying, on the cutting edge of the blade. More than ten different hardfacing materials were investigated with regard to their wear and corrosion resistance. Wear of basecutter blades is a combined result of three-body-abrasion due to contact with abrasive soil and the cutting of the hard cane stalk, impact wear, because of rocks impinging the blade surface and corrosion resulting from the acidity of sugarcane juice. The experimental coatings were compared to materials and coatings used for commercially available coated and uncoated basecutter blades. It was found that laser clad coatings with a tungsten carbide reinforced nickel matrix provide the best combined protection against abrasion, impact and corrosion. Based on the test results, it is estimated that the overall wear rate of basecutter blades can be improved by a factor of 10 compared to uncoated blades and by a factor of 5 for a commercially available coated blade.
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Copyright 2019 Sugar Research Australia Limited. With the exception of any material protected by a trade mark, this document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence (as described through this link). Any use of this publication, other than as authorised under this licence or copyright law, is prohibited (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)