Why Dura-Bar?

Overview

Dura-Bar is the world leader in the production, technology and application of continuous cast iron bar stock. Dura-Bar’s process and material properties make it a practical alternative to several materials, resulting in superior performance and significant cost savings.


Process  

There are many advantages to Dura-Bar. Some are found within the bar itself, others are by-products of the Dura-Bar process. Dura-Bar’s consistent fine-grained microstructure is a result of the bar being pulled from the bottom of the holding crucible, causing dross, slag and other impurities float to the top, away from the opening of the die.

Dura-Bar maintains a Zero-Defect Guarantee like no other in the industry, which provides for the replacement of defective material and reimbursement of your cost of machining.


Properties  

Consideration must be given to those properties that are most important for the application and the additional cost for going above the minimum acceptable levels.

  • Dura-Bar ductile irons are good alternatives for most low-medium carbon steels:
    • Grade SSDI for medium-carbon steels like 1040, 1045, and 1144
    • Grade 65-45-12 for low-carbon steels like 1010, 1018, 1020, 12L14, 1212 and 1215
    • Grade 80-55-06 for medium-carbon steels like 1040, 1060, 1045, 1141 and 1144
    • Grade 100-70-03 – for high wear resistance and in applications using heat treated steel with hardness values below 302 BHN
  • Dura-Bar often replaces static castings and some aluminum applications.
  • Dura-Bar values are listed as minimums, while most steel is listed as typicals.
  • Other materials are produced and tested in a multitude of locations, while Dura-Bar is made in only one location, a big key to our consistency.
  • Many parts are engineered with a high multiple safety factor, so specific properties do not usually have to be equal.
  • Many material properties do not influence the performance of the part in the application. Usually a few key properties are the deciding factor.

Cost Savings  

Thousands of machine shops, OEM’s and repair facilities take advantage of the product every day. The bottom line is companies usually switch to Dura-Bar to save money. The savings typically come from two areas - increased productivity and solutions to existing problems.

There are many ways to save with Dura-Bar. Customers who have made the switch typically profit most by:

  • Reducing total part cost by up to 40%
  • Increasing machine capacity between 10% and 40%
  • Extending tool life up to 2 to 3 times that of steel and other iron products

Let us show you how superior machinability leads to improved productivity, reducing your total cost.