UHMW-PE or steel liners: stopping material sticking instead of just resisting wear

Not every wear problem is an abrasion problem. If your chute is blocking, your hopper is rat-holing or material is freezing to the walls in humid weather, a harder steel liner will not fix it.

What UHMW-PE does well

Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene has a very low coefficient of friction and almost nothing sticks to it. In bulk handling that translates into:

• Flow. Material slides instead of hanging up — the usual cure for blocked transfer points and sticky, damp fines.
• Sliding abrasion resistance. In fine, dry, low impact sliding duty it can outlast mild steel comfortably.
• Noise and weight. Significantly quieter than steel, and a fraction of the weight, so liners can be changed by hand.
• No corrosion. It is unaffected by water and most chemicals.

Where steel still wins

• Heavy impact. Rock dropping from height will punch through polymer. Use wear plate at impact points and polymer below them.
• Heat. UHMW-PE is limited to roughly 80 °C continuous and will creep under sustained load.
• Gouging and large lump sizes. Hardened plate, every time.
• Structural duty. Polymer liners are liners; they carry nothing.

The combination most plants end up with

Wear plate at the impact zone, UHMW-PE through the sliding and discharge sections, bolted on with countersunk fixings so nothing protrudes into the flow. It usually costs less than an all-steel rebuild and solves the blockage at the same time.

We supply both, and will look at your transfer point geometry before you order either.